A green MGB

Charging Stations are a rip-off

2010-10-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

I started to explore the Smart Charging Stations available in the market. It ranges from $1000 - $2000.
What does it do?

It is not a charger. It provides an interface to industry standard SAE J1772 connector.
Its CDMA/GPRS/3G enabled and connects to internet
802.15.4 dynamic mesh network enabled
programmable to start stop charging
Woud alert you when

it starts/completes charging
someone disconnects the connector
tries to steal electricity from the connector

No it doesn't do any voltage conversion. AC to DC conversion happens in the car, before the Batteries are charged.

Yes, it is not trivial, but is it worth $2K. In my opinion it is not worth it. This to me is a new business opportunity..

First Step - Electric Vacuum Pump

2010-10-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

After looking at many choices, finally decided to order the Vacuum Pump from Stainless Steel Brakes.

Kit includes a vacuum pump, mounting hardware, vacuum switch, and relay. . I had to drill holes in the bay, install the kit.
I was not familiar with the electrical circuitry and for this kit to function correctly,

the electric connection had to be ignition source - meaning it should be powered only when the ignition is turned on
Relay and switch had to be grounded

Mike refreshed my memory about how to use a multi-meter and also guided me to design a mounting plate and to install it.

I followed the instructions thoroughly and installed the pump, followed by switch and relay. Connected everything together, verified the connections again to ensure I didn't mess anything up. Turned on the ignition... Voila!!! Vacuum pump started and I tested the brake pressure and it worked as it is supposed to. Played with the brakes couple of times and went for a test drive with my son for a trip to local Walmart to buy gifts for coupe of his friends' Birthdays.. Everything worked as it should be. I noticed that the pump makes quite a bit of noise, while it creates the vacuum. bbbbbrrrrrrrr

Bonus: I saw an electric wire hanging out. Mike and I tried to figure out whether this needed to be connected or it is a redundant connection. We finally figured out that this is a connection that drives emergency lights!! The emergency lights never worked after I bought this car and I never bothered to find out why. After I connected the wire, emergency lights came to life!!

My approach EV Conversion

2010-10-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

It is my first convertible, my first MGB and is gonna be my first EV.. I enjoy driving my MGB and want to know her better - how she drives, handles the corners, on the freeway.
I wanted really know how she behaved before the conversion. Someone in one of the forums mentioned that MGB need to be really on the road and needs to be taken care, unlike other cas and MGBs have soul (sounds funny?); and I wanted to really know the soul. I want to see if the soul exist after the removing the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), tranny, radiator, etc..

I wanted to drive my MGB on ICE, while I convert to electric. I wanted to slowly remove the dependency on ICE -

the hydraulic brakes need vacuum to to apply the brakes. ICE feeds vacuum to Hydraulic Brakes and this is my first step for the conversion..
ICE will be replaced by AC50 Hi Performance motor. I would mount the motor, test it; then switch it back to ICE
Heater circulates the hot water from ICE and fan blows hot air through the vents. I would convert this to use Ceramic heater.
Finally I would add Battery, charger and BMS (Battery Management System). After I test the Battery and BMS, I'll do the complete switch-over to Electric

Of course this is the plan and will see how it works out.

Bleeding the Brake-lines

2010-09-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I felt that brakes could do much better and decided to bleed the break lines.
Screwup - Dent on the Gas Tank
While I was Jacking up, car was lifted and then came back down by couple of inches. I looked around and everything looked fine. I put the jack stands on both sides and lowered the Service Jack to find that the fuel tank has a big dent and I jack-lifted the tank..
Luckily the damage was not bad - no leaks or internal damage.

Since this was first time bleeding, it was quite a bit of work for me and had to bleed couple of times to get it right. Thanks to my wife and dad for the help.. Finally completed the bleeding after 2 days (not whole day) of struggle..

Greasing the front shocks

2010-09-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

I learnt a lot by watching on-line videos and wanted to grease the front shocks. I jack lifted from the front (after watching the video).
Screwup - Radiator pushed up
Apparently, it slipped and settled down putting the entire weight on the radiator. It was pushed up by about 2 inches. Looks like radiator was pushed up enough to touch the hood; and had to push the hood hard to close the hood properly.

I was lucked out this time also - no major damage and no leaks from the hood. Temp gauge didn't go beyond 70%, which was same as before this mishap. Whew...

Greasing went fine on both the front shocks, which improved handling quite a bit. I'm quite impressed with the improvement.

Hunting MGB on Craigslist

2010-09-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly, there are lot of MGBs for sale in local CL. I wanted a car which is in a good condition, drivable and not needing any TLC/fixing. I wanted to enjoy driving this old lil' convertible, until conversion. Mike and I went for test driving the shortlisted MGBs.

First one was good, lil' pricey. Second one was by a dealer owned dented one. Third one was a clean car, priced just right and more importantly, everything working. Brakes were not so impressive, but was working good and I decided to go for it. A 1979 MGB.. Thanks for the deal Jim!!

Converting to an EV

2010-09-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

Why do conversion:

Saving environment for future, reduce dependency on oil, driving alone on Car Pool Lane and learning something new are few reasons I started thinking about converting an old ICE car to an Electric Vehicle.

What do I convert:

I started to think I'll convert my 94 Honda Civic with 208K miles on the dashboard, until I met Mike B in San Jose Electric Auto Association. Mike asked me why am I thinking of converting, what kind of car and why newer cars. He showed his converted car and I was impressed with the cool, old car. I was more fascinated by the simple design he had implemented. The more I looked at his car, more convinced I was that this is something that I should consider.

In couple of days, I decided to convert an MGB, by MG - a British car. There you go - an Indian born, American who never went to UK, decides to buy an old British car. I never thought I would buy a car this old and my '94 Civic was old enough for me