Current Status

You don't want the details?  Just want to know where the project is at today?  Here you go...

The EV conversion is finished.  The car drives, brakes, steers, and accelerates perfectly (and fast).  The bodywork is done.  Now all that is left is a few electrical odds and ends, HVAC, and a complete restoration.

The BMS and charger are all configured and the car can be charged

I am driving the car, including driving it to its first car show

The coolant loops are both all connected and working

The batteries are all in the car

The J1772 charging plug is installed

High voltage cables and pyro fuse routed from trunk to Tesla drive unit

Rear battery rack finished (4 batteries) and onboard changer located in trunk, with coolant lines run to under car

Tesla electric A/C compressor mounted and A/C hoses fabricated and attached to compressor, dryer, condenser, and firewall bulkhead

All brake lines fabricated and power steering hoses fabricated and attached with original vintage reservoir

LED lighting added to battery box

Acrylic battery box skins trimmed in black mask and CSE logo applies to mimic original valve cover casting

Front battery box skinned in clear acrylic and test fit to the car

Mini Cooper electric power steering pump installed.  Awaiting wiring and hoses.

Tesla electric AC Compressor mounted in tunnel where transmission used to be

Front battery box cooling lines run

Front battery box high voltage wiring completed

Tesla iBooster electric brake booster and Wilwood proportioning valve mounted

Radiators, A/C Condensor, fan, electric power steering pump, all mounted

A rust free shell on wheels with battery box

Trunk with battery racks (3 go behind the rear seat, 1 in the lower trunk).  The Tesla drive unit is under that new trunk area

Tesla drive unit (motor, inverter, and differential) mounted with custom halfshafts connected, rear suspension installed, electric parking brake operational, new trunk fabricated

The car is driving.  All the rust has been repaired.  All the holes from US side marker lights, US pulled out bumpers, etc have been filled.  Custom bumpers and rocker trim are done.  The Tesla drive unit is mounted and the custom half shafts are attached.  All the battery box/racks are fabricated, filled with batteries, and in the car.  The custom shifter mechanism that converts the physical motion of the original BMW automatic shifter into electrical signals with detents has been built and mounted to the car.  The hand operated parking brake is removed and has been replaced with an electric linear actuator that is be controlled by the custom shifter mechanism entering and leaving park.  The drive-by-wire throttle pedal mount is finished and the brake pedal has been modified to work with a Tesla electric iBooster brake system.  The electric power steering pump and A/C compressor are mounted and operational.  The front battery box is skinned in clear acrylic.

I finished the battery wiring, made hydraulic hoses from the Mini Cooper electric power steering pump to the stock BMW ZF steering box.   The brake lines have been fabricated and bled.  The rear battery racks are  finished and wired up. The pre-charge controller, contactors, fuses, brake switch, shifter, ignition switch, etc. is all wired up.   I have driven the car.  It charges.  It's done.  Well, it'll never be done but the EV stuff is basically finished. 

Now I need to relocate the BMS, fit the HVAC system (A/C and heat), finish all the instrumentation, fix a lot of 12v bugs, and finish the rest of the 12v wiring.  Then I'll tear it all apart and do the paint work.

Currently in progress:

• Relocate BMS
• Install battery lover
• Test and debug all 12v wiring

On the immediate To-Do list:

• Fix some gauge software bugs/features
• Install under dash HVAC
• More shake-down drives

Recently finished:

• Finalize sunroof metal finishing
• Pull in front bumper to 1972 (not US 1973) specs by making custom mounting brackets
• Modify 3-piece front bumper with rubber trim and over-riders into a custom single piece all chrome unit with no over-riders
• Finalize rear valence metal finishing
• Fit rocker covers
• Fix dents and other metal finishing
• Fix rust in drivers door trim flange
• Drive the car
• Program BMS and verify charging
• Install and connect BMS
• Fit water pumps and plumb cooling
• Bleed brakes and power steering
• Wire up pre-charge controller, contactors, fuses, brake switch, shifter, ignition switch, etc. 
• Mount and wire up J1772, OBC and DC-DC
• Finish rear battery racks
• Cooling system bench and pressure test
• Fabricate power steering hoses, A/C hoses, and brake lines
• Front battery box skinned with extension box
• Mounted Tesla electric A/C Compressor
• Digital to analog fuel and temp gauges
• Mount and hook up iBooster
• Mount electric power steering pump
• Mount radiators, fan, and A/C condensor
• Front bumper rubber trim holes filled
• Right front previous crash damage metal finished
• Air inlet in core support filled
• Charger and DC/DC Converter ordered
• Electric parking brake mounted
• Tach-hole dash app refined and working with BMS and on-board charger
• Dash app cruise control working properly

Postponed:

• Tear it all apart for paint
• Prep, prime, paint, undercoat bottom side
• Prep, prime, paint inside and jambs
• Send off for final exterior paint
• Put it all back together again