12 volt system:

Other Mods:

(2) Added special longer lug bolts and 1/2 inch wheel spacers to push rear wheels out further to make room for a tire change from the 7" wide low profile Pirelli P7s to 9" wide, 13" diameter drag slicks.

(3) Second aluminum battery tray added in trunk to hold extra 5 batteries.

Car weight:

Races and EVents

6-7-1997 'REV97' Canadian EV show...White Zombie performs burnouts and is on display.

7-1997 Enviro type newspaper 'Auto-free Times' uses White Zombie to scoff at burning rubber!

8-30-1997 1st Woodburn Drags 'Optima Drags'...best ET of 19.194 @ 62.96 mph

Carnage:

(1) Pot box misadjusted (above 5k) & shut controller down five times during 1st run

2) Last minute home-made traction bars bent under torque & allowed rear suspenison to droop, causing wide drag slicks to rub against the rear fender arches for blistered paint and unique breaking effect!

(3) Three bad batteries caused deep pack sag, even under light loads.

(4) Had loaned Godzilla controller to a school racing team prior to Woodburn, they turned down the battery current limit to just 500 amps...I ran the only 2 runs at 1/3 power not realizing the controller was not at full power :-(

Plasmaboy Quote:

Optima Woodburn Drags..."At the first NEDRA drags in Woodburn, as those who were there will attest, the Zombie fell on its face pretty bad and performed well below everyone's expectations, especially mine! To say I was frustrated, is an understatement! Yeah, it managed to squeeze out a low 19 second run, smoked the 9" drag slicks pretty good, and somehow made it to the end of the quarter mile just twice, but the Zombie wasn't even close to being the car it was that Friday night in Phoenix two years ago, where it ripped off a 17 flat with a smaller motor and only 180 volts. With that big 11" Kostov, a Godzilla controller, and 240 volts of Optimas, we were all looking to see low 15s or even high 14s, but alas, it seems that everything that could have gone wrong....went wrong at Woodburn."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - 13 x 7 classic American Racing 4 spokes with 9" wide 'Hoosier' drag slicks. 1/2 inch spacers so slicks would clear the leaf springs.

Batteries:

(left) The compact little 'brick sized' Hawkers can belt out 750 amps from a 13.5 lb. package, stack neatly next to one another, and are easily connected with short copper bus bars. (right) An aluminum enclosure was designed and built to hold all 28 of the powerful little batteries. Rectangular cut-outs at the top of the rear wall are where the doubled runs of 1/0 positive and negative cables route through:

After the pack was installed, new exterior signage was in order and includes Hawker sticker, an unoffical license plate warning of the electrical potential inside, and the ultimate message for slow gas cars trying to keep up at the top of the rear window!

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

With the keyswitch 'on' this second contactor would be closed to complete the series wiring of all 28 batteries to give 336V. When the keyswitch was off, the contactor would open, leaving two 168V strings of Hawkers.

(photo above) If the car's 'gas filler door' was open and the keyswitch was 'off', a microswitch would trip and power-on two 'charging contactors' (system located just behind the rear seat bulkhead in the trunk) that would parallel the two 168V strings of Hawkers to give a single 168V pack to receive the charge. High current (250 amps inrush, down to ~ 125 amps continuous) dump charge juice was routed from the 175 amp Anderson connector in the filler area through 4 gauge wires to the charging contactors, and an 80% bulk charge was completed in 3-4 minutes after a 1/4 mile run! This was the earliest version and those 12 gauge green wires got pretty hot during the first phase of charging..note the mulitple funky crimp-on butt splice connectors added after all four in-line safety fuses blew during a heavy charge between 1/4 mile runs. All external charging juice passed through the 500 amp 50 mv shunt (in-line with the 4 gauge negative charge lead) and on to a newly installed dash-mounted Emeter battery computer.

Car weight:

Races and EVents

3-7-1998 APS Races 'Saturday Night Electric Desert Drags'... Ran a 16.16 against Marvin Rush's stock GM EV1. (footage at 'Videos' page). Best ET of the night at 15.77

5-7-1998 'EV Awareness Day'...White Zombie at OEVA's Portland electric car show.

Carnage:

(1) 'Famous 'Plasma Boy' incident days before the races. Accidentally dropped the positive-most brass conducting bar onto the battery pack, created a high current short circuit resulting in a plasma incident that melted-down a good portion of the brand new 336V pack of 28 Hawker Genesis batteries...kids, don't try this at home:

(2) At the races...broke right axle on launch.

(3) At the races...twisted left axle.

(4) At the races...broke ring gear teeth.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) 'Saturday Night Electric Desert Drags' ..."The big 11" Kostov is awesome in the White Zombie, as it is being hit hard with many amps and many volts. In this application, so far, it seems to be THE motor. At race-type higher voltages in excess of 240 volts, those interpoles are wonderful, too."

(2) 'Saturday Night Electric Desert Drags'..."I was pretty pleased to have run 15.77 at a pinch over 80 mph, considering I snapped the axle, went sideways, completely let off the throttle, then punched it again only to have the tires (excuse me, the tire) spinning in fourth!"

