1975 GMC Palm Beach Restomod
- Thread starter Mike Perez
- Start date
Sorry if this is a stupid question but - how will they compair to say battle born batteries? I assume a LOT more time without a charge
Not a stupid question at all. It really just comes down to capacity. The battle born batteries are typically 12v batteries rated at 100 amp hours. So for the sake of discussion, let's call that 1.2 kWh or 1200 watt hours. They are 12.75lx6.875wx9.0h and weigh 31 lbs. Retail is $949. Each one of my racks is 40 lbs, but gives you 1.8 kWh which is around 33% more capacity. I'm going to use 7 for a total of around 12.6 kWh. In order to get the same capacity out of the battle borns, you would need over 10 of them at a cost of $9490. Mine cost less than a quarter of that. Of course there is still costs for busbars, cables, mounting, etc...
My goal was to always run one AC unit all day while driving or one AC unit through the night while camping. For easy math sake, let's just say the AC unit uses 1000 watts average over the 8 hours you are sleeping. The compressor won't be on the entire time, so 1000 watts is maybe a bit high. 8 hours of run time is 8000 watts. I'm only going to run the pack down to around 20%, so I've have 10,000 watts to play with. It should be enough. Battle Borns would be cost and space prohibitive for what I am trying to accomplish.
Got the tin plated busbars back. I had to make some minor adjustments, but I think it’s going to work. Now, I’m going to have to cut some lexan to cover the top of each module.
Thinking is good. Now remember to cover everything with silcon grease.
Auto parts stores call it dielectric grease. All grease is really dielectric, but this grease has zero film strength so it won't inhibit contact.
Matt
Auto parts stores call it dielectric grease. All grease is really dielectric, but this grease has zero film strength so it won't inhibit contact.
Matt
Like Kenny Rogers would say...."You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run".
Serptine system: "I fold."
Something has been bothering me for the past few months and I just couldn't get it out of my head. The serpentine drive system that I pieced together just bothered me for a couple of reasons. The first, and most important is the reverse rotation water pump availability. For those of you who haven't followed, I'll summarize. The water pump comes from an early 1980's Olds Diesel that ran counterclockwise. This bolts right to the 455. I have 3 or 4 spares, but I just didn't want to have to worry about an obscure water pump that may not be able to be easily found in 20 years. That was the first issue.
The next issue is the overall design of the tensioner on the early Chevrolet serpentine brackets. The tensioner really needs to be on the slack side of the belt. That is why on pretty much all GM Serpentine setups after the late 80's, the tensioner is positioned after the crank pulley and before the AC compressor. Mine had the tensioner after the AC compressor. I'm not saying that won't work, but it is less than ideal and GM eventually corrected the design on pretty much every engine design to date.
Lastly, and this is where I have to own up to not having a full understanding of the system before I go full speed into put something together. Originally, I was going to use the bracket system from CVF Racing. It is not cheap, but it includes a CS130 alternator, your choice of power steering pump, and the smaller Sanden compressor. Years ago, when I started all of this, I had it dead set in my mind that the smaller Sanden compressor which is around half of the cc's of the original A6 would be inadequate for the GMC. Turns out, that was a bad assumption. I basically did most of the work only to use the larger Sanden because it would not fit on any of the aftermarket solutions. Turns out, that the limiting factor is not the compressor....it is the evaporator and the condenser. In my case, the Vintage Air unit that I have installed along with the new condenser will be served just fine by the peanut compressor. That's straight from Vintage Air. A thanks to @Jim Bounds for pointing that out on Facebook. They did say if I wanted to run a second evaporator in the rear, then I would need the large one. I plan on being able to run my roof air off of the battery bank, so that is not a concern. Lesson learned. An expensive lesson no less.
Moving on. New CVF racing stuff is here and new FlowKooler water pump. I'll hopefully be installing most of it tomorrow, and then I can get back to wiring the engine.
Side note: I may have a brand new power steering pump from Bob Stone along with the external reservoir, and the big Sanden compressor for sale very soon. As far as I know, there are adapter brackets for this big Sanden to fit in place of the original A6. The compressor is a 6 rib serpentine style clutch, so it may not work for anyone here unless somebody knows how to swap that to a v-groove pulley.
Serptine system: "I fold."
Something has been bothering me for the past few months and I just couldn't get it out of my head. The serpentine drive system that I pieced together just bothered me for a couple of reasons. The first, and most important is the reverse rotation water pump availability. For those of you who haven't followed, I'll summarize. The water pump comes from an early 1980's Olds Diesel that ran counterclockwise. This bolts right to the 455. I have 3 or 4 spares, but I just didn't want to have to worry about an obscure water pump that may not be able to be easily found in 20 years. That was the first issue.
The next issue is the overall design of the tensioner on the early Chevrolet serpentine brackets. The tensioner really needs to be on the slack side of the belt. That is why on pretty much all GM Serpentine setups after the late 80's, the tensioner is positioned after the crank pulley and before the AC compressor. Mine had the tensioner after the AC compressor. I'm not saying that won't work, but it is less than ideal and GM eventually corrected the design on pretty much every engine design to date.
Lastly, and this is where I have to own up to not having a full understanding of the system before I go full speed into put something together. Originally, I was going to use the bracket system from CVF Racing. It is not cheap, but it includes a CS130 alternator, your choice of power steering pump, and the smaller Sanden compressor. Years ago, when I started all of this, I had it dead set in my mind that the smaller Sanden compressor which is around half of the cc's of the original A6 would be inadequate for the GMC. Turns out, that was a bad assumption. I basically did most of the work only to use the larger Sanden because it would not fit on any of the aftermarket solutions. Turns out, that the limiting factor is not the compressor....it is the evaporator and the condenser. In my case, the Vintage Air unit that I have installed along with the new condenser will be served just fine by the peanut compressor. That's straight from Vintage Air. A thanks to @Jim Bounds for pointing that out on Facebook. They did say if I wanted to run a second evaporator in the rear, then I would need the large one. I plan on being able to run my roof air off of the battery bank, so that is not a concern. Lesson learned. An expensive lesson no less.
Moving on. New CVF racing stuff is here and new FlowKooler water pump. I'll hopefully be installing most of it tomorrow, and then I can get back to wiring the engine.
Side note: I may have a brand new power steering pump from Bob Stone along with the external reservoir, and the big Sanden compressor for sale very soon. As far as I know, there are adapter brackets for this big Sanden to fit in place of the original A6. The compressor is a 6 rib serpentine style clutch, so it may not work for anyone here unless somebody knows how to swap that to a v-groove pulley.
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Dang that sucks Mike....this stuff is just to pricey to do twice but i hear you on the availability part.
Oh well... parts for the next project.....lol.
Oh well... parts for the next project.....lol.
It's OK. I've spent more on less. The way I look at it, either I win or I learn. Good either way.
This what the main bracket looks like. I wanted to get it and the water pump on tonight at least.
Justin, i think he's going with this Serpentine Kit https://www.cvfracing.com/serpentin...5-ac-power-steering-alternator-all-inclusive/ rather then his one of his own making
No. CVF Racing's Serpentine kit. 8 rib V-belt and all new accessories including a KRC Power Steering Pump for Hydroboost.
Too much. I probably should have just gone with black. On a related note, the spacer for the crank pulley is 0.15" too long because of my aftermarket balancer. Now I'm going to have to machine that much off so it all lines up. I had no idea the aftermarket balancer was thicker.
A little powder coat will clean that right up lol.
It's always the little crap. I had to do similar on my boat with the motor rebuild, the crank pulley (a nice shiny aluminum one as well) was too close so I had to machine a spacer of .15" to get the belts to align. Aftermarket balancer as well. Damn things should be standard sized.
He may not be, but I'll definitely be sticking with v-belts after reading all this! It sure looks great, but it's too rich for my blood.
Actually got a few things done today. Hydroboost and Master cylinder is one. Most of the accessory drive is on minus the alternator which won't be here for 2-3 weeks. Got the A/C plastic firewall ducts reinstalled. Steering box and lines, most of the electric wiper kit and various other odds and ends. My goal is to get everything on the firewall that goes there in the next two weeks so I can start building all of the wiring harnesses. Also, before I finish the wiper install, I have to drill out the new arms to I can mock everything up and make final adjustments. I need to dig up which bit to use. Anybody know?
