this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024
4 points (83.3% liked)

Cars - For Car Enthusiasts

3920 readers
72 users here now

About Community

c/Cars is the largest automotive enthusiast community on Lemmy and the fediverse. We're your central hub for vehicle-related discussion, industry news, reviews, projects, DIY guides, advice, stories, and more.


Rules





founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I have an old v8 laying around that’s not very useful to me. Is there a company that sells conversion kits that replace the alternator and starter with an EV motor? I can’t seem to find one.

Edit: like this:

https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-engines/l8b/

Found one:

https://m.roadkillcustoms.com/e-charger-bolt-on-electronic-supercharger/

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You'd need to replace the entire engine to do anything useful.

Not sure what you'd get out of replacing either of those with an "EV motor". For all intents, the starter is an "EV motor" with a "starter drive" so it's not always engaged. It's a 12v, high current DC motor.

If you tried to put a load on the flywheel/flexplate, you'd just shred the teeth - they weren't designed for continuous use.

This idea makes no sense at all.

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Gm used to, Volvo and Ram currently offer them.

You would get rid of the starter since the electric motor can start the engine.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

What are you talking about?

I suspect we're talking past each other.

If you're talking about the Chrysler/Jeep electric motor boost thing, that's not new - Eaton has made them for going on 30 years for semis.

But retrofitting... Look at the torque loads you're talking about. And the space required.

For example, starters use a lot of current and generate significant torque, for seconds at a time. They overheat quickly. Trying to retrofit a more capable electric motor would be a huge task. Hell, simply removing the starter on some V8s requires detaching a motor mount and lifting the engine, there's so little space.

It would be even worse for the alternator (which would really revert to using a generator). You'd have to reengineer the crank pulley setup (basically give the crank a mount plate like the rear does), as the key design is intended as a shear relief. And that means all new pulleys, etc. Take a look at what's required to install a an aftermarket supercharger on a V8, say for racing. And the street versions don't require the torque loads you're looking at with a useful generator.

To do this aftermarket, it would require being engineered on a per-engine-platform basis, at a minimum, and then also per vehicle, as space constraints and mounts vary so much.

Then looking at that cost, and materials, battery, cables, etc, there are better ways to spend money and resources to achieve, what exactly?

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

The belt for the etorque is pretty tame compared to some supercharger setups I’ve seen. Its packaging is about as much as an old a/c compressor.

Crank pulley setups are easy and common to replace or retrofit.

I’m familiar with what you’re talking about and don’t see the issue.

Have you ever retrofit anything to an engine?