BMW 3.0 CSE

The truth is, most of the time spent in this "EV conversion" has been spent on body work having nothing to do with the EV project. I knew there was some rust in the right-side floor and in the rear corners of the rockers but we also found rust: Between the roof and the sunroof frame In the lower front fenders In the left rear floor panel In the pinch weld of the rockers In the front and rear window frames To be safe, we removed the entire sunroof structure, fabricated a new portion of the roof, welded it in, and then replaced the sunroof.  Getting the roof curve correct and straight has been very time consuming. To be safe, we removed the entire outer rocker so that we could see the condition inside.  It was fine but at least know we know that for sure.   To be safe, we replaced the lower section of the quarters and fenders on both sides. We replaced both rear floor sections and patched the front. At least now we ...

It all sounds so easy.  Just throw out that old gas engine, bolt up an electric motor, add a few batteries and you're off to the races.  Or at least to the corner ice cream store in your new electric classic car.  If it only it were so.

The Tesla parts should arrive in a couple weeks. In the meantime, we've cut out the trunk area in anticipation of the motor install (I'm using the smaller Tesla rear-drive unit, by the way) so there's no going back now. The goal is 294 HP and 200 miles of range. There are still many, many details (battery placement, P/S, P/B, A/C, cooling, etc., etc.) to figure out.