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - The new rear axle setup with its Ford 5 bolt pattern required a wheel change. In an attempt to stay with the 'American Racing' theme, we selected 14 x 7 chrome American Racing 5 spoke 'Coke bottle' rims. Due to now having 14's in back instead of 13s, a tire change was also in order. Sticky Mickey Thompson junior dragster sized baby wrinkle wall drag slicks (20" dia.) were mounted up, but the wheel-tire combo didn't fit too elegantly in the back of White Zombie. The new rims were the wrong offset, they stuck out too far from the fender wells, and they were chromed steel and didn't match the front wheels with their rough-cast aluminum spokes, so the cool look of the matched set of 4 spoke 'Libre' American Racing aluminum alloy wheels with the unusually wide 7 inchers tucking up under the rear fender lips (fronts were a narrower 5.5 inches), a look that the car had sported since '94, was gone. The new rear wheels and tires looked tacky, but they got the job done.

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

(2) Flat steel traction bars removed, new yellow colored square tube traction bars added.

Car weight:

Races and EVents

8-29-1998 'Woodburn Unplugged'... Plasma Boy and White Zombie go through tech inspection:

1st run, a badly slipping clutch gave a very slow start but the car picked up up speed rapidly and still ran 15.586 @ 84.58 mph. 2nd run, after adjusting the clutch, it grabbed, so did the wrinkle walls...broke tranny on launch...non-completed run.

Carnage:

(1) Burnt pressure plate, massive slipping off line and during shifts.

(2) Broke tranny with a sheared-off output shaft!

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-Woodburn..."I have a history of breaking stuff and not doing as well in my ETs as I and many others have hoped for. When you get to this power level, off-line traction is SSOOO important! I've finally taken steps to cure this situation...this weekend Mark Mongillo and I are pulling the entire Datsun rear setup out and will be replacing it with a narrowed V8 Ford 8 inch setup, complete with near ideal 3.25 gears...new 8 x 14 x 20.3 wrinkle wall slicks."

(2) Post-Woodburn..."The Zombie first toasts its clutch and looses badly to Rod Wilde, and second, as the readjusted clutch bites the wrinkle walls bite, the 9 inch Ford rear end digs in, and the Kostov has its way with the tranny!"

3) Post-Woodburn..."White Zombie is getting an automatic...Since the 336v Godzilla/Kostov combo (500 ft. lbs. of torque) snapped off the transmission output shaft in the Zombie...wait until the Powerglide is installed for a ride..."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

The second half of the driveline is longer and starts with a female splined slip joint that mates into the front section's male splines and ends with a flange w/universal that bolts to the new Ford 9 inch differential. Created and installed front and rear driveline loops.

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - 14 x 7 American Racing 5 spoke chrome rims with Mickey Thompson junior dragster sized baby wrinkle wall drag slicks (20" dia.).

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

3-1999 Wired magazine article 'Suck Amps' features White Zombie.

5-22-1999 Bandimere 'Mile High Drags'...1st run of 3 ETs, 16.951 @ 73.67 mph. Shown below left, is a photo from the magazine 'Top Gear' that did a feature on the NEDRA Bandimere drags of '99. You can see the sticky baby wrinkle wall slicks and the 14 x 7 chrome coke bottle American Racing wheels. Right photo...White Zombie heats up those same tires at the '99 Bandimere races.

Carnage:

None.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

1) Bandimere races..."I was way off with the gear ratio I chose, and the acceleration out of the hole was sluggish....the car was way over-geared with its 2:50 rear gear set. The race day was a hot 85-90 degrees and I forgot to ice the controller water as I usually do, so the 'Zilla went into thermal limit early on in the run, compounding the sluggish acceleration. Once the car hit about 20 mph, it really started to pull hard as the 'Zilla sucked 750 amps from the battery pack. On the last third of the run however, the controller decided to roll back the current as it heated up, and the battery amps sank to around 300. My first run was anything but terrific at 16.95 @ 73 mph."

(2) Bandimere races..."I am encouraged that with my gear ratio so far off (way too tall with a 2:50) at the Bandimere races, it did as well as it did. I still believe that the Zombie's direct drive will turn in mid 13s very soon. Stay tuned folks, a 3:90 ratio is being purchased for the Ford 9 inch rear end, and with this ratio, the Zombie should be up to my expectations."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Front - Eagle 5 spoke 13 x 5.5 alloys with 4 bolt Nissan rear drive offset and 175/50/13 Nitto Exit GS radials.

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.).

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

8-28-1999 Woodburn 'Charging into the next Millenium'...best ET of 14.008 @ 89.12 mph

9-1-99 'Top Gear' magazine...the UK based magazine runs a feature story called 'Terminal Speed' about electric drag racing and covers White Zombie.

10-02-1999 'All Import Challenge' at Woodburn...best ET of 13.557 @ 93.07 mph. See that Mitsu 3000 GT in front of White Zombie? That's a twin turbo, 320 hp V6 monster...White Zombie cleaned its clock on that race day :-)

10-09-1999 'Sacramento Electric Drags' best ET of 13.479 @ 95.4 mph

Carnage:

(1) At Woodburn races, driveline out of balance.

