Phoenix Turbine Builders Club

Fiero HEV Conversion Project

More on building the adapter plate

October 2007

Cutting a 3/4 inch hole where the transmission shaft is marked allows us to slip the cardstock pattern over the input shaft, and make the final bolt hole cuts with an Xacto knife and the trans housing.

After checking for fit in the engine compartment, the pattern is transferred to 3/16 inch steel plate and cut out with a band saw. Holes are marked and drilled on either a drill press, for non-precision, or a mill for precision holes.

To complete the speed reducer, a (smaller) motor mount plate is laid out and processed just like the adapter plate. Stand-offs are fabricated from 1-inch aluminum rod to space the two plates with clearance for shaft bearings. A flywheel shaft and motor drive shaft are turned and fitted to the bearing assemblies. A set of cogged pulleys with a 2.56:1 ratio, and a matching belt 1 1/2 inches wide links the traction motor to the transmission input shaft.

Ken Rieli's Fiero HEV drivetrain. 

Transmission adapter plate (left), smaller motor mount plate (right).

For those of you who are interested in converting a Fiero or any comparable vehicle to a hybrid, look for our DIY conversion book to be release sometime in 2008.

The time-consuming part of the job is in laying out a precise pattern, and then producing a precision part from the pattern. Soon after publishing our book, we'll have 3D CAD files available for the Fiero project.

Next time we'll discuss batteries, voltages and power control. Until then, why not think seriously about your own low-cost hybrid conversion.