'69 Datsun PU: another newb lewking for cheap speed

[pletcherqly]

Spent the last month lurking and reading this site, bought the "Build Your Own EV" book by Leitman and Brant.

Started a thread on a Datsun board regarding my build plans for chassis and aesthetics here: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/39067-...he-future/

I have a about $4k budget to prep the rig for batteries (hoping lithiums get a little cheaper by the time I'm ready to drop them in) giving myself about 2 years to do it.

The truck is a '69 Datsun PL521 that has been in my family since '71, I drove it in HS with a 90 degree Cheby V6 previously converted by my grandfather. It was stolen about 10 years ago and stripped of the interior and drivetrain before we recovered it. It has retained Wilwood discs up front and the Corporate 8.25" rear end. Manual everything, relatively lightweight and a beefy enough chassis to carry batteries. I had earlier planned another ICE but the day I saw a baby blue Datsun without a tailpipe cruising I-205 here in Portland it peaked my interest in EVs. I obviously tracked down some info on the rig, discovered the Plasmaboy site, this site and blah blah blah.

Since I am not an electrical engineer a lot of the technical info here is lost on me but I have decided to dive in and learn along the way. I pre-emptively apologize for any dumb questions but I am committed to this project so I hope to learn a lot in the process.

I would like 40-50 mile range and 6-7 second runs to 60, this rig will be a grocery getter and garage ornament. If I can manage to up the range to 90 miles some day then it might pass as a daily commuter.

I have gravitated to the OpenRevolt and forklift motor stuff for budget constraints but I would also like to get some decent performance out this thing. Since my knowledge is limited I would also like to approach it from the KISS principles, hoping to make it direct drive and ditch any ideas of regen or super advanced practices.

I am a modest fabricator, own a Millermatic 165, TIG welder, JD2 tubing bender, Oxy torch and most common metal working tools. I am confident I can learn to solder well enough to get the job done. I plan on airbags front and rear with a back-half tube chassis and 4-link setup.

Questions:

Would a siamesed forkilft motor setup get me my speed goals? assuming I would have to run dual controllers.

Has anyone ever tried a tri-motor setup using stock forklift motor controllers? Tell me why this is a terrible idea.

I was also dreaming of a direct drive setup wherein the motor/motors are mounted on a wishbone link mounted to the axle and connected to the chassis via a heim joint ala:


I realize my plans will drastically change thoughout this build and I welcome all criticism and I thank you ahead of time for your help and wealth of knowledge.

and just to satisfy those who like pics, here's what I am starting with: