Formula 1

[landon]

I've been working on this for a few months, now. I finished the wiring tonight and it looks like it's going to work great!
I was kicking around the idea of redoing the XM I had laying around, when I had a little idea:

A Formula 1 style race car 8-)

So, I got my plan together... I had picked up a 2V scooter at a garage sale and gutted the parts. So, I had a 500W ESC, charging port, key switch, a few pairs of 21t #7 GBs, and a bunch of 6V 12ah batteries. If I'm making a race car, it had better be fast, right?!
Here's the donor scooter:


First order of business was to mount a brake pedal:




Then place the cooling fans:


Then install the donor electronics, relays, and throttle pedal:





Added bearings to the gearboxes (a la Taz's thread), sorry no pics... but I think I didn't do as good of a job as I could have. When I drilled out the gears, they weren't completely level, so the gears wobbles just a tad when they spin. It works, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to re-make these once they blow up!

Made axles, mounted traction bands to the front wheels (from a jeep), changed the steering wheel, and flipped the brush guard (had to do some trimming to get it to fit/work right):


Mounted the batteries:


There are four 6V batteries velcro'd to a metal PC side panel, which is bolted to the bottom of the vehicle.

Wired it all together:





I was SO nervous when I turned the key for the first time... but it runs beautifully. My daughter will test drive it this Wednesday!
I still have some work to do... mount the air intake ducts, make a spoiler, and trim the body so the front tires don't rub in a hard turn.
If the kid likes it, I may paint it this fall.

Whatcha think??

[SAHDman]

Excellent work. I can't wait to see this thing in action!

[bruces_eviltwin]

Excellent work. I can't wait to see this thing in action!

+1 I like the battery mounting! great space saver

[taz11]

:o :o :o ......That's great! Members have been taking the roll cages off for years, but they never looked right to me.

You hit that one perfect! Nice job.

[iDz Bowl]

Cant wait to see it in action! Great job man.

[landon]

Thank you very much, guys!
I'm itching to get out of work today and get this thing ready for Wednesday's test drive.
I can't wait!! ...and my daughter's pretty excited about it too, lol!

[daveweber34]

What are you using as traction bands? I can't tell from the picture.

[landon]

What are you using as traction bands? I can't tell from the picture.

They're 12.5" inner tubes (also taken from the donor scooter!)

Here is today's progress:







All that's left is to make a spoiler... but I'm not sure I should anymore. There's a lot going on back there and I'm wondering if a spolier would just clutter it up.
What do you all think? It's not really a race car without a spoiler, is it??

[taz11]

Yeah....really needs a wing. Maybe you can mount it behind the tub instead of on top of everything.

[Battman2036]

you could add a bit of tubing over the fans for exhaust and use the two "exhaust" slots to join a wing to the back. Depending on the width, I might have a wing off a safety 1st vette

[landon]

I'm imagining some type of F-1 inspired wing design:


Narrow, boxed off at the ends... Not too terribly hard to make, but I'm unsure about the material. I need it to be light, somewhat strong, and cheap... pipe dream?
I think I may need to swing by Lowe's to see what they have.

[Battman2036]

look up Sintra. It's a compressed PVC foam I used for making signs. You can heat it with a low power heatgun and mold it with no issue. Easy to cut (even with an exacto) and paintable. There are a few places in CLE that sell it. Comes in differing thicknesses as well as a bunch of colors. They have a generic version, I just don't know the name. http://www.sabicpolymershapes.com/polys ... intra.html

[SAHDman]

That 6v franchesco wing looks just like that if you can find one

[landon]

That 6v franchesco wing looks just like that if you can find one

Yeah, it does!
But, like you said... "IF" I can find one. Not sure how likely that is. I might post in the wanted section to see what's out there.

look up Sintra. It's a compressed PVC foam I used for making signs. You can heat it with a low power heatgun and mold it with no issue. Easy to cut (even with an exacto) and paintable. There are a few places in CLE that sell it. Comes in differing thicknesses as well as a bunch of colors. They have a generic version, I just don't know the name. http://www.sabicpolymershapes.com/polys ... intra.html

Sounds cool but pricey (have you picked up on a theme here?) :lol: I'm a total cheapskate!
I'm wondering if I can make the corrugated plastic sheet stuff work for this. It's cheap and light, but not that strong. Maybe if I layer it with perpendicular corrugation?
hmmmm...

[bruces_eviltwin]

That 6v franchesco wing looks just like that if you can find one

this one? I can see if I have an extra yet

[landon]

That 6v franchesco wing looks just like that if you can find one

this one? I can see if I have an extra yet

photo (8).JPG

That's the one!
Let me know what you find. Maybe shoot me some dimensions, if you have a chance to measure it. Thanks!

