Mounting Adaptor to Motor and Mating to Transaxle

March 27, 2011 - I felt so pumped up after Monday's blog that I decided to do some heavy lifting, and I mean heavy lifting as in 200 lbs of Netgain Warp9 Electric Motor. It took two of us to get it out of the box and up onto the workbench. They say its really about 140-150 lbs but my buddy Gene and I guessed it's more like 180-200 lbs. Here's a shot of this beast just out of the box:

And a side view of just how big this thing is:

And finally, a close up end view with ruler for scale. This hulk is 9in in diameter, and 16in long.



Sooooo, the next step in completing the conversion is to actually mount the motor and transaxle in the vehicle. But first, we must mount the adaptor to the motor. The adaptor is comprised of four components which are CNC machined out of aluminum except for the hub and bushing which are steel.

• Spacer Ring


• Transmission Profile Plate


• Hub


• Bushing

The Spacer Ring is 2 1/2 in thick and bolts directly on the the transmssion end of the motor. Here's a three-quarter shot of the spacer ring attached to the motor. You can see the slotted end of the motor shaft with the motor key already in place. The large hole in the spacer ring will accommodate the hub/bushing when it is installed.



The Adaptor Spacer Ring is the first component to be mounted to the motor. Here is side view of the spacer ring mounted to the motor. This is a solid piece of aluminum that weighs about 12-15 lbs and effectively extends the length of the motor and houses the hub/bushing component.



Here is a close up view of the Adaptor Spacer Ring mounted to the motor. You can clearly see the aramature spline with the motor key fitted into the slot on the shaft.



The second piece to be mounted is the Transmission Adaptor Profile Plate. This component mates perfectally to the trasnaxle housing. This piece is obviously manufactured just for the 914 transaxle. Note the countersunk holes in the plate to accommodate the flathead bolts.



Here's a shot of the transmission profile plate mounted to the spacer ring. Note the flathead bolts are countersunk into the plate.



Here's a close up of the transmission profile plate mounted to the spacer ring. You can also see the hub and bushing components mounted onto the armature spline.



And here's a closeup of the hub and bushing component mounted onto the motor shaft. The hub is mounted onto the shaft by tightening the hex key screws which pulls in the bushing which clamps onto the shaft.



The next piece to be mounted is the flywheel which bolts onto the hub and bushing component already slightly tightened onto the motor shaft.



Here's a close up view of the flywheel mounted onto the hub and bushing component.



And finally a side view of the flywheel mounted to the hub and bushing component. The distance from the outside flat edge of the flywheel to the surface on the Transmission Profile Plate where it mates with the transmission is 1.77" plus or minus .010". I purchased a Cen-Tech 4 in digital caliper from Harbor Freight for $19.99 and was meticulously able to achieve this clearance within a few tries.



Unfortunately, I was unable to take pics of the clutch disc and pressure plate before we mated the motor assembly to the transaxle. I was able to raise the transaxle almost up perfectly to mate the motor assembly to it but still needed the assitance of my neighbors Gene and Sam to successfully guide the transaxle spline into the pilot bearing which we previously pressed into the hub.



Here's a close up of the Motor / Adaptor Spa​​cer Ring / Transmissi​​on Profile Plate / Flywheel / Clutch / Pressure Plate mated to the Transaxle.



And finally, a side view of the Complete view of the Motor / AdaptorSpa​​cer Ring / Transmissi​​on Profile Plate / Flywheel / Clutch / Pressure Plate mated to the Transaxle.



Even though I was not successful in actually mounting the motor/transaxle assembly into the vehicle , I feel this mating procedure was great progress. What remains prior to the mounting the motor/transaxle is the installation of the control box and pot box wiring and a few other wiring items. Hopefully, I can complete that during the week in time to install the motor assembly this next weekend.