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VanDeimen RF79 EV After attending the EV races at Firebird for the first time in 1996, I wanted to have a go at racing an EV myself. Speed Hillclimb, where a car is driven against the clock up a narrow winding road, seemed ideal. |
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I acquired an orphan Formula Ford 1600 of 1979 vintage. It's not old enough for historic Formula Ford and not modern enough to be competitive in post historic. I bought it for £500 and spent at least that much again on rod-end bearings and a steering rack. I've replaced a couple of chassis tubes and welded up an awful lot of old rivet holes. |
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The rear suspension lower links attach to a bridge bolted to the bellhousing of the gearbox, the gearbox being mounted rigidly to the chassis. The gearbox would original have been a Hewland Mk8/9, a rather expensive item, even second hand. Hewland used the magnesium alloy gearbox casing from the VW type 1 (Beetle), fitting their own internals and sideplates. I made a pattern and had Mk8/9 style sideplates cast by a local firm. |
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Hear is a better view of the rear suspension. You can also see the motor, a Prestolite MTC 4001 and the adaptor plate connecting it to the gearbox. I've yet to fabricate the mountings for the motor. |
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The plan is to use 16 of these 38Ah Hawker Genesis batteries mounted in two sets of eight. Each pack will weigh approx. 120Kg, so I've got to come up with a suitably strong mounting. |
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After a bit of research I found out from a Formula Vee engine builder that a stock VW type 1 clutch would transmit over 150 ft/lb of torque and only cost just over £50. This was 20% of the cost of the 7.25" AP Lockheed race clutch I was considering and only 500g heavier. Since you don't need to launch an EV on the clutch I was able to save some weight by making an aluminium flywheel. The picture shows the flywheel on my milling machine along with the part machined taperlock hub. |
