C5ALIVE Forum

C5Alive General Category => C5 Gallery => Topic started by: Ross on 08, June, 2009 - 13:18:34

Title: Before & After
Post by: Ross on 08, June, 2009 - 13:18:34
Bought this from eBay a year or so ago. Spent an afternoon with some paint stripper and a pressure washer removing all the red. 

Ignoring the original colour it seems to be in pretty good condition.
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Umpa on 08, June, 2009 - 18:44:30
nice 1 look really good
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Retro Andy on 08, June, 2009 - 20:35:01
I remember this one on e-bay, its come up a treat mate.

Retro Andy.
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Karl on 09, June, 2009 - 12:02:50
That is an impressive transformation  8) , you'd never guess it was the same C5 !

Certainly increased its value and given it a new lease of life - well done mate  ;)
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Ross on 09, June, 2009 - 21:51:56
Thanks for your comments Guys,

I converted this one to 24v as soon as i got it and it worked like a dream for 5 miles until the gear box chewed itself up.

So then I made my own gearbox making it chain driven but this was noisy when under load. 
So finally I bought a sturdy steel planetary gearbox on ebay and bolted it on similar to the original, and went back to the original belt drive.  Anyway its still going at just over 30mph and as silent as a milfkfloat.
Fingers crossed!
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: andrewcranfield on 10, June, 2009 - 06:39:10
Ross

I am sure that I am not the only one who would really love to see some pictures of the gearbox conversion.... :)

Many thanks

Andrew 
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Umpa on 10, June, 2009 - 17:45:05
Hell yes dude -- I would LOVE to see it, the gearbox is the weak link in 24v conversions.
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Karl on 10, June, 2009 - 19:42:30
Hell yes dude -- I would LOVE to see it, the gearbox is the weak link in 24v conversions.

...you're not wrong... :o
http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=181.0

A stronger replacement gearbox that bolts straight on with minimum adaptation is a bit of a Holy Grail  :-\
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Ross on 10, June, 2009 - 22:40:10
I'll get some photos taken of the installation before the end of the weekend.  In the mean time the following link to ebay shows a similar gear box to the one that I have used.  The one I bought cost about £40 I think.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-OFF-BAYSIDE-PLANETARY-GEARBOX-GEARHEAD-10-1-NEW_W0QQitemZ220431400027QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Industrial_Automation_Control_ET?hash=item3352bc3c5b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Retro Andy on 11, June, 2009 - 08:22:14
Cool, i hope it works, keep us informed.

Retro Andy
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Ross on 11, June, 2009 - 14:05:03
Ok, so here is the view of the gearbox modification.

Its not exactly a direct swap, and does require a bit of work. 

Firstly I have created some  holes in the face of the motor plate to mount it. 

I had to remove the original drive gear from the motor shaft as the new gearbox is driven by a plane shaft with a key way in it.

I have fitted a pulley wheel which I bought from RS to the output shaft of the gearbox allowing me to use the original drive belt.

As a result of it running on 24v it does generate alot of heat, so I have a centrifugal fan on the other end of the motor (not shown in the pic) powered by a small battery that I keep in the boot.  This runs continuously and draws cool air through the motor.  I also have a thermocouple attached to the fan outlet so I can monitor the temperature as Im going along.  Typically it doesnt exceed 60 degrees.

As the gearbox is longer I have had to set the motor back a bit and put shims in under the motor clamp to hold it steady.  I have also attached a torque brace to prevent the belt slipping.

And so far so good ........



Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: andrewcranfield on 12, June, 2009 - 22:20:27
Ross,

Fantastic!

I love it -  looks like an elegantly engineered solution 

Can we have some more details and pictures especially part numbers for the pulley etc?

Many thanks

Andrew 

 
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: automino on 13, June, 2009 - 21:14:23
Excellent solution that, would like to try that myself.
Title: Re: Before & After
Post by: Ross on 17, June, 2009 - 11:56:10
I'm planning to strip it down during the next month or so to check nothing bad is lurking under the surface.  Also I think I will make a plate to bolt the gearbox onto rather than use the plastic face of the motor as this will make mounting and aligning the gearbox more accurate.  Anyway, I shall post photos of this procedure and try and find part numbers in the meantime.