[WIP] Volvo Vee70 with Outlander Rear Motor

[crasbe]

Hello!

Soooo, this has been going on for quite some time in the background and today I bought the car to be converted, so it's time to start a thread I guess.

What is it?
The car in question is a black 1997 (Model Year 1998) Volvo V70 I with a 170HP B5254F engine and a five speed manual gearbox. I bought it for 600€ today. It has a nice black leather interior with heated seats and doesn't have too much rust. Should I be the first one to obey Rule 1?

Well the reason it was so cheap is that the engine looks nice from the top but has a sizeable hole in the oil pan that the connecting rod of the first cylinder punched into it. Actually, in place of the hole should be the oil filter...

What is the plan?
As I live in Germany and have to obey the rules of the German TÜV, only a matching pair of motor and inverter are allowed without huge (read: expensive) hassle of getting everything inspected.
That's why I want to use the Mitsubishi Outlander Rear Motor with the Rear Inverter. Yes, it's not gonna be a power house but I recon it's going to be fine. Remember when people drove around with forklift motors?
Actually... the Outlander motor has been laying in my wintergarten since November 2022... shame on me.

The Outlander motor will be mated to the original Volvo gearbox with a Rotex GS38 coupler, which should be sufficient for the torque. I just don't trust my fabrication skills to reach zero angle error and zero offset and fear that a solid coupler might be eaten by the splines or worse: eat the splines.

Other parts I want to use are a BMW i3 CCS port together with CCS Clara (with BMW LIM as a backup), Outlander OBC as a DC/DC and possibly as AC charger or as an alternative an 11kW VW charger. You may have noticed my work on the Mitsubishi Outlander cable glands... that was all in preparation for this project.

For the time being the battery for testing will be a 9kWh BMW hybrid battery, which should perfect in the trunk for test drives. This gives me some time to find a suitable battery pack and assess whether or not it'll be worth going for a big pack for long trips or not..

Power steering will utilize a Volvo power steering pump, brake assist will be done with a Hella UP28 (or possibly something bigger if it's not enough), heating possibly a Mitsubishi Outlander Heater or anything that I can find for a reasonable price, really. AC compressor is a must, because I like air conditioning. Mitsubishi Outlander would be a resonable choice here again I guess.


What has already been done?
Well, the original plan was buying a car when the motor is spinning and attached to the gearbox. This plan did not succeed, considering I just bought a car...
BUT I didn't sit on my hands in the meantime and prototyped the adapter plates for the Outlander motor (thanks to Bratitude!) and the Volvo. Fortunately in my university I have access to a precise Leica Lasertracker, with which I was able to measure the bolt pattern of a spare gearbox I bought ahead of time.

I will publish the CAD files for everything once the measurements are confirmed. But so far it's looking promising.

These measurements allowed me to design the couplers in CAD as well and 3D print prototypes. The couplers will use clutch discs with the correct spline pattern.

What are the next steps?
There are a couple different sideprojects that run concurrently. One is obviously gathering the remaining parts including (but not limited to and in no particular order):
- Brake Pedal Assembly from an Automatic (we don't need no clutches were we're going!)
- Heater
- AC Compressor
- Power Steering Pump
- some miscellaneous parts for the Volvo to make it more beautiful
- Vacuum Pump Controller
- Large(r) Battery

Some time next week I want to pick up the car and start by taking out the engine. Since it is not going to run anyways, it's not really a problem to pull it. And the main reason is that I need to get the engine block to the Lasertracker again to measure the bolt holes of the original engine mounts and the CV axle support, which is bolted to the engine block as well.
These dimensions are critical and have to be right, so precision metrology equipment is nice to have access to

Furthermore I want to remove the PCB of the original ECU and replace it with a VCU. The communication between the ECU and the dashboard is somewhat digital, but in a sense that the ECU has actual pins that switch the status light bulbs in the dashboard. Most of the gauges are driven by variable frequencies from the ECU, so that's something my new VCU would do as well. The core of it will be an STM32, but the actual motor control will probably be done by ZombieVerter.


What is the time frame?
Well the inspection of the car is valid until January 2025, so I would like to get it done before that and do some test drives (on private property of course) before actually going to the TÜV.

I probably forgot a lot of stuff, but that's a general overview of the current state of my conversion

Best Regards,
Chris

[Bratitude]

why not just use the outlander gearbox? much much more efficient and lighter!

glad my measurements came in handy

[crasbe]

why not just use the outlander gearbox? much much more efficient and lighter!

Well that has multiple reasons:
- I'm not sure if anyone has done that and it's possible that the internal gearing is so high that the car will have trouble accelerating from standstill (like with the Lexus MGR).
- The CV shafts of the V70 don't have the same length, the one on the drivers side is "normal" and goes directly from the gearbox to the wheel. The one on the passenger side has a long straight section (50cm or so) with a support bearing that is held by the engine block. Getting the positioning of everything just right seemed like a challenge I didn't want to tackle. Volvo figured that out pretty well, so the original gearbox is already in the right spot. Maybe for the next conversion with a Tesla drive unit
- I didn't want to have custom CV axles made
- Possibility to upgrade to a Leaf Motor

[arber333]

- I'm not sure if anyone has done that and it's possible that the internal gearing is so high that the car will have trouble accelerating from standstill

Well here you can see how i made it...
viewtopic.php?p=66698&hilit=mazda#p66698
Also my battle with VCU...
viewtopic.php?t=2167&start=350

The CV shafts of the V70 don't have the same length, the one on the drivers side is "normal" and goes directly from the gearbox to the wheel. The one on the passenger side has a long straight section (50cm or so) with a support bearing that is held by the engine block.

Mazda had supported RH shaft as well cince transmission was quite to the left. It doesnt pose any problem with assembly. I did have to fit Mitsu OEM drivetrain relatively to the middle to keep driveshaft length in sane limits. Innitially i had the same thoughts about shaft length and there is no problem. But i had to balance them carefully after welding. We did this on my friends lathe.
Now i get zero vibration from drive gear at 160km/h!

I would recommend OEM electric gearbox since it has been suited to the motor. Effect is the same as you would have your car permanently in 2nd gear. I just dont know if Volvo transmission will survive 160km/h in 2nd gear...

In case you would get any vibration in your driveshafts later on... my backup plan was to make rubber boots for both shafts which were used to dampen vibration in VW Golf and other cars in the past.

[crasbe]

Well I don't have any good arguments against that except for "I feel more comfortable using the original gearbox" (and I've spent some good money on making that happen as well...)

Yesterday I took a good look in the trunk and under the car and it looks like there's going to be plenty of space for the battery box when cutting out the spare wheel well:

But that's a story for another day. First the tank has to be removed and perhaps it's a good idea to talk the ideas through with a TÜV engineer. In general it's possible though and wouldn't sacrifice any trunk space. Only the hatches in the trunk become a little bit pointless I guess leaving only ~5cm of height.

On a positive note: it looks like the BMW i3 CCS port will fit in the correct orientation. Once the tank is drained I can remove the filler neck and start engineering an adapter from Gasoline to CCS

This is how the charging process might look like... Or something like that...

Today I got started on removing some stuff from the engine bay like the secondary air system and the air intake. Speaking of air intake... I guess someone wanted to do some sound optimization. Can this be considered a tuning sin? Probably..

By the way: Sealing a leaking fuel regulator with Hylomar does not only not work, it's also really dangerous. So it's probably a good thing that the car will be de-ICEd.

And the sticker that states that the cabin air filter was last changed in 2002 is probably correct. It looks properly nasty and it probably didn't smell like flowers. The car has close to 280.000km by the way.

This is the final result for today. Tomorrow some more disassembly is planned as well as draining all the remaining fluids (in the hope of not making too much of a mess...)