(2) At Woodburn races, loose pinion nut at differential input yoke.

(3) At Import Drags, blew a battery on last run of the day.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-Woodburn...."My own White Zombie direct drive drag car has been refitted with all new 4:11 gears in its Ford 9 inch rear end...should be substantially quicker than at Bandimere with 2:50 gears."

(2) Post-Woodburn..."After running a 14.008 with street tires, my drag Datsun will once again be wearing its sticky Mickey Thompson baby wrinkle wall drag slicks in my attempt to blast into the 13s. The Nitto Extreme Drag Radials I tried at the August 28th Woodburn drags raised the Zombie's final drive ratio higher than I had expected with their 22 inch diameter size....with 500 ft. lbs. of direct drive torque on tap the race-modified Kostov easily smoked the Nittos and more time was lost due to excessive wheel spin..this cost me time for the run."

(3) Post Woodburn..."Marko and I jacked up the car to see if we could figure out why it had such a severe vibration when it was last raced at the 'Woodburn Electric Drags'. We removed and took the two piece custom-made unit back to the place that built it where they found it had not been properly balanced and was pretty far off. With the rebalanced driveline in hand, we reinstalled it and spun the Zombie's motor up with its rear wheels off the ground...though the vibration was reduced, it was still there in a big way. The problem was finally solved when I found the yoke of the Ford 9 inch rear end to be very loose, allowing it to wobble. It turned out to be an easy fix, since the large pinion nut had simply come loose (probably due to the driveline imbalance), and it cinched right up. Running the car again showed that virtually all the vibration was gone."

(4) Import Drags..."I was called up to the lights again...the crowd got into it this time, and the announcer again spoke excitedly about EV drag racing. This time I had the best launch ever, and I could feel the rear end floating a bit as the rear tires expanded. This run would turn out to be the best of the day...the Zombie rocked to the tune of 13.557 @ 93.07 mph in the quarter mile!"

(5) Import Drags..."We were not able to get a full charge in time for the next run, the Lexan cover was misted pretty bad...I went up and staged anyway. I left with a powerful lunge and was rammed in the seat, but about 2/3 down the track a Hawker let go with a big blast and the Zombie went down, coasting far enough to get to the turn off point....I was done for the day."

(6) Import Drags..."White Zombie took on the hot import drag racers..finally, after years of failures, broken parts, and performance that always fell short of my goals, my machine is hitting its stride, kicking ass, taking names, and serving notice to the gas-powered drag racers that one certain little Datsun 1200 electric car isn't to be messed around with!"

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

3-4-2000 'Portland Roadster Show'...White Zombie displayed as a hot street EV.

3-18-2000 'Desert Kilowatt Challenge'...best ET of 13.347 @ 95.859 mph & new class SC/A world record!

5-27-2000 Bandimere 'Mile High Drags'...best ET 13.186 @ 99.19 mph & new class SC/A world record!

6-3-2000 'EV Awareness Day'...White Zombie displayed as world's quickest street legal EV.

8-26-2000 Woodburn, 'Suck Amps'...best ET of 13.6

Carnage:

(1) At Woodburn races...Blew up Hawker battery.

(2) At Woodburn races...after replacing bad battery, destroyed Kostov on 3rd run! I'm not sure who captured this moment, but this was not a staged photo. Plasma Boy litterally scratches his head after smoked rolled out from under the hood, the car slowed to a halt, and the Kostov met its end :-(

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Desert Kilowatt Challenge..."My fifth and final run was a blast! We again completely recharged in about 8 minutes...My light then tripped and I hit it. I could no longer keep my head straight as the Zombie slammed it back against the headrest with the car surging forward. As I accelerated towards the finish line...I looked at the gauges and saw the battery amps still hanging in there at 620 and the motor volts going past 250v before I had crossed the finish line, I lost any desire to win the bracket race and with an irresistible urge to find out how quick that big Kostov could push the Zombie through the traps, I kept the pedal down. The motor volts continued to rise and went to approximately 260v (the gauge only goes up to 250) as the needle went off the scale. At the timing slip shack, I was excited to see that I had indeed, broken out with a quick 13.347 @ 95.859 mph!"

(2) Woodburn 'Suck Amps' races..."Seeing a little 'ol Datsun economy car conversion dueling it out with a tire-smoking 'Stang would be another fun example of how far we've all come with this EV drag racing thing...in the arena of gas vs electric, it was the 'Stang vs the Zombie!

