Need Advice For Frame Battery Box Build

[bdc43]

Hi Everyone,

Well, i've finally come to the point where I've decided to retire my old ride and upgrade to something better. I've been toying with the idea of converting a beach cruiser (was looking over a Manhattan Cruisers Flyer Deluxe 6 at one of the local bike shops today....sweeet ride! 8) ) and wanted to try something different with the battery pack installation. On my old mountain bike, I've been carrying my custom built pack in a trunk bag on the rear rack, but I would like to switch to an "inside the frame" type setup and as such, I would like to enclose the pack inside some type of battery box that is the same shape as the inside of the frame, to give a cleaner look to the bike. I did a bit of searching online, and I came across an interesting conversion on the website "EV Album." A guy by the name of Peter who lives in Switzerland did a beach cruiser conversion and built just the type of battery box of which I speak: it fits inside the frame triangle like a puzzle piece and looks like it came with the bike! (for pics, see: http://www.evalbum.com/2893). I would really appreciate any tips or advice on how to tackle this sort of project.

(And Peter, if you are a member of this forum, would especially love to hear from you on this topic!

 

[melodious]

Was riding along today and happened to stop by a boat store. Decided to go in for shits and giggles. I knew that they had outboards that ran on propane gas but it only came in 2.5 & 5 HP variations. To my surprise, the same company now has a 9 HP model. Anyways, I also happened to walk in the isle with the paints and fiberglass which brought me to your post :wink: .

You could make a mold using crafting foam bricks, then apply the fiberglass and resin. No sure how it's held in place to your frame. Others are doing or have done the same. 8)

 

[dogman dan]

Yes, sculpt foam into the shape you need, then get out the glass or carbon.

One source of foam might be a pool and spa store. I was just outside 5 min ago sculpting foam scavenged from old hot tub covers. I glued the foam from several covers into a big block, and carved a kyack out of it. It floats like mad, but I needed to refine the shape after yesterdays test run.

You can buy foam at the lumberyard of course, but freecycle is cool.

 

[bdc43]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

I tthink I may have to pass on any type of fiberglassing, since I don't actually have an outside garage or workshop. I live in a first floor apartment and although I have an open patio with a cement floor where I could do the fiberglassing, I would have to leave it outside to cure which poses the risk of possible theft, exposure to the elements, etc. I think it would be best to just stick to the K.I.S.S. approach (no, I don't mean the band... :lol: ). I was thinking maybe a triangle bag for the battery and cut out some coroplast panels in the shape of the bike triangle and then reinforce the panels with some type of stiff foam and finally attach to the frame triangle. This would give a clean, stealthy look. Although attaching the panels may be challenging...I hear coroplast, by its very nature, doesn't take kindly to most adhesives so besides zip ties, I don't know what else would do the job.

And speaking of coroplast, anybody know of any alternatives to this material? I know it's quite popular with the velomobile crowd due to it's low cost, light weigh and durability but because it's corrugated, you have those annoying ribbed lines running across the surface which kind of takes away from a clean look.

Anyway, just food for thought......still thinking it over.