Speaking of VCUs: Coincidentally I bought a Volvo V70 I ECU like two years ago and now I can use it to salvage the connector from it (it's from a Diesel anyway, so no use for me).

[crasbe]

Today we got busy and took out the fuel tank and exhaust system. The latter was quite challenging because the screws in the clamp connecting the catalytic converter to the muffler were rusted beyond recognition and the rear exhaust pipe was welded to the muffler at some point. Even the small piece of pipe for the exhaust tip was rusted solid, so we had to maneuver it above the rear axle.

Maybe the catalytic converter can bring some cash back to the project as it is still intact and the matrix is still present

We removed the fuel filler neck as well and the inner wheel liner (fortunately no surprises behind that, so that's good!) and test fitted the BMW i3 CCS port. The space is really limited, but I'm positive we can make it fit.

The CCS port hits the metal separating the inner wheel well from the trunk area, but it's not too much. Tomorrow I'll take apart the CCS port and see if the top part of the rear can be "shaved" a little bit.

[jrbe]

Consider hammering the metal in there before cutting the housing.

[crasbe]

Consider hammering the metal in there before cutting the housing.

I did consider that, but I'll have to see if there's enough clearance for the carpet left when doing that. Other than that I would prefer not to disturb the original galvanziation and potentially create a place for rust to start.

But first things first, I'm going to take the socket apart and see if it can be modified to fit without any disadvantages. A leaking CCS socket isn't quite desireable either.

[jrbe]

Watch some paintless dent removal videos first.
If you do disturb the paint / galvanized layers you could use por15 metal prep, leaves a zinc layer on steel as a great / protected base for paint.

[crasbe]

If you do disturb the paint / galvanized layers you could use por15 metal prep, leaves a zinc layer on steel as a great / protected base for paint.

Well POR15 is not really available in Germany (anymore) and I've heard mixed reviews about it. It apparently cracks after a couple of years, letting moisture to the bare metal and letting it rust. Brantho Korrux 3in1 is a paint system that's Made in Germany and probably quite similar to POR15.
That'll be used to address the rusty spots.

Nevertheless I took apart the i3 CCS port to see how much space is available. It looks quite good so far, but I'll create a 3D printed dummy anyway to see how much space is actually available.

My partner is currently visiting with Erna, who is a great disturbance

We continued to take apart the engine bay and removed the cylinder head to make everything a bit lighter.

We found out that the engine actually has TWO holes, not just one
One is in the oil pan and one is in the engine block itself. The piston of the first cylinder moves freely but the rest of the engine is seized.
But that shouldn't be too much of an issue, since it's not an automatic and we don't have to take off the torque converter.

[jrbe]

Well POR15 is not really available in Germany (anymore) and I've heard mixed reviews about it. It apparently cracks...

This is the company POR15, they make a product called metal prep. It's a zinc phosphate coating, etches the steel and leaves a decent layer of zinc behind it you stay at it. I wouldn't use por15 paint on a vehicle either.
https://por15.com/products/metal-prep

I'm not sure what's available in Germany like this.

There are "rust killers" available but they are hit or miss. I've had both good and bad luck with the same chemical on different projects. Best to get down to bare metal, zinc phosphate, good primer, paint and 2k paint.
I'm not sure this is available in Germany either but it's a newly found favorite of mine.
https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/products ... r-glamour/

[crasbe]

Today was a busy day, we got the engine yeeted out and disassembled. We decided it would be easiest to disassemble the whole front end. In the next few days I'll remove the front subframe and clean everything.

And we got the broken piston out. Definitively dead. Cylinders 1-3 had severe piston bearing damage, cylinder 4 and 5 were "fine".
It looks like the cause was lack of lubrication, possibly a failed oil pump.

One somewhat unfortunate realization was that all rubber parts are pretty much dead. All four CV boots have cracks and one tore and spilled out it's grease already. So essentially I'll have to buy everything. Engine mounts, springs, shocks, lower control arms, subframe bushings, ...