My first run against Ken and the 'Stang was a lot of fun. This is a real clean example of a '93 Mustang, and with a capable driver at the wheel (this guy can drive!) low 14's and even high 13s are possible. As we both pulled into the burnout pits, Ken got the crowd going with a nice smoky burnout, and the throaty sound of that Ford V8 seemed to be taunting the Zombie. In great restraint, I opted to not light up the tires in an effort to conserve the Zombie's precious battery reserves. We staged up to the lights:

We both hit the 'go' pedals and I could hear the 'Stang's V8 thundering and its tires screaming as Ken put the hammer down, but the 500 ft. lbs. of electric torque provided by Mr. Kostov sent the little white Datsun out of the hole nicely, and I took off and immediately began to pull away:

White Zombie got the win with a nice 13.7 run...though Ken had given it his best, the electric car beat the V8 pony car by a full second! At the end of the run, as I turned off the strip to return to the pits, with Ken right behind me in the hot 'Stang,, I decided to give him another taste electric muscle and I goosed the throttle and did a power burnout that had the car fishtailing and smoking the tires....childish? Yes, but oh what fun, and Ken dug it!

(3) Woodburn 'Suck Amps' races..."I felt the car seemingly running flat on power, when I punched the throttle as I had done before..the car sputtered and slowed down, grinding to a halt...smoke rolled out from under the front of the car...not good! Engaging the line lock, I locked up the front brakes and proceeded to load the motor (and the batteries), but the Nitto drag radials bit in hard. Instead of staying in one spot with the rear tires smoking, the Zombie plowed ahead with the front tires smoking and skidding along on the pavement! At this point, the motor acted normally, so I kept up with the load test. I have the 'Zilla programmed to extract 800 amps from the Genesis batteries, an overload they can usually take for approximately 12-13 continuous seconds under 1/4 mile drag racing, but in my load testing, I wasn't paying attention to the amount of time we were skidding along with the front tires making long gooey black streaks....it must have been about 20-30 seconds though. Then it happened....KABAM!!!!!....all of a sudden we are being engulfed in thick black smoke as one of the Genesis batteries let go. Thankfully, the NEDRA-required Lexan battery shield did its job and contained the acid spray and molten lead...there was metal imbedded in clear cover! Back in the pit area, we removed the blown battery, cleaned up the mess, and installed a fresh spare battery.The Zombie was now ready to rock again, and so round three of the 'Stang/Zombie grudge match was at hand. We staged, launched, and took off, but I immediately felt the same shuddering and power loss as before, and with smoke rolling out from under the motor compartment, this would be the final run for the car. It appeared that the Kostov had suffered some kind of field winding failure, and though I was not entirely certain about the failure mode, it was was clear the Zombie was down for the count."

(4) Post-Woodburn 'Suck Amps' races..."At the Woodburn Electric Drags, after romping all over a 5.0 V8 Mustang, on its third run of the day White Zombie had motor problems which I and another knowledgeable EVer had attributed to arced-over field windings....this was our guess at what was wrong with the Kostov. A couple weeks later that I was able to pull the big electric motor to see what the damage was. Once we had the motor pulled apart, to my pleasant surprise, we foundthat the Wayland/Warfield/NetGain mods to the brush rigging, commutator, and armature werein tact, and after all the hard runs down the track, the com looked perfect, and aside from a small amount of trailing edge pitting, the brushes looked good, too. The output shaft end of of the armature's windings though, was pretty toasty looking and that entire end of the armature was cloaked in flat black charcoal soot. The field windings were burnt-looking and there was a spattering of 'copper snot' all over the place. I found two big blobs of melted copper, one on the corner of an interpole winding and the other on the facing corner of a field winding. The charred armature windings had molten bits of what were once windings...it would cost more than $1200 to build a new armature for the Kostov. Using a VOM, a continuity check between most all of the com bars to the armature's steel laminations showed a dead short, due to the melted insulation of the armature windings. And so it was, the Zombie's Kostov had indeed, gone to that great plasma ball in the sky. As I took the charred remains back home, I realized that my drag racing season was over and that the Zombie would not make it to the Sacramento Electric Drags.....bummer!"

(5) Post-Woodburn 'Suck Amps' races..."The Zombie, powered up by that one big and very powerful modified Kostov...an awful lot of fellow EVers told me the direct drive idea would never work, that the motor would blow right away, that I'd never clear 15 seconds, etc., etc. Two years later and after setting many new records with the car in this configuration, the motor did finally give up, but not without taking out a 5.0 Mustang first :-)"

Motor:

The first step was to design and build a custom aluminum twin motor mount for the two new Warfield 8 inch motors.

'Sure Power Products' anodized the motor mount (plus the controller mount and 12V accsessory battery mount), then the motors were strapped into place and installed in the car.

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

10-21-2000 Sacramento 'Silent Thunder' ...best ET 13.55 @ 92 mph, stuck in series mode!

Carnage:

None.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-Sacramento 'Silent Thunder' races... "Thursday, Oct. 19th, I was finishing up the last minute twin motor mods to the Zombie and getting everything ready for the Sacramento drag races. Marko caught up with me in the late afternoon, and we worked through the evening until pretty late. Friday morning, Oct. 20th, there was still work to be done on the car, but by 1:30 PM Marko and I finally departed for the 600+ mile road trip to Sacramento."

(2) Post-Sacramento races..."At the 'Silent Thunder' EV drags in Sacramento, even with the pooped-out three year old Hawker battery pack wheezing, steaming, and down 200 amps from being able to cleanly belt out 800 amps down the full run of the strip (barely giving 600 amps), and lacking the ability to switch from series to parallel, the Zombie with its new twin motor setup stuck in the series wiring mode was still able to pull off a 13.55 second run!"

3) Post-Sacramento races..."I did the math, before ever trying out the car and knew that the two motors were not just a match for the bigger Kostov, but in fact, that they would actually make more power. I had figured that wired in series, the car would have the same or slightly better out of the hole acceleration, and this was born out in Sacramento."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

Car launches with motors wired in series with each other for full controller amps through both motors and highest torque, then when the throttle is momentarily let off and the button is pushed, it reconfigures the motors for parallel wiring to impress higher voltage across each motor for top speed power.

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

3-10-2001 Sat. ...Las Vegas Drags (1st ever)...best ET 14.312 @ 85.64 mph with battery failure 150 ft. before finish line. 1/8th ET 8.887 @ 72.40 mph, 60 ft. 2.077. Photos bellow...(left) On the road to Las Vegas with EV sidekick Marko Mongillo. (right) Returning into southern Oregon with the waning sunset as a backdrop:

7-14-2001 EV Awareness Day...White Zombie on display.

Carnage:

(1) Blew up Hawker at Las Vegas races on 2nd run.

(2) Cracked Ford 9 inch ring gear, broke ring gear teeth, and destroyed spider gears.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre Las Vegas races..."With fresh batteries, a more aggressive rear gear ratio for better out of the hole acceleration, the pair of smaller diameter 8 inch motors that can rev way higher than the old 11 inch motor could, and with the ability to switch from series mode to parallel mode at around 75 mph, the car should be a rocket, and I am predicting a 12.7-12.8 second run at around 105 mph using street radials (Nitto Extreme Drag Radials)."

(2) Pre Las Vegas races..."It was always a balancing act...put in a low enough ratio to get strong out of the hole, and there goes the top speed. This was how the car acted with the 4:11 ratio and those really low profile baby wrinkle wall drag slicks. It lunged out of the hole, even getting sideways a few times, and it had good 60 ft. times, but the ETs were in the 14 second range with speeds of 89-90 mph. When I effectively raised the ratio by installing the much taller Nitto Extreme Drag Radials, as I expected, I lost it at the launch with worse 60 ft. times, so the hole shot was worsened, but once the car began to roll and the controller jammed full power out, the car accelerated much stronger, and the ETs dropped to the low 13's and the trap speed nearly hit 100 mph. I knew that if I could have it at both ends, the car would easily dip into the 12's and top well over 100 mph."

(3) Post-Las Vegas..."I only had two runs at Las Vegas. The first one was terrible with a tire smoking launch that reduced my 60 ft. time to more than 3 seconds and with 40+ degree batteries that pooped out before the end of the run. The second and last run was with slightly warmed up batteries that were still too cold, but they had way more power in them than on the first run. I got a strong launch that brought the nose up a bit, and the car pulled hard....then, I shifted from series to parallel, and the car continued to pull very hard. To me, it felt very much like a mid to low 13 second run. I blew a battery about 150 feet short of the traps, coasted across the finish line, and in spite of this, turned a respectable 14.3! Had the battery not failed, it would have been an easy 13.5 or so for just the second run. In EV drag racing while using lead acid batteries, as the day goes on and as the batteries heat up, the times get quicker and quicker. There's little doubt in my mind, that had things been different that night last weekend....warmer weather, better track conditions, proper current limits being adhered to, etc., that the Zombie would have dipped into the 12's."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

8-25-2001 'Woodburn drags'...best ET 14.720 @ 84.81 mph. The battery pack was in its third racing year and on the decline in its power delivery. Even so, the hole shot was enough to embarrass a Dodge Viper and White Zombie was able to beat it up through the 1/8th mile. After that though, the battery pack's power fell off rapidly and the Viper easily overtook White Zombie and went on to get the win.

8-9-2001 White Zombie videoed by the Canadian TV series 'Weird Wheels'

Carnage:

Blew up two Hawkers at Woodburn races.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-Woodburn..."The 11 inch Kostov with extensive racing mods held up well for 2 years at the hands of Plasma Boy. It eventually failed when I melted the armature windings, but only after dispatching a hot 5.0 Mustang twice. If I hadn't melted the armature, I'd still be running this motor. I am, however, very pleased with the power and flexibility of having twin 8 inch motors now in the car. Using series-parallel motor switching and a new, lower ratio rear end gear set, I hope to push the direct drive Zombie into the 12's soon...Looking forward to getting together with everyone at Woodburn next month!"

(2) Pre-Woodburn..."I had to pull apart the massive Ford 9 inch rear end...seems that bad ass Kosty, followed by twin 8 inch Warfields, cracked the ring gear teeth and mutilated the spider gears! The car now has a lower 4:57 ratio with racing gears and a minispool locker."

(3) Post-Woodburn..."I had changed the rear end gears on White Zombie (from a 4:11 to a 4:57) just before the Woodburn EV Drags this past August. With twin 8 inch motors being jammed with 1200 motor amps each (via Godzilla) and making a combined 540 ft. lbs. of torque, direct drive into the big 'ol Ford 9 inch rear end, and just 2036 lbs. of the race ready Datsun 1200 to move, the 60 ft. time is under 2 seconds, and the 'hole shot' is definitely a slam-you-in-the-seat affair. As those who were there remember, I ended up in a side by side drag race with a venomous V10 powered Dodge Viper. Though the Viper got by me in the 1/4 mile drag, the Zombie didn't go down without putting up a good fight, and in the 1/8 mile, it was 3 car lengths ahead of the Viper. The year of Viper I raced does 0-60 in a scant 4.4 seconds, and both the Viper and the Zombie went way over this speed in the 1/8 mile, but by the time the Viper hit 60 mph, the Zombie was doing 70+ mph (we compared time slips), putting the Zombie's 0-60 time at under 4 seconds, more than likely. A friend snapped some cool pictures, clearly showing the Zombie past the 1/8 mile timing lights with the Viper trailing behind and not yet clearing the lights. John, the Viper owner/driver, told me afterwards that I had him worried for a while, but fair is fair....he beat me. I'm going Viper hunting come Spring..."

(4) Post-Woodburn..."As witnessed at Woodburn, that soft launch is a thing of the past, and the car now boils off the line with wisps of tire smoke rolling off the tires....it's aggressive enough to jump ahead of a V10 Viper out of the hole....no tranny needed!"

(5) Post-Woodburn..."With the ability to 'electrically shift' up from series to parallel with the twin motors, even with a low 4:57 rear end ratio, the car is not limited on high speed capability, and were it not for exploding Hawkers, the car would continue to pull hard all the way across the finish line. At Woodburn, I blew not one, but two Hawkers in two separate runs, shortly after the parallel upshift happened and battery current went back up."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

8-3-2002 'EV Awareness Day'...White Zombie on display at this Portland electric car show.

9-1-2002 'Woodburn'...best ET 13.858 @ 93.86 mph, 1/8th - 8.779 @ 80 mph

Carnage:

None! Battery pack was a mix of 3 and 5 year old tired batteries.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

"I ran 408V at Woodburn in 2002! Respecting the 348V limits of the great Godzilla controller, I had an additional 72V pack (6 more Hawker 16 EP) that I tapped into once full PWM had run its course. It was a bypass that went in series with the full 336V pack, an interesting experiment that I used as a bandaid applied to the aging pack of little Hawkers so that the car could make an OK showing at the track. White Zombie had slowed into the mid 14's due to the exhausted, then 5 year old pack of 28 small Hawkers, and no new battery sponsorship had come my way. Adding those extra 72 volts really did the trick, as it pushed the car back into the 13's, with a best ET of 13.8 seconds...not bad."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

These mods were done to facilitate a battery change from the tired, small 16 ahr Hawkers, to 28 brand new larger sized 12 volt Exide 'Power Fit' 35 ahr, 26 lb. batteries. Pack at 336V nominal and much heavier at 720 lbs. total pack weight. The first photo shows the size increase from the little Hawkers to the larger Exides. Before installing the these batteries, we had to figure how to make them fit, then how to inter-connect them with bus bars in a bench-top mock-up.

The photos below show all 28 of the new batteries installed but not yet fully wired up. (left) Note the 'Bubba' high current contactor on the metal plate above the batteries (11:00 position). It was taken out of the previous back seat small Hawkers battery pack enclosure, where it was used split the compact 336V pack for dump charging, and was retained for use with this new heavier pack setup and wired up to accomplish the same task. (right) Remarkably, 1/2 the total number used in the pack, 14 of these bigger batteries, fit perfectly inside the existing rear seat area aluminum battery tray that used to hold all 28 of the previous small Hawkers, so a new enclosure did not have to be made.

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

6-8-2003 'NW Datsun Owners Association' show & shine picnic...White Zombie on display.

Carnage:

Grey 'Power Fit' batteries threw a fit, and were a total failure. One blew up on the first attempt at the start line. After installing a fresh battery, two more batteries blew up on the second and last attempt at the start line. Due to the last minute availability of these batteries I was not able to get reliable current ratings for them. After the races, I learned the batteries had a maximum rated discharge current of 350 amps for 5 seconds. The first run was with the controller's battery input current set to 800 amps. We turned the controller current down to 500 amps for the second (and last) run of the day, but the batteries still blew up.

Plasmaboy Quote:

"Having a powerful EV that also doesn't come off as a rolling science project, is far more important than 'winning'. It's easy to make a machine from orange board, duct tape, and hastily-made metal pieces that weighs next to nothing and doesn't even look like a 'car', then run it down the track to set a speed record. It's far harder to take a recognizable street bodied car and do the same thing."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and DOT street legal Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' (22" dia.)

Batteries:

(below left) The previous aluminum trunk enclosure would not hold the remaining 10 Orbitals and was removed. A thick flat aluminum plate was made as a base, lowered into the sunken well, and bolted down. (below right) The 10 trunk area batteries sat on the base plate and were securely bolted to it. Note that the previous Bubba contactor and associated high current cables were retained to keep the split pack dump charge option.

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

9-19-2003 Portland Street Legal Drags...best ET of 14.489 @ 93.70 mph

9-26-2003, PIR Drags..14.355 @ 95.20 mph, new world record for SC/B class!

10-17-2003, PIR Drags..13.754 @ 97.27 mph, new world record for SC/B class!

Carnage:

None.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Post-Woodburn..."I've rebounded from my disappointing 'experiment' with 28 Exide UPS style batteries (they popped like popcorn, even at 500 amps) and failure mode at Woodburn, and have almost completed the next attempt to get White Zombie past the 13's and into the 12's....18 Orbitals at 216V, nearly the exact weight pack as the ill-fated 720 lb. 336V stack of 28, 35 ahr, but with HUGE current capabilities (tested to 1800+ amps). Godzilla # 3 will be cranked up to its full 1400 battery amps with a pack that can dish that kind of power out. The lower pack voltage can be hopefully compensated for, with less sag, and the dual motor shift from series to parallel. I'm going to go knock heads with the rice burner import freaks at Portland International Raceway this Friday night...a few of which, are turning 11's, but most, are in the high 13-mid 14 second range...should be fun!"

(2) 9-19 Portland Street Drags..."Each time I rolled up to the line, the announcer went nuts with positive comments about the electric drag car..."OK everybody, here's that quick 'eeelectric!' Watch this burnout (I would stick the throttle hard and do a mini smoke show for them)"The last run was with the batteries finally starting to warm up a bit...14.489 @93.70 mph. We had a great time at the track. I was able to drive the car there, and drive it back home without a single glitch...it ran flawlessly!"

(3) 9-26 PIR Drags..."This time, a classic 396 Chevelle heavy Chevy was next to me. The Chevelle did a nice burnout, but with my funky mechanical line lock no longer functioning (slated to be replaced this week with an electric line lock), I simply staged and waited for the Chevelle to follow suit. The Zombie jumped the V8 Chevelle off the line, and it never got around me! The run felt terrific, and the time slip proved that feeling, with a new world record for the 193V-240V SC/B class of 14.355 @ 95.20 mph! The crowd went nuts, according to Tom, and when I returned to recharge, there was a whole group hanging out waiting for the electric car to return....I'm thinking I can get the car into the 13's again with this present setup. I'll try a few ideas out, and let you all know how things shake out."

(4) 10-17 PIR Drags..."I want to thank Otmar for tuning up my early model Zilla, what a BIG difference! The twin 8 inch motors now deliver serious torque that is instantaneous with my right foot action, and absolutely amazes the gasser crowd as White Zombie simply boils off the line. Gone is the wimpy launch, now replaced with a 'stomach wrenching' type launch that most of the time, has me with my hands full as I try to keep the car straight off the blocks! On the stickier starts the car was probably turning 0-60 in the mid to high 3's. On the two launches where the tires stuck hard, the acceleration was so sudden that the ignition key and dangling red NEDRA-required plastic 'flag' flew out of the ign. switch lock at the same time I was rudely slammed into the seat!"

(5) "Godzilla #3 is still performing well, and other than a recent tune up, has never, ever, failed....ever! I'd like to say that his controller has been tortured under Plasma Boy duty, but the truth is, everything 'behind' the controller has been tortured...snapped-off transmission input shafts, mangled drivelines, smoked clutches, twisted-off axles, vaporized rear end gears, blown batteries, melted cables, welded contactors, melted motors....I could go on, but through it all at 1400 amps and up to 336V, the controller has been the one thing I can't seem to break!"

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset. Removed Nitto 'Extreme Drag Radials' and mounted new BF Goodrich 'TA Drag Radials' on rear rims for improved traction. BF Goodrich drag tires are taller at 24" diameter. This close up shows a TA Drag Radial slightly wrinkling under a hard Zombie launch as the meaty rubber digs in against the massive electric motor torque:

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

(2) Team member Marko Mongillo artfully built a light weight aluminum third battery tray for the trunk area that spanned over the spare tire well batteries:

(3) With the high powered Manzanita Micro PFC charger, dump charging was no longer being used. Removed the rear plate mounted Bubba contactor and the split pack high current cables.

Car weight:

Races and EVents

10-24-2003 PIR Drags...best ET of 13.771 @ 97.36 mph

10-31-03 Halloween Drags...best ET of 13.931 @ 96.55 mph

Carnage:

None, but c-cold temps in the 30s, bad traction conditions, and unequalized batteries gave poor results.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Post 10-24 PIR Drags, 216V version..."The new BF Goodrich 'G Force' TA Drag Radials are aptly named! These things are stick-eee! Last weekend, without them, traction was a problem...that's not a problem any more! Now with these impressive drag tires, every single run of the night...all 7 of them, produced 1.8-something 60 ft. times...problem solved! The 1/8 mile times were unchanged from the two quickest ones from last weekend, too, so it looks like the taller ratio effect of such bigger diameter tires did not negatively affect the off line or 1/8 mile acceleration...perfect! The hole shot launches were particularly strong, and even against quicker machines running 12's, White Zombie dusted them off the line and through most of the 1/8 mile!"

