http://www.evalbum. com/325.html
The wife drove it 3 miles to work and back today as she has almost every day for the last 16 years.
In deference to those who think we should be preserving these cars, the last body I got was just a shell, stripped of all parts of value. Seems to me its the engine parts that are precious. From this newsgroup I get the impression that out west its not hard to come across a rust-free body, but hard to find an engine worth rebuilding.
Regarding the 600 running "...cheaper than any electric car", it costs about 2.6 cents per mile to run mine on electric. Of course the sun makes most of my electricity, so cost is relative... relative as in what's the "true" cost of running your 600 on gasoline that we fight wars for, clean up massive spills from, and can partly blame for global climate change that will probably forever change our children's future.
Sorry, a bit political, but I couldn't let it go unsaid.
Anyone serious about doing the conversion I would be glad to offer some advice, photos, and sketches, but as I said to Dale, I think there are better choices for a conversion these days than the old 600's.
Tom
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> goinhm@...
> To:
> 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> Sent:
> Monday, May 31, 2010 3:40 PM
> Subject:
> Re: [2cylinderhondas] conversion
> of honda 600 to electric
> Hi Paula,
> Check with Tom in Ohio (
> tom@...
> ). He monitors this
> newsgroup and has converted his Honda 600 sedan to electric. Here is > what he told me;
> That's my converted Honda at
> http://www.evalbum. com/325.html
> The $2000 cost is parts only, my
> hundreds of hours of labor were free, I guess.
> Low cost listed there
> is due to:
> 1) surplus electric traction
> motor found for only around $300
> 2) lead acid batteries costing only
> about $70 each when I did it
> 3) controller costing only about
> $800 when I did it
> 4) all other mechanical and
> electrical parts being made by me
> The 600 was a good choice when I
> first made this conversion in 1993. Very small and light with a > sturdy chassis that seems to handle the battery weight OK.
> 16,000 miles (and two bodies) later we still use the car almost every > day. However, with parts becoming more scarce, plus the lighter, safer > designed vehicles available today, I think I would start with a different > vehicle for the conversion if I were starting now.
> Tom
> Converting your car to electric could become a
> major undertaking and it depends on how you want to use the car. If you > goal is to have a car you drive in your local neighborhood and your top speed > is going to be 25 mph, you could do the conversion by obtaining > a used golf cart and putting its drive system into your car.
> If you are interested in a car which can be driven on the freeway and has a > range of 100 miles before recharge, you would be better off buying an > electric car instead of converting your Honda. For more > information on converting your car to electric, check out one of the electric > car groups (e.g.
> http://www.diyelectriccar.com/
> ).
> If you are interested in a car which runs
> on an alternative energy source, you might consider converting your > Honda car to run on alcohol or propane. Propane fuel has about the > same energy content as gasoline and the conversion involves replacing the > carb, fuel tank, and adjusting the timing. The fuel system for the car > can be 2 of those propane tanks used on a propane grill. You fill them > up just like you do for your grill.
> Converting your car to alcohol (which has about half the energy content > as gas) would involve rejetting the carb, changing out the fuel system from > the gas tank to the carb (replacing all the "rubber" parts which used to > handle gasoline including the gaskets and o-rings in the carb and at the > intake manifold). The timing would also need to be > readjusted. The downside of a car running on alcohol (and you > might want to run it on E85 instead of pure alcohol) is that alcohol absorbs > moisture very readily and if you are not using your car frequently, the > fuel may become spoiled from the moisture found in the air (i.e.
> humidity variations). The upside of alcohol is that you could > make the alcohol yourself out of newspaper, junk mail, > yard debris, food scraps, wood scraps, anything which > is organic. You are pretty much becoming a moonshiner to produce > alcohol fuel for your car.
> good luck,
> Dale
> > hey
> > was wondering if anyone knows about converting a honda 600 to electric...i > > have four of the little jewels just sitting here going to waste and thought > > maybe conversion is the answer...any help will be > > appreciated. ..paula