And that's why I have trust issues...

The previous owner changed the upper strut mounts and obviously didn't do a great job. The spring is not seated in it's recess. Not sure if that's dangerous, but it sure isn't great. And by the way: They only changed the passenger side and didn't change the broken dust cap or the completely worn shock itself...
The bearing in the upper shock mount had an excessive amount of play as well, even though it was new...
We learn: don't trust something you didn't do yourself and don't buy shitty parts


We didn't take more images today, but I'll have some more coming the next days.

[crasbe]

Today was scrubbing day. Since I need the engine block as a reference for the location of the engine mounts and CV axle support bearing, it has to be somewhat clean to be handled. I don't want to get dirty hands just by thinking about touching the block

The gearbox got cleaned as well. Apparently the camshaft position sensor was leaking and it covered the outside of the gearbox as well as the bellhousing in oil, which created a slimy black lacker together with the clutch dust. Yuck...

Furthermore I got a picture of the cause of the engine failure. It was not (necessarily) the oil pump that failed, at least it looked pretty good and didn't have any scoring. Perhaps it was worn (didn't measure it) and didn't produce the flow it used to, but the considering the amount of crud and oil coal in the engine, the previous owners were probably slacking on the oil changes (as much as they slacked on service in general) and the piston bearings wore from the abrasive oil coal.

Eventually the wear of the piston bearings became too big, too much oil pressure was lost and a catastrophic piston bearing failure on cylinder 1 resulted. Cylinders 2 and 3 had beginning piston bearing failures as well but I don't know if that's a result from the failure on cylinder 1.
The crosshatch on the cylinders was not worn down yet, the piston themselves looked pretty good as well, the rings were not stuck (only the oil control rings were pretty caked with oil coal). The top end was in good condition as well with no wear in the cam bearings, the cams themselves and the tappets.
Overall I am (again) impressed by the build quality of the older Volvo engines. if it had received more oil changes, it would've ran for another 280,000km for sure.
Man, this failure must've been a serious bang. There's a good crack in the block too...

The last job for today was cleaning the floor mats. Certainly the previous owners of the car didn't have kids, because cleaning the rear two mats required less time and effort than cleaning the one on the drivers side...
The one on the passenger side is still covered by tools, so it has to be cleaned another time. The interior carpet has to be cleaned as well, but I want to wait for the weather to become warmer so it has a chance to dry.

[crasbe]

Not much progress this week, but some odds and ends got done or at least started.

First of all I started with a mount for the Hella UP28 vacuum pump. It lives in the spot where the old ignotion coil used to be, which is obviously not needed anymore. Unfortunately the design is flawed and the pump doesn't actually fit in the spot it's supposed to
BUT with the print being a prototype anyways, the position of the bolt holes could be confirmed. So it actually DOES fit in the car at least.
Most likely though the Hella UP28 will be swapped for a Hella UP5.0 which I got rather cheaply in Lithuania.

The electronic throttle pedal from a Diesel V70 I showed up as well. Fortunately this pedal came with the mounting bracket, as it is different from the bowden throttle pedal. And it actually fits like a glove
Not bolted up yet, because the carpet will be removed, cleaned and somehow repaired. Perhaps I can sew a patch in, not sure yet.
The hole of the Bowden cable from the old throttle pedal will be closed off with a 3D printed grommet or gland, so it's nice and water tight again and the cables of the electronic throttle can be routed through there.

Speaking of repairs... some people seem to be very closely related to Neanderthals, at least one of the previous owners of the Volvo or a mechanic working on it...
The footwell cover on the drivers side has three out of three mounting spots broken. The unfortunate thing is that the tabs are in the actual dashboard, so getting a new footwell cover is not a fix. The center bolt hole is ripped out as well.
Most likely I'll make some repair parts on the 3D printer which will be glued or screwed in so it's nice and sturdy again and not held by a drywall screw...

Speaking of repairs... some people seem to be very closely... wait.. again...?
Yes... because one of the mountings of the drivers side headlight is ripped out as well and the indicator is worse for the wear as well.
I'm not entirely sure how to fix the headlight. While a 3D printed repair part would certainly be possible as well, it might be easier to just buy a new used headlight.

Other than these things a lot of parcels are on their way from East Europe:
- 2x Volvo V70 ECUs (stay tuned, this will be nice)
- Volvo C30 Power Steering Pump
- Mitsubishi Outlander Heater
- Mitsubishi Outlander Charger (another one? yes, it was cheap)
- Opel/Vauxhall Mokka CCS Port
- 2x side marker lights for the front doors
- hazard light switch (the one in the car is stuck, perhaps I can make one from two)
- Volvo V70 I brake pedal from an Automatic (no clutch anymore, so no clutch pedal anymore)
- Hella UP5.0 vacuum pump

Not from East Europe, but from Germany four new subframe bushings are on their way, so when the subframe is out I can replace those as well.
I made a cool little tool for pressing these in with the 3D printer:

More information about that can be found on Matthews Volvo Site and Printables:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forum ... 02#p641202
https://www.printables.com/model/634138 ... shing-tool

[arber333]

One is in the oil pan and one is in the engine block itself. The piston of the first cylinder moves freely but the rest of the engine is seized.

Hm... i remember a guy who cut down the front part of the Nissan Juke engine and used it to fix the last bearing in place from both sides. In fact he used the OEM front bearing and flange part of the shaft since it was made for radial and angular loads anyway . Just a suggestion as you already have engine in pieces.

[crasbe]

Just a suggestion as you already have engine in pieces.

Stay tuned

[arber333]

Yes, it's not gonna be a power house but I recon it's going to be fine.

You could fit the rear parts of axle of the XC70 to your V70which is driven and fit another outlander motor there. Inverter actually doesnt care where it is located. You could actually connect 2 inverter to a single battery and drive them with same CAN commands for 50:50 power distribution.
From my drive i can see motor draws 230A max for 200Nm.
You would have to design rear shafts to fit Outlander gearbox though...

[crasbe]

The Volvo V70XC is quite rare and parts for it are even rarer. Currently there are less than 10 Volvo V70XC for sale in Germany :O
In the second generation, the XC70, the rear axle configuration is completely different as far as I know, so no parts are interchangeable.
(And if it wasn't completely similar, it wouldn't fit the regular chassis of the V70 I).

Therefore, for now a single Outlander motor will have to suffice (and I want to keep the project at least soooomewhat simple)

[Jacobsmess]

So I skipped the last 4 or 5 posts just to write. Excellent use of the word yeeted. People don't yeet things enough around here.

[crasbe]

"Is the project dead?" I hear you asking. The answer is: no

The past week I've been on "vacation" in the south to clear my head from work related stuff, but the previous week, a lot of parts arrived already:
- Mitsubishi Outlander Charger (another one, yes. It was cheap, don't blame me.)
- Mitsubishi Outlander Heater
- Volvo V50/C30/... Power Steering Pump
- some random parts for the V70 including some lights, hazard switch, ...
- Cabin Air Filter and CV axle boots
- Four new steel rims for my VW Käfer (okay, that is not related to this project)
- Opel Mokka CCS Port (another one, yes. It was cheap, don't blame me.)
- Hella UP5.0 Vacuum Pump
- IMASAF Muffler for my Volvo S60 (yes, still gas, but I have to get to work somehow)

Therefore, my work regarding the Hella UP28 vacuum pump bracket was in vain.. more or less. The bolt pattern of the ignition coil could be reused, the rest was scrapped.
I knew that the bracket would become rather complicated, so it was very much expected that the first version wouldn't fit.... AAAAAAAAND it didn't

Major issues were the clearence between the bracket and the pump and the fuse box in the car, which I completely forgot about. However it was hard to exactly measure everything and get everything right the first shot, so it was really valuable to have a first draft of the bracket to modify.
And indeed, the second version became A LOT more sophisticated.

