Nissan Leaf Powered E46 Touring

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:21 pm

Another day, another EV project. This time we have a 2003 E46 touring formally powered by a mayonaise filled 2.2 petrol engine.

The plan :
Gen 1 Leaf motor
Lexus IS300h inverter
400v of LTO cells

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:20 pm

Motor and gearbox mocking up.

YouTube · Post by **johu** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:34 am

Wow, that was quick. Can you come over and do mine

Is it again aluminium leftovers and a jigsaw for the adapter plate?

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:47 am

That looks really good

I have been emailing lots people about getting a leaf adaptor plate made only to be meet with silence.

Is that 25mm plate ? did you cut down the shafts on the motor or gearbox, On the EM57 the motor shaft looks like it sticks out over 50mm.

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:40 pm

Yeah 25mm plate. Only had to cut the pilot bearing nose off the gearbox input shaft. about 8mm gap now.
Making adapter plates by hand is easy. Just a bit of work. I know everyone wants fancy cnc stuff these days but a jigsaw, drill press and some sweat gets its done just the same.

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:14 pm

Thats good nearly getting the confidence to start making it myself>

Will you youtube your adapter build, how will you couple it and get the shafts perfectly aligned.

Might need two plates for the EM57 motor as has a overhang on the motor.

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:58 am

Yes will be on youtube. In the mean time here is the video series I did on building the adapter for my E39 conversion back in 2013. Ran perfectly for 5 years despite dire predictions of doom from the internet :

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:33 pm

Thanks will take a look,

Just had a quote of $1400 for a plate and coupler

That would blow the budget on the 1000 euro build

Think I will take a chance and go ahead and get some aluminium plate.

.....right where is my jigsaw, was watching on YouTube how some guys are cutting 12mm plate with a circular saw with a wood blade

arber333 · Post by **arber333** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:26 pm

zippy500 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:33 pm Thanks will take a look,

Just had a quote of $1400 for a plate and coupler That would blow the budget on the 1000 euro build

Think I will take a chance and go ahead and get some aluminium plate.

.....right where is my jigsaw, was watching on YouTube how some guys are cutting 12mm plate with a circular saw with a wood blade

I cut my twin 15mm plate with hobby jigsaw back in 2013. Trick is to have WD40 ready to spray on the saw blade so it is allways lubricated. If not alu can stick to the saw blade and quickly ruin your blade.

A

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:39 pm

Forget $1400. I just did this in an afternoon because my brain was melted from learning fpga programming. Total cost about 100 Euros.

The lineup is easy. Sit the motor and gearbox vertically but only bolt one side. Motor or gearbox to the adapter plate. Then spin the motor slowly. any misalignment pushes the gearbox to the required position. The old guys did this with dc conversions back in the day. Only difference now is you need an inverter:)

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:54 pm

Excellent work,

What coupler did you use on leaf spline shaft ?

Going to have a measure up later I think

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:55 pm

Fiat multipla 1.6 petrol clutch friction plate. I did a shrink fit of the coupler tube onto it to help tighten the splines on the leaf motor shaft.

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:04 pm

Many Thanks for all the useful info,

Can ask what do you mean by shrink fit, did you heat the coupler body fit the clutch part then let it cool ?

pm_dawn · Post by **pm_dawn** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:00 am

Jack Bauer wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:55 pm Fiat multipla 1.6 petrol clutch friction plate. I did a shrink fit of the coupler tube onto it to help tighten the splines on the leaf motor shaft.

AAaahh, Fiat Multipla !! The deisgn classic out of the ordinary !!!!

/Per

arber333 · Post by **arber333** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:28 am

Jack Bauer wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:55 pm Fiat multipla 1.6 petrol clutch friction plate. I did a shrink fit of the coupler tube onto it to help tighten the splines on the leaf motor shaft.

And it did work didnt it

. I used the same technique and theese days i will use boroscope on my transmission bell just to be sure everything is ok.
Well the only issue may be that teeth profile are not right in the attitude. But tight clamping helps here also.
I still recommend Lovejoy style coupler between motor and transmission, due to the fact that some misalignment may still exist. Also that coupler is very good at absorbing impact force from motor torque.

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 7:02 am

arber333 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:28 am
I still recommend Lovejoy style coupler between motor and transmission, due to the fact that some misalignment may still exist. Also that coupler is very good at absorbing impact force from motor torque.

Think this a good idea, but one that will take good power is around 90mm length, going to need a thick adapter plate to hid this .

arber333 · Post by **arber333** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:49 am

zippy500 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 7:02 am
arber333 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:28 am
I still recommend Lovejoy style coupler between motor and transmission, due to the fact that some misalignment may still exist. Also that coupler is very good at absorbing impact force from motor torque.
Think this a good idea, but one that will take good power is around 90mm length, going to need a thick adapter plate to hid this .

No need for that. I just put mine in a lathe and reduced depth from both sides appropriately so the joint came in the middle approximately. You still have to guarantee a good ammount of seat though. Note that i took more material from the transmission side since motor has longer shaft. https://mazdamx3ev.wordpress.com/2018/0 ... lopka-ven/

Those welds are just for ornament

Splines are kept in position by bolts and shrink-fit of material.

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:26 am

arber333 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:28 am
No need for that. I just put mine in a lathe and reduced depth from both sides appropriately so the joint came in the middle approximately. You still have to guarantee a good ammount of seat though. Note that i took more material from the transmission side since motor has longer shaft. https://mazdamx3ev.wordpress.com/2018/0 ... lopka-ven/

Those welds are just for ornament Splines are kept in position by bolts and shrink-fit of material.

I forgot you have the depth of the inside of the bell housing .

How do to stop the lovejoy coupler halves from sliding on the shafts and apart from each other ?

Might have to give the machining part to a shop, I don't have access to a lathe or machining skills

arber333 · Post by **arber333** » Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:41 am

zippy500 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:26 am
arber333 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:28 am
No need for that. I just put mine in a lathe and reduced depth from both sides appropriately so the joint came in the middle approximately. You still have to guarantee a good ammount of seat though. Note that i took more material from the transmission side since motor has longer shaft. https://mazdamx3ev.wordpress.com/2018/0 ... lopka-ven/

Those welds are just for ornament Splines are kept in position by bolts and shrink-fit of material.
I forgot you have the depth of the inside of the bell housing .

How do to stop the lovejoy coupler halves from sliding on the shafts and apart from each other ?

Might have to give the machining part to a shop, I don't have access to a lathe or machining skills

Yes i was fortunate enough that i had a long sleeve to support shaft in bell housing. To support transmission side coupler i used existing clutch bearing. I gave it a clearance of some 1mm or 2mm and supported in on the inside by another sleeve. I can hear it sometimes in the morning when shafts are cold. But later when everything heats up clearance is enough.

On the motor side i used 3x allen bolts with spring washer to keep the coupler in place. It is not ideal, but i could make it on short notice. Ideally the best would be to cut the coupler on one side and machine clamping mechanism into coupler. When you torque it down there is no possibility of axial movement. This also applies to transmission side. See here... https://www.ktr.com/en/products/power-t ... ping-hubs/

Jack Bauer · Post by **Jack Bauer** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:17 pm

Motor and gearbox mated up and tested. Time to get it back in the car.

zippy500 · Post by **zippy500** » Wed Apr 17, 2019 9:39 pm

Thanks for the video , very helpful , was adapter plate tapped for the bolts ?

That's a nice simple solution to just put some weld on the shaft to stop the coupler moving