electric 1939 chris craft

[imwoody36]

here is a photo of my LEAF powered antique boat with the help of the openinverter nissan board

[Kevin Sharpe]

Fabulous project, can you post some details of the build?

[imwoody36]

This cedar and mahogany boat was originally powered by a flat head " Hercules " 6 cyl nearing 95 HP.

I got it from a retired millwright who has rebuilt the cabin and hull... He lost interest and I think maybe was having decision paralysis about the direction to go.

I have built several hybrid rat rods and this time the design scope is

• trailer-able
  with a cabin to get in out of the weather
  usable as in okay to jump in and go without taking off your shoes
  and easy for anyone to operate

I hope the simple key on and throttle operation with forward/ reverse of the nissan inverter controller board will blend in a steam punk inspired way into the existing 81 year old brass gearshift

I have a 2015 nissan LEAF that will give its parts for the Electric conversion.
right now the plan is a 1:1 output shaft coupled by a sigma thrust bearing that also provides the function of a CV axle with 3 degrees of freedom
( because I am aware old wood boats flex )
Here my wife is preparing for a coat of CPES ( clear epoxy sealer)

[JaniK]

Nice project!

[imwoody36]

the donor vehicle, and the openinverter board in the nissan inverter

[starpancake]

woah. this is awesome. following

[imwoody36]

here is the first test of the open inverter board running with out of the box parameters

using a toyota prius battery pack and seeking assistance with throttle runaway.

that noise is the prop shaft rubbing the stuffing box, I fixed it when I mounted the motor more securely.



and a photo of the transmission adapter.
we used the original paragon transmission case for a thrust bearing and fabricated the plate to bolt it to the leaf motor.

we expect to fill it with oil

[imwoody36]

this should have been posted before now... but here are details on the transmission adapter

[imwoody36]

a few float test photos before the motor installation

[Colm Spain]

Hi I am new to this forum and this is my first conversion. I am planning to convert a Bow Rider 18ft ski boat to electric. I will be removing the Mercruiser 3L petrol engine 135 Hp and tank but leaving the Alpha One Gen 2 leg. Bought 2012 Leaf motor, inverter.Just started to get my head around wiring and controls.....but have a few questions.
I see you have used the leaf gear box, I was going to directly couple the motor to the shaft, what is your view on this?
Did you do any calculations on running time ,with your battery pack?
What is your prop size and pitch.
Thanks colm

[imwoody36]

Hi Colm, I have been working on a rear oil seal leak on the blue ( antique ) transmission.
also a random motor overspeed event bent my prop shaft.

now I have a shaft coupler and i have installed cedar runners to support the LEAF pack on the boat stringers. I am still undecided how to get the pack charged with the open inverter. seeking forum input on this. No I have only guestimated run time, but expect to perform another float test by march 2021. i welcome private email autobeyours at gmail dot com

the prop is original

[imwoody36]

gold coupler in this photo allows for a small amount of prop misalignment, but its an 8th of and inch from the floor

[imwoody36]

an update of the Electric chris craft

I used the OEM system and hid all the wiring behind the helm in the bow.

I had to place the park motor in the system and I had to spoof the air conditioning airbox by shorting the plug on the battery pack.
LEAFSPY worked for seeing trouble codes
https://youtu.be/o7-aTuYEls8

[imwoody36]

here is a short video of my electric boat underway.

[imwoody36]

look up steve woodruff on facebook

[johu]

Are you running the openinverter board or the stock one? Are you running the charger also?
The video seems to be private.