In general, the clearance was better and the pump actually fit in the bracket and could be held in place by the screws. But of course it was not perfect and I didn't plan enough clearance for the exhaust of the pump. This was a simple fix though.

The fitment in the car was much better as well and it cleared the fuse box. Some areas were still a bit tight and others had a lot of excessive clearence which reduced the material thickness in somewhat critical areas too much.

Therefore I designed another version, which will be printed tomorrow.

All in all, the 3D printer is a very valuable tool to have. While it's true that I could've made the bracket with some sheet metal, making it with the 3D printer is much more exciting for me

Best regards,
Chris

[crasbe]

Another issue that occured to me was the clearance to the hood. While it would be convenient to sit in the engine compartment and then close the hood, there is a real risk of getting trapped under the hood... I HEARED... (not looking at anyone specifically).
Therefore you have to live with this picture that I exported from a video which my smartphone took, while I trapped it under the hood

The pump was touching the insulation mat, but not really holding the hood up. Moving down the pump a good bit proved to be beneficial for the material thickness in the cutout area as well, so certainly worth doing.
Furthermore I added another washer to the inside of the bracket where the rubber sits, because the metal insert probably squish into the plastic over time, which I don't want.

My trusty Sovol SV06 printer quickly (3ish hours) printed the new iteration. Remember: Rapid Prototyping

It now fits nicely and I think it should be the last revision and I can finally print it in my fancy DasFilament Flame Retardant PETG filament.

Unfortunately not everyone out there is converting a Volvo V70 I to electric, so I made two universal brackets from the Volvo bracket as well. One does not have any means for mounting it so the 3D model can be modified. The other one has four 5mm holes so it can be mounted to a custom plate or the chassis.

The aforementioned models are published on Printables as well, so you can use them for your EV conversion as well: https://www.printables.com/model/814292 ... mp-bracket


Best regards,
Chris

[crasbe]

Today I did a bit more procrastina.... uummm... general repairs on the Volvo
But the reason for the procrastination was my other Volvo, which needed a new exhaust (yes, it would actually need an EV swap, but for now that's not feasible). And the exhaust replacement was sponsored by Damien's favorite RUST, which made this take three days instead of a couple of hours...

But now back to the Vee70:
As I have previously shown, the dashboard kickpanel of my 1998 Volvo V70 I has a broken tab where it should be held in place by a screw under the steering wheel.
While the previous owner "fixed" that by screwing a drywall screw into the side of the kickpanel, I preferred a more lasting repair...

With Fusion 360 I created a 3D model which replicates the missing piece of the kickpanel and has a brim which will ensure a strong glue connection to the panel. In the profile of the model you can see that it follows the slight curvature of the panel as well, ensuring a good fit.

Due to the curvature it had to be 3D printed in a somewhat odd orientation, but it worked. This prototype is PLA, but the final version will probably be printed from ABS or PETG. PLA will start to become soft at around 60°C, which a black car (as mine is...) can reach on a very hot and sunny summer day.

As you can see, it fits very nicely on the kick panel and I'm sure it'll be a very strong repair.

Of course, something like that is not designed first try, so this is the evolution of this repair part.
Leftmost is the little piece that was furtunately remaining on my kick panel, so I could get some reference dimensions from it. The first version was too small because I mixed up the inner and outer dimensions. The second version fit quite well, but didn't have the curvature yet, so the contact area was not good yet. The third version is a cutaway to see if the model curvature fits the actual panel. The last part is the final prototype

The next repair will be on the dashboard itself, but I don't know when I'll do it.

I wonder if that is a common problem with Volvo V70s that this tab of the kickpanel breaks?
Or were the previous owners of my car just hacks who ripped the panel out instead of taking it out carefully?


