what does a 68 convertable weigh without the motor ? i am thinking of making mine a hybred, and to find the right size electric motor, i need a close estimation of the weight.
I guess you would take the weight of a '68 Convertible (likely available in the info from this site), and then subtract a few hundred pounds for the engine. You removing the transmission as well? Rear axle to be replaced?
Might I ask what kind of hybrid you were thinking of making this car? Most take extreme forms of electronics... (regenerative braking, gas/electric smart interaction, lithium-ion batteries, etc etc)
'68 Firebird, 350-4, 2 spd auto, triple black, Dlx Interior
eletric motor bolt direcly to tranny and to mount brackets. electronics are all prewired and simple install. gas engine does nothing more than charges 3 large deep cycle 12v batteries wired for 36 volts. the 12v system is not compromised by the 36v system and is also charged by an alternator. within a half a day i can replace the electric system with the original 400 which will be crated in the garage.
is it any worse than putting a chebby motor in your bird ?
most hybrid systems run at 400-600 volts and still rely on the engine to do most of the work to accelerate the car and keep it at speed on the freeway where the electric motors just aid in acceleration and allow the gas engine to shut off when unneeded, and also charge the battery when braking so a 36 volt system that only has a motor in front of the trans, doesn't have regenerative braking and the motor cant directly drive the wheels: i dont see much potential in that setup, but good luck hope it works better than i think it will
I think it's a great idea, OF. I'm sure it's not totally practical at this point, especially with regard to horsepower. But unless someone tries it never will be. Although traditional gas may not run out in our lifetime, it will certainly become increasingly expensive, making a search for some other system a worthwhile endeavor. That is if you want to keep driving your Firebird. I'm pretty sure that foot power won't work.
Quote: "is it any worse than putting a chebby motor in your bird ?"
I thought you already had a 327 in your Bird?
It's a contradiction, in my opinion. The only reason I can see that you would hybrid a 1st gen is to make it your priority, everyday, driver. I believe the day of the 1st gen daily driver have passed. With the introduction of all the safety equipment our new cars have, why would you want to ignore the safety factor? Hybrids are for taking care of business in an economical way and Birds are for pleasure when you couldn't care less what kind of gas mileage you are getting. Oops, this started out a tech question, sorry for the commentary/rambling!
*scratches head* I don't get it. Could be neat- but I think you'd be sacrificing a LOT of performance and driveability for... uh, possibly better gas mileage? Now if you just dropped in a 4cyl diesel engine, I could see that being a fuel miser...
'68 Firebird, 350-4, 2 spd auto, triple black, Dlx Interior
Let the man do what he wants to do with his own car!
Monster Garage just converted a '62 Bel Air into an electric powered machine that could go under 15 secs and over 100+ MPH!! in the 1/4 mile. (They powered it with 384 recharageble cordless tool batteries.)
It's called biodiesel. When the diesel engine was developed it was intended to use vegitable oil based fuel. It was cheaper to make the fuel using petroleum products thus the current form of diesel fuel. Any diesel will run on biodiesel, but there is a shortage of manufacturers. There is a guy a few hours from where I live that makes it at his house and uses it in his land rover...smells like french fries!
:p
