Sparkey at the Kenthurst fair

When I first had the idea to build an EV I started by looking for a car that had a light frame and was cheap. In essence if the idea was a waste of time in the end I could cut my losses and sell it for scrap. After looking around for virtually no time I came across an ad in the trading post for a 92’ Hyundai excel sprint for $500. It was close by so I went for a look with my next-door neighbour for a second opinion. What the owner showed me was a perfect for the job.

The paintwork was a little faded, but we concluded that the body was around 95% with one or two minor dents and no rust. The engine was ok but needed minor work and blew smoke. The interior needed a little love but it wasn’t bad for a 15-year-old car. When took my friend aside for a chat he said, “Your not going to do any better than that mate” we decided I’d buy it then and there.

Getting it home was fun. The car was fuel injected, had a non-functioning alternator and the battery was dead. After a jumpstart I drove it for about 150 meters and the engine stopped so I got a tow.

After making plans to obtain a motor, batteries and a controller I began by removing the engine and all its peripherals (radiator, exhaust system, fuel tank ext.). After this I started work on cutting out the tire well for the rear battery compartment. So I made a rather large hole in-between the rear sub frame structure and reinforced everything with 5×25x25 angle iron, which I welded in place. Sparky’s a little over engineered, but at the time considering this was all new territory to me I thought to myself make this indestructible.

By the time I had completed the battery compartment frame I received my motor. I promptly began adapting to the transmission to the new motor. I used a 25mm aluminium plate and had the coupling made by my local machinist. When I had completed the mating I bolted everything together and started the process of retrofitting the completed engine/transmission unit into the engine bay. I used the two old engine mount points on the chassis and flipped the top mount and welded up a bracket that attached to the front of the motor. With that I place I decided to have a little test. With nothing but a 12 volt battery connected directly to the motor the car happily reversed and moved forward.
With the motor installation completed and checked I went about finishing the rear battery compartment because I had received the 15×8 volt Trojans I had to install.