Hi all,
Since i got my C5 the other day (bought from jaceaceatkins) I thought I should probably introduce myself on the forum.
I'm Alec and I live in Cambridge. I study engineering here, specialising in electronic and information.
My C5 is pretty much vanilla, with no accessories and the original key ignition/battery cover. The chassis had recently been cleaned of rust, coated in rust-proof paint and had its bearings replaced before I got it.
Here are my projects I have planned, some of which i've given more thought than others:
- Replace the battery (currently a leaking lead acid) with lithium iron (120Ah at 14.4v). This may also involve replacing/modifying the pod electronics
- Fit indicators - I'll probably get some car repeater indicators and make a circuit on stripboard to drive them
- Buy some hub centres - probably newell ones, but I'm considering painting them yellow. Not entirely true to the original, I know, but I think it will look cool for it to match the front wheel decal
- Replace the reflective strip - an easy one, I know, but probably a job for when the weather's warmer
- Do something to make it more visible. Possibly a strip of orange LEDs on a pole, kinda like the original visibility flag.
- Replace the headlights with LEDs
- Improve the brakes - I'm going to look into replacing the rear drum brake with a disc brake, and replacing the front wheel with a metal one and better brake pads.
- Potentially do a hub motor conversion, although this isn't an immediate plan. My battery pack will be made of 8 60Ah cells configured in series-parallel for 120Ah 14.4v. This is so that I keep the option open to do a 24V hub motor mod: I can just reconfigure the pack into series for 60Ah at 28.8V.
- Add a derailleur - the C5 is very difficult to cycle at speed since the gears are too low. Just two gears would be fine - the standard one and a high gear, for helping the motor out without spinning your legs around like crazy
Anyway, here are some pics: