TINKERGINEERING for those that are interested, We are helping to put this together Options

[Mikey914]

Thought I'd take a moment to introduce @TINKERGINEERING

She reached out to us and with the help of her dad they are doing an electric 914.
There's a whole story they are documenting, but thought I'd encourage them to post up a little of what they are doing.

[914e]

Frances, to answer your question about the motor controller. The old DC controller will not work with an AC motor. AC motors and controllers are generally sold as matched package.

My kids did their first conversion a little older than you about at 13 or 14. It took them awhile to talk me into it. They did a complete restoration of a 74 super beetle.





They went a few months past their deadline of it being ready on their 16th birthday.

There was two of them so they ended up doing it in little over two years. The bulk of the time was sanding and doing bodywork. Tons of research by all of us.

We are current restoring a 914, like yours it was converted to electric about 20 years ago. With what looks to be about the same system and layout.

Do you plan on running the same 144 volts for the AC motor? 144 volts is a common voltage for conversions. For brands like HPEVS and NetGain 144 volts is their highest AC motor voltages. I might have the manual for your controller and the motor.
If they still work and most do, they still have fair amount of value to the conversion crowd.

I am not replacing the working DC system till after I have the rest of the car finished. Switch out the motor, controller and contactors is weekend project. I am leaning to the Netgain Hyper9 which would perform like a 914/6.

For a 914 even a 96 volt system is pretty quick. The bug is a 96 volt system and I still limited the power. Luckily my kids still let me set up the controller parameters or that setting would be 100%

In my view it is best to figure out what batteries you can fit, that will dictate your final voltage. That will help determine the voltage range of the motor. My son and I built foam core mockups of the modules and the motor to work up the placement and clearances.

We will be mocking up the battery enclosure for the 914 hopefully today and tomorrow. Foam core is much easier to handle and easy to modify before we make the metal enclosure.

High schools have thankfully brought back technology classes, that can give you access to 3D printers, CNC, laser cutters and more. Often they are eqipped with larger than what most people have at home. Most importantly it can give you free educational access to CAD software. Plus teachers love seeing projects like these.

It is great to see you wearing gloves. You and your dad need a set of insulated tools. Always use the insulted tools anywhere near the batteries or any of the electrical.
I was worried when I saw you removing the batteries with regular tools till you mentioned they were dead. Hopefully you measured them all, you can end up with a mix of some dead and some charged.

If you and your dad PM I can point you the right tools and which ones you likely to need. They are designed for high voltage electricians to use everyday so they are very expensive. So expensive they make Snap-on automotive tools seem cheap. You only need a few sizes. I found a low cost composite ratchet, good quality decent priced screwdriver sets, an AC/DC clamp on multimeter with current in rush measurement, along with specialty safety equipment

Give the batteries respect. Your complete pack will have enough current to run about 10 houses and there is no way to turn it off. It is basically a live electrical panel. Those final connections are live.

Great project, I'm sure my kids would love help in anyway they can.