jlsawell

OK, here's an issue I bet you've never had before on this forum:

I'm planning to convert my 1989 N13 Pulsar Auto 3-speed to run on an electric motor. It's a second car that I just commute 20km (30miles) each way.

I've got all the details down, it's going to cost about $5k and I'm happy with that. My other car is a Crysler Neon that we're thinking of convering to LPG - living completely free of foreign oil.

My N13 has a RL3F01A 3 speed Auto Hydraulic Transaxle (front wheel drive). It uses a governor to sense the engine speed and shift according to the Internal Combustion Engine torque curve.

But attaching an electric motor to the torque converter changes the whole situation: There isn't really a torque curve with the EM, all the power is available immediately (great for racing). So I need to modify the governor to delay the shift, or the box will sense the speed from the motor and go shift-shift-shift and I'm in 4th gear going 10 km/h = not ideal.

I could just put it in 2nd and drive like that, many Electric Vehicles do just that. But if I can put some chewing gum in the governor or bore it out a little - that's a better option because it makes the whole project more efficient.

Can anyone give me advice about how to modify the governor to delay the shifting? I really need something technical because I've looked at a lot of photos, but that's no substitute for someone saying "this is what spins, and this is where the oil comes from, and this is where is goes to"...

There is information and (soon will be) photos on my blog:

Electric Pulsar

Thanks,
Justin