[x-tremeOCK]

This thing is great! We have an old XM in the shed, man I have to learn how to use those scooter parts. I picked an old Razor 24V electric scooter last weekend for $12, everything works too, even the 12V batteries and charger. Keep the info coming, I like!

X

[whkwt184]

Nice build Landon.!! I have 2 of these that the roll cages are pretty much shot. U have inspired me :D My wife will not appreciate what u have done!! :lol: I'm with X though I gotta figure out the scooter controller thing and really start getting some life outta these things.

[Battman2036]

Landon, theres a franchesco on CL for $20 if it's still there. Out your way.

[landon]

This thing is great! We have an old XM in the shed, man I have to learn how to use those scooter parts. I picked an old Razor 24V electric scooter last weekend for $12, everything works too, even the 12V batteries and charger. Keep the info coming, I like!

Thanks, X! This was my first venture into ESC territory, so I didn't want to invest a ton of money into it... the donor scooter was a great source for parts and a good learning experience when I tore it apart. The best piece of advice I can offer is that when you disassemble your scooter, to label what connections go to what component on your controller. Get a small felt tip pen and write on the connectors what they're for. It seems like they all have the same basic ins/outs; voltage in, key/switch, throttle, brake, motor out... but some have a lot more than that! Check out the Bonner governor (search this site) if you want to run an ESC to stock PW motors/GBs, it lets you dial back the maximum output to the motors so you don't cook them.

For this build, I figure I'm pretty safe running the stock motors at a full 24V because there isn't going to be any great load on the system. It's designed for hard surfaces only (so no grass to push against), it's a single rider (and my daughter's pretty small for her age), and the vehicle itself is pretty small and light. I installed fans to run off the motor's voltage, and they kick on when the vehicle's at about 1/2 throttle. I didn't check the temp after the first drive today, but will the next time she takes it out. The gearboxes, however, needed to be modified so they didn't melt the first gear because of the increased speed. That's what the bearings are for. I kept the electronics very simple because I didn't want a hi/low switch (it's a variable throttle, after all), brake lights, etc... This ride only has three relays: power to the ESC, ESC key, and separate brake circuit. It might be a mistake that I'll regret, but I didn't really see a reason to control FWD/REV with relays for this build. A clean stock switch should be able to handle the load and my driver knows not to change direction when in motion, so they won't be arcing and welding closed like a throttle switch would at 24V. Time will tell!
If you want, I can post my wiring diagram...

Nice build Landon.!! I have 2 of these that the roll cages are pretty much shot. U have inspired me :D My wife will not appreciate what u have done!! :lol: I'm with X though I gotta figure out the scooter controller thing and really start getting some life outta these things.

My apologies for indirectly upsetting your wife! :lol: But I DO love inspiring other people, so thank you! This build was a lot of fun to put together and actually a lot easier to wire because of the ESC than some of my earlier builds. My goal was SPEED so I knew I would have to go the ESC route if I wanted to run anything higher than 18V. There are TONS of good ESC conversion projects on here that go into detail ... I read most of 'em before laying out my plan for this build.

Landon, theres a franchesco on CL for $20 if it's still there. Out your way.

Yep, thanks! SAHDman forwarded me the post last night, LOL!
I'm still not sure if the size is right to do a straight install of the Francesco wing... so for now, I'm leaning more toward making my own. That way I know it fits right and it might look a little less awkward until I can get it painted.

Here it is on it's maiden voyage earlier today:

I might have a bit too much camber in the front wheels, but the inner tube traction bands stayed on really well (at least for the 20-30 minutes of driving she did) and definitely helped with steering!

oh, and I'm sorry for the length of this post... I'm in essay mode after working on school crap all night!

[SAHDman]

I'm going to vote yes to seeing your wiring diagram. I think I'm going to tear down one of the razor scooters I picked up for a future 24v project. Good work!

[drew510]

Here's a quick and dirty MSPaint of an idea.

[landon]

Thanks for the graphic, Drew! Nice color match, too :)
Yes, that's more or less what I'm gonna shoot for.

Here is the diagram, SAHDman:

If you want the high-res vers, I'll email it.

[SAHDman]

I finally got the video to load. She's loving it! That thing flies. Now I need to scrap one of my Razor's and join the 24v club...

[Battman2036]

Another thought on the material for the wing. You could also use Kydex. Only problem is it's pricey. I'm sure someone in the Akron area has the Sintra or other similar material.

[x-tremeOCK]

WOW! :shock: Thanks for the "how to" and the wiring diagram. That will certainly help when I get started :idea: You could publish that and make a few $$ ;)

X

[x-tremeOCK]

Just checked the video, what a cutie, she is adorable! Move over Danica Patrick.

X