[DRIVING] 1971 GMCe Lexus GS450H BMW 530e Tesla Model S Electruck

[Gregski]

Is that your 'Trump Tax' that was meant to be absorbed by the importer costing $36.75?
Oh!, I guess you're the importer.

honestly that's what I thought but then other folks told me they are accustomed to paying such fees and have been before the recent tariffs, I have not been much of a shopped on AliExpress or Alibama so I couldn't tell you

[jrbe]

This is new. Chinerrr isn't paying it, Americans buying things from China are.
I just bought some small 3 phase motors, similar order from same place before the tariffs, no tariffs charge previously but a hefty charge this time.
Amazon was going to show what the tariffs add to products but were shamed? forced? into not doing that.

[T1Terry]

I hear you, well it all started with $52 bucks, then the fees, charges and taxes added up

Alibaba Box Price.jpg

At least you got it when the taxes tariff was only 50% ..... that must have been pure luck

T1 Terry

[Alibro]

In the UK we used to be able to buy stuff from Aliexpress at the price listed so long as it was below a $15. Lots of sellers would mark every purchase as $10 - $14.99 regardless of the price so it was great not paying import duty. Now they add 20% to everything at checkout to prevent this.

[Gregski]

spent the last couple weeks [pronounced: "months"] bangin' my head against a brick wall trying to figure out how to mount that Nissan Versa radiator in the truck with the least amount of fabin' and fandangling, came up with all sorts of excuses not to work on the truck in the process, and amassed a potpourri of random and not so random OEM radiator brackets in the process

[feel free to suspend my Man Card for the use of the word "potpourri" I should know better]

[Gregski]

finally after scouring the wrecking yards I came across this super rare car called the Honda Accord

and four 10 M&M bolts later we were back in business

[Gregski]

so happy with these brackets they bolted right up to the original holes in the rad support (so self tappers will have to wait!)

I may even trim them some day, who knows !?

[Gregski]

here I am remounting the 1st Gen Chevy Volt DC-DC converter (for now) with my beloved acorn nuts, which turned out to be way more P.I.A. than it's worth, I highly do NOT recommend using them as the bolts have to be perfect or a bit shorter length to allow full tightfullness or they will bottom or should I say top out !

the 1st Gen Chevy Volt onboard battery charger went back on next...

[Gregski]

lifting all this stuff back in the truck already pre mounted to the battery lid is an excellent way to throw out your back... I'm just sayin'

the sharp shooters amongst you may notice I've already zipped the passenger side radiator bracket

[Alibro]

I find fabricating my own brackets is an excellent way to excuse the procrastination of all the important jobs I keep putting off.
Hours and hours of fun while turning a blind eye to the real jobs at hand.

[Gregski]

I find fabricating my own brackets is an excellent way to excuse the procrastination of all the important jobs I keep putting off.
Hours and hours of fun while turning a blind eye to the real jobs at hand.

[Gregski]

I can't be the only one who has an inversely proportional attitude towards working on my EV Conversion compared to the weather, when it's a perfect 72°F outside I just want to sit inside and watch YouTube, but when it's 104° F outside making it 120° F in my garage then I want to wrench for hours !

anywho, I managed to chimichanga the high voltage connection via a Cantex junction box to the BMW sBox, this box joins the two negative leads from the two BMW 530e packs into one, simple is the name of the game

[ why do I want a burrito all of a sudden ? ]

[Gregski]

OK, and then I moved on to the glass is half full side...

and here are all four hook em ups, Top Tip if I May (TTiIM) one way to remember where the connections go is to think the two Inside ones are Input of energy into that black box, and the two Outside ones are Output out of it, if that makes sense

and here's how I mounted the positive lead high voltage junction box under the belly of the beast

[Bratitude]

Why do you have the sbox outside the battery enclosure?
The battery box is always “live” now

[Gregski]

Why do you have the sbox outside the battery enclosure?
The battery box is always “live” now

the truck is a prototype and a test mule, and for easy access to troubleshoot, not proud of it and do not recommend it

[Gregski]

next it was time to think outside the sBox

so our Mission should we choose to accept it, is to take 'em four free range Bussmann BMM603-xSQ 600V 30A fuse holders and shove them in a CANTEX box, now you don't have to fuse both sides, ie the negative and positive leads of say the onboard battery charger and or the DC-DC converter, I happen to done did that just to use the fuse blocks as junction blocks to allow me to extend the cables

don't be skierd labelize stuff, and just remind yourself you are not doing this for your Present Self but your Future Self, think 7 kid birthday parties from now, 4 bar mitzvahs and 6 kids piano recitals later when you return back to work on this project

Another Top Tip No One Ever Asked For (ATTNOEAF) - when ever possible, do not destroy, cannibolize, or repurpose what you already done did for the new project or component, instead if possible use new bits for that, you may need to old stuff to fall back on, trust me on this one

[Gregski]

so of course the 1st Gen Chevy Volt DC-DC cable was now 5" too short so the Harness Man had to do a little cable swap-a-roo with a spare charger cord to extend them, I hate to brag but 5" makes all the difference

[Gregski]

some time later.jpg (9.72 KiB) Viewed 1380 times

the middle fuse block is just used as a separator spacer thingie

and here's what we're going for as far as the big picture, I will loom these wires eventually and probably reroute them more better, but at least now I know they reach

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

I can tell you're an IT man. Your obsession with cable management is finally paying off.

[Gregski]

so then it was time to tether this sexy CANTEX junction box to the BMW sBox, so first we do the DC-DC converter leads, these are properly wired to the output of the box, meaning both contactors need to be closed for current to make it's way to the junction box

forgive me my Lords for I know not where this mystery glare was coming from

we tap into the output of the positive contactor for the positive lead here

and we use the negative output post of the sBox for the negative lead here

made a notch in the plastic housing case thingie for easy access and full removability

[Gregski]

and finally we did the 1st Gen Chevy Volt onboard battery charger connection, and oh boy did we screw up, can you tell what The Greg forgot ?

Hint: think flaring your own brake lines

one of these four leads is not like the others !

Hell, I won't tell if you don't tell.

[Uppertown]

Just add it in photo shop, like a well known conversion shop;

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[Gregski]

[Gregski]

nothing to see here, just out for some fresh air

[Gregski]

and here I was checking the voltage of both BMW 530e battery packs combined

I will charge them to 393 volts