Best Regards,
Chris

[crasbe]

I wonder if that is a common problem with Volvo V70s that this tab of the kickpanel breaks?

Well.. I asked the same question on Matthew's Volvo Site and apparently YES, this is a common problem
More info can be found there as well, I don't want to repeat it here necessarily https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forum ... p?t=104245


Last weekend I did some tinkering with the Volvo. One of the small projects is fitting the brake pedal from the Automatic (no clutch in the car anymore). This turned out to be quite the task because the pedal assembly has to be dis-assemblyfied as the shaft is above the steering column.
Many hours of laying on my back bent over the door sill, it was finally out

More time was spent with my back arched over the door sill to remove the clutch master cylinder. It is jammed behind the brake booster, so the brake booster has to be removed. The nuts are not easy to reach and it was a major pain but eventually got done...
I need to tighten the nuts of the brake booster, but my motivation was just gone.
The hole that emerged in my firewall will be covered by a plate (which I have to design). The prototype will be 3D printed, but the final plate will be metal. This is for the simple reason that one of the bolts of the pedal assembly is shared by the clutch master cylinder (or the cover plate for that matter) and even though I love 3D printing, that's not the application for it.

Another little "procrastination" project (but somewhat important for the inspection) was repairing the door side marker lights. They have a little clip with a tendency to break... You can see how a "little project" can escalate, but I finally have good solution for it. More info about that can be found on MVS as well: https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forum ... 75#p644375

Some new parts were fitted like the coolant expansion tank and the new cabin air filter. The old expansion tank had cracks in it and I didn't trust it (even though the cooling system likely won't have much pressure in it anymore)... and the cabin air filter should be obvious...

The Volvo power steering pump found a nice place where it can live. A 3D printed bracket is obviously in order for it. However I do have to check if it would interfere with the gearbox or not. It's quite a looong boi, so it would be unfavorable if it hit the gearbox and the hood at the same time

The Outlander heater will probably live somewhere here-ish. Close to the heater core lines is probably not a bad idea. It'll get it's own pump so not too much heat is lost to the radiator.

That's about everything for now. I know that I really should start designing the motor mounts, but well...

[crasbe]

Sooooooooooo... this is a little project that has been in the workings for quite some time: Replacing the ECU with my own Vehicle Control Unit.
The car will still use the ZombieVerter, but it just doesn't have enough Inputs and Outputs to control all the functions in the Volvo. For example a couple of dashboard lights are controlled by the ECU.

Fortunately I bought that ECU two years ago which has the same case and connector, so I could measure the dimensions of the PCB and connector. This were maaaaaany tedious hours with the calipers.

Getting the dimensions of the pins right was quite annoying, because KiCAD is not much a CAD program in the sense of parametric design. So for example you can use the measurement tool for measuring dimensions, but not for setting dimensions. Therefore I did the pin placement in Fusion 360, exported an SVG or DXF (I don't remember) and then placed the pins in KiCAD. It was an annoying process, but it worked.

Yesterday I got the desoldering gun out and removed the connector from the original PCB. Most pins were fine, but the cheap Chinese desoldering gun struggled with ground pins. In the end I heated the tip of the desoldering gun with my very powerful Metcal soldering iron to get enough heat

Before ordering PCBs it's a good idea to verify the correct fitment... as you can see, that was a good idea

I have ordered three PCBs from Aisler, which should arrive in two weeks-ish.

The plan is to add an STM32 Nucleo board and a bunch of MOSFETs and whatever to the PCB. I did not fully work out the plan yet and that's the reason why I designed this Protoboard. That gives flexibility for the unknowns. I don't have to know and define EVERY pin beforehand, I can do it on the fly.

Best regards,
Chris

[johu]

Veeery nice! Udo will like that.
I think you have the book, right?

Maybe you can be somewhat compatible? But don't want to restrict you

Attached some notes also, but the table from the book is more up to date