In order to make the Insight 1G a reality the 1.2L TDI needed to be fit to the Insight drive train. As a result, an electric motor adapter was required. The adapter is comprised of two pieces (pictures forthcoming after the parts are machined). First, an adapter was required to fit the electric motor rotor to the crankshaft. Second, an adapter to bolt the electric motor stator to the 1.2L TDI engine case needed to be machined.
To make our two adapters patterns of the 1.2L TDI and Insight electric motor stator were made along with patterns of the 1.2 TDI and Insight crankshaft bolt patterns. Foam board was used to make the patterns. Foam board is the same stuff most kids use for school projects instead of the crappy poster board we used as kids. It's a bit more substantial, relatively flat, and has an ideal surface for making impressions of surfaces.
To make an impression the following was performed:
1. Degrease the surfaces of interest,
2. Color the surfaces of interest with a grease pencil. All kinds of other substances would work but we didn't experiment with any others given the few impressions required,
3. Lay the foam board on the surface and stabilize with pressure so it doesn't move around and skew the impression,
4. Use a large socket or other heavy concentric roller and trace the outline of the surface paying particular attention to fastener holes,
5. Remove foam board and improve the impression with pencil etc. as desired.
The patterns were forwarded along with the Insight electric rotor and stator, and 1.2L flywheel to Tom Staub at High Plains Tool and Mold for design and machine work. A mechanical drawing of a 2.0L PD TDI was also sent along to Tom. The basic idea is to keep the electric motor rotor centered fore and aft within the stator while maintaining stator orientation with respect to cylinder bore and rotor orientation with respect to top dead center. Given that the 1.2L is a three cylinder engine this should substantially eliminate electric drive timing discrepancies. Some attempt will be made to evaluate 1.2L and electric motor interaction for possible optimization in the future. However, on the first go the interaction should be in the ball park and the vehicle ought to be substantially functional at a high level of efficiency. Optimization, if required, will most likely be through electronic tweaking as mechanical changes in timing would be extremely difficult and time consuming to iterate.
