Speaker

The car came with a shiny new CD player but no speakers. I searched around the car and couldn't even find any factory designated mounts for speakers. There wasn't any extra space available (without major changes) around the driver's seat, but I did find a good spot by the passenger for a speaker.


I didn't know what the existing metal brackets were for, but they would soon become the brackets for my speaker mount. I measured the opening and took my jig saw to some 1/2" MDF board.


Test fit into place - looks good!


Primed...


Painted...


Mount in place...


Speaker in mount...


Looks great and works great too! I can now listen to the radio while working on the car. I still need to clean up and hide the rest of the CD player's wiring though...

More Electrical Components

I'm still waiting on the controller - it will probably be a couple more weeks. I have been picking up other electrical components in the mean time though.

A 120V circuit breaker...


A 500A/50mV shunt for the ammeter...


And 4 12V computer fans I had from a previous project...


As usually, I wasn't expecting the shear size of the circuit breaker and shunt. I'm finally coming to terms that this car's power is equivalent not to a house's outlet, it's equivalent to the power running to the entire house!

Schematic (Draft)

I've just about finalized my electrical schematic.


I'm using 2 contactors in the design. The first is triggered closed via the key switch and the second by the foot pedal. The second contactor has a precharge resistor across its leads. This way, when the key is turned to "on" and my foot is off the pedal, the controller will begin to precharge. When I apply pressure to the foot pedal, the second contactor closes, ending the precharge, and allowing electricity to flow freely to the controller. As long as I wait a few seconds before applying gas (as most drivers do anyways), then the controller should precharge sufficiently.

The precharge/contactor is also a safety feature - if the controller fails in the full throttle position, I can just instinctively lift my foot off the pedal and the second contactor will open. The huge demand of current will quickly fry the resistor and stop the car. If the second contactor fuses closed, then I can turn the key to off to open the first contactor. If first contactor fuses closed, then I can pull an emergency cable triggering the circuit breaker open. Of course if I'm fusing contactors left and right then I imagine my 400Amp fuse should have blown breaking the circuit as well. Whew! I'm not expecting the car to run away with me, but I think I've got enough safety measures in place just in case!