(2) Post 10-24 PIR Drags..."Next weekend (weather permitting), the final weekend of racing, there will be two more Orbitals added to make up a 240V pack and an 80 lb. increase in weight, but there should be more hp on tap to push the car into the triple digit speed zone and deeper into the 13's."

(3) Halloween PIR Drags..."The 2nd and final Zombie run occurred at 11:45. A 2002-2003 model year, bright yellow Mustang was my competitor in the night's heads up racing style. It was immaculate, lowered a bit, had trick wheels, and was looking to kick my ass. It did a great burnout, I just staged and waited. Afterwards, I would hear all about how the fans in the stands were speculating how the race would turn out, and how they all went 'Whoooahhh!!" when the little electric Datsun smoked the Mustang! Long story short...an almost identical run as the first, with a 13.931 @ 96.55 mph. Oh yeah, the Mustang ran 14.217 @96.97 mph. Perhaps ten younger guys came over to check out the Mustang eliminator. One kid was particularly impressed, saying, "That was unbelievable! You left him off the line and stayed ahead of him. I just saw an electric car blow off a V8 Mustang.....I just can't believe this!" I looked at him and asked what he'd say the next time someone made fun of slow electric cars in front of him...his answer?...."Oh, this is a night I'll never forget. I'll put 'em straight."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and BF Goodrich 'TA Drag Radials' (24" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

Added new 'After Burner' contactor controller bypass. Steering wheel thumb button converted to be used as controller bypass switching motors into parallel with a direct connection to the battery pack. ETs dropped by seven tenths of a second! The bypass consisted of twin Kilovac 'Bubba' contactors, shown below. Note that the contactor on the left has an open stud...we disconnected the power cable from that contactor until the car was ready to make a 1/4 mile pass, for safety reasons.

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

3-30-2004, Friday night street drags PIR, 13.709 @ 98.83 mph...new SC/B world record! 1/8 mile ET of 8.744 @ 77.86 mph .

5-08-2004, White Zombie becomes the 1st street legal electric car to ever break 100 mph in the quarter mile with an ET of 13.004 @ 100.76 mph!

5-14-2004, 1st time in the 12's...best ET 12.99 @ 101.25 mph new SC/B world record! 1.885 60 ft. time. Here's the time slip for the back-up run that sealed that record:

Carnage:

'Afterburner Bypass' controller bypass Bubba contactor welded shut. Car would not drop out of bypass mode...had to use main contactor to shut car down. Added emergency disconnect for the 5-14 races and had to use it when another contactor welded in the 'GO' position!

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-May races..."I've started the mods for the afterburner mode! Though Oat massaged and tweaked my vintage 1400 amp version Godzilla controller last Fall (good for an impressive 1/2 second gain) I am still experiencing a 'stall' in power when the car is switched over from the series mode, to the parallel mode...This 'stalling' is frustrating, because the car accelerates very strongly and has a terrific launch...the car next to me accelerates around and heads off while the controller protects itself from the sudden change to a paralleled motors load and a much lower inductance. After the shift-over, the amps just stick at 600 for at least a second, then s-l-o-w-l-y ramp up...there is a huge rush of power when that happens, and the Zombie's lunge sets me deep into the seat as the car starts humping again. All that power though, comes way too late. It's time to do something! I have begun the mods to make the parallel shift a controller bypass thing. The next time the car hits the track, when the button is hit and the accelerator is floored two contactors will connect each motor directly to the 240V pack! At the shift-over point I expect the initial inrush current to be in the 2000-2500 amp range, and that should wakes things up a bit and it might slice off a half second or better from the present 13.709 ET."

(2) "Yes, 100 is coming...tonight at PIR...it's sunny, clearing, and dry again. I'm off work early and need to go out and finish up the afterburner mods for tonight's 100+ mph run. If it stays dry, I'll be hitting the afterburner button at around 8:00."

(3)"The Afterburner contactor bypass was in place but untested...In theory, letting off the throttle, hitting the steering wheel button, then slamming down the accelerator again, would disconnect the controller, disconnect the series mode, connect the parallel mode, and feed straight 240V battery potential to the twin motors. I had constructed a 'resistor', 10 ft. of 1/0 cable coiled up (to make it more compact), with two ring terminal connections. I had figured the instantaneous current without such a resistor might exceed 3000 amps and blow up batteries. I made a guess that the 10 ft. of 1/0, would hold that 3000 amps back a bit to say, 2500 amps or so...it was just a guess. The 1/0 loop would not be inserted in series with the contactor pack, until we were at the track and ready to race. I had no desire to somehow accidentally engage the Afterburner mode and fly off Marine Drive and into the Columbia River!"

(4) May races... "The car had a strong launch, and it felt like the front end got a bit light, too. I was expecting the Afterburner mode to be pretty potent, and I was not disappointed! I hit the button when the series mode through the controller had ramped down to 700 amps. The effect was immediate as the 1500 amp dash gauge's needle banged on the peg and stayed there, with the car's back end coming loose a bit accompanied by the sound of barking tires...great fun. The motors simply exploded with power and hurtