Electric Utility Vehicle
Pargo Bar Car to Ute Conversion - Part 1 ...
Aug 2007
A couple times per
year, I go shopping... It may seem trivial to most, but in my case I avoid town
as much as I possibly can and my idea of shopping is a slack day at the scrap
yard with a couple hundred in cash, and an empty trailer waiting to be filled.
On these rare occasions,
my preference is that the wife just drop me and the trailer off and I have a
morning or an entire afternoon to kill at my leisure with no pressure to wrap it
up or wait on some incompetent store clerk that doesn't know what they have in
stock, or could care less whether I get the parts or materials that I had to go
into town for.
On just such an occasion
I was wrangling a 1950's 3-wheeled electric golf cart into the trailer, when a
fellow scavenger offered a hand to get the 250lb plus beast in (I didn't think
I'd need to bring ramps).
As it turned out
the Yard Miester who knows me and what I typically buy directed him my way.
He had, what he
called an Ice Cream truck for sale... electric... was I interested???
Hmmm...
We negotiated a
price, with delivery included as it was located across the border in Quebec...
About a week later I took possession of the rig below.
It's a Pargo Bahamas
Bar-Car, I swear to god, that was the model it was sold under.
I scoured the net
for anything related to the Pargo brand and especially technical specs.
I came-up trumps,
with a full electrical schematic as well as an excellent interview with one of
the founders of the Pargo company and a brief history of it changing hands.
I guess you could
sell ice cream out of it, but it was designed to dispense booze to the well
heeled at resorts and golfers on the back 9.
Pargo eventually
ended-up with a company called Columbia who are still in business and sell a
very similar unit called a Burden Carrier (Model
BC-2) that is used in industrial settings and airport haulage applications
(though hopefully not selling alcohol but just doing grunt type work).
Holy Fuck!!!
What do I do, I'm
behind on at least 2 other projects, but they essentially would be stepping
stones to what this unit is already halfways toward.
And I thought I
was in the gravy when I found the three wheeler!
That's 4 1/2Hp of
series wound 36V DC Traction... With the ability to Peak out at close to 9HP for
very brief periods of time.
Full suspension,
leafs with shocks, a reasonably heavy frame, and descent rubber.
With the wiring
diagram in hand, I traced and checked the wiring system and gained considerable
appreciation for what the state of the art was in the 1960's thru 1970's (I
still haven't found any thing to pin down a year of manufacture).
Of the few repairs
that I had to make beyond replacing weather cracked wired that would definitely
short against the frame, I had to install a Forward/Reverse Switch.
As this unit is
solenoid controlled, I didn't need to worry about high current contactors, but
did find the perfect unit in a 15A 125V momentary contact switch that has a
common center tab and a NO (Normally Open) tab, as well as a NC (Normally
Closed) tab.
By following the
schematic it was wired and installed into the dash, such that Forward is the
default motion, but at the push of a button Reverse is engaged.
Sure you have to
hold the switch to back up but it works really well.
Actually so well
that in this picture, I was backing up at full speed, when I released the
button, slammed into forward and smoked the rear tire as I switch direction.
The unit is out
fitted with Hydraulic drum brakes on the rear, but your slowing and braking
potential are far better by holding the switch in reverse and feathering the
throttle to slow down on a steep hill.
This image was
taken during the summer of 2005...
I had bought 25
used golf cart batteries from a local golf course. The batteries are replaced as a
complete set as they get tired over time, but not all the batteries are done.
Of the 25, 13 were
able to hold a charge and the cases were in good shape, the remaining 12 were
delivered to the scrap yard.
At $10ea ($250
total) the price was still an amazing deal.
Over the course of
2005 I ran desulphators to recover more capacity on the units...
I measured
specific gravity, I charged them lovingly with warm gentle solar power...
I shuffled that
ton of lead around the shop so many times I had arms that were the size of tree
trunks (well at least I had a sore back)...
After all that
fucking about in 05' I just let them sit... The cases were in good shape in the
spring of 06' as I had to move them one last time until this summer.
My guess is that
the batteries went flat between 05' and 06', then this past winter with their
specific gravity near water, they froze, and every single battery now has a
split case and is unquestionably garbage.
So the moral of
the story is a) keep your batteries fully charged at all times, and b) store
them in a warm spot over winter.
I have to admit I
was very bummed out at the loss of such a valuable cache of batteries as I did
have big plans for them, and now when I could really have used a good set of
cells I had none, when I'd laboured under the illusion that I had lots...
I was able to scab
together a 36V string, but this set up is very temporary, as they all belong to
other equipment that need them.
As you can tell
the Bar-Car body is toast... As well I've cut off the rear bumper assy to the
sturdiest point on the rear of the frame.
After a full day
of measuring, cutting, grinding and welding the rear-end is built-up to the
image shown to the right.
The idea is to
utilize the fire-wood sled
from the snow machine for a dumping bed.
The under-side of
the wood box is re-enforced with steel and designed such that when it rots out
or I want to upgrade, it is easily removed.
Note the 1/2"
thick plate steel tongues that will act as the hinge point for the box... for a
dumping feature.
I don't like it,
my wife doesn't like it, so it lasted for about 4 hours while considered my
options.
With the rear
fenders/body paneling removed the box looks too top heavy.
The easiest and
most sensible solution was to cut back the rear support and weld it back into
place at a right angle to it's previous orientation.
The hinge was
re-worked with a bit of effort but works flawlessly as pictured.
This is a better
shot of the heavy hinge assembly.
The box has been
lowered a full 7 inches and looks great at it's current clearance.
The next box will
sit at least 2 inches lower and could extend at least 4" wider in each side
when made of steel. (next year, if this works out ok)
The Battery
storage bed has been beefed-up considerably with more steel, as the fiber glass
body panels won't be put back.
The framing and
welds are sealed as well with a quick coat of gloss black.
The center area
will also double as a storage area for a heavy Lester 36V Charger as well as a
1200Watt Inverter.
While I wait for
some divine intervention on the Battery front, I decided to start on the cab
framing,
This is what I've
opted to use as my primary material, bed framing. I can't help but keep every
stick of it that I encounter at the dump or the scrap yard.
As it turned out,
I used all of my scrap steel so far on this project and even had to dip into my
Virgin New Steel pile which I have just to keep me motivated to use scrap when I
recall the price of new.
This the last shot
I have on hand of the progress, but did add 2 (two) more cross braces to the
roof.
Next time I hope
to post the closing in of the cab, installation of a windshield, New
Batteries!!!, wiring and some test results of how it all works when loaded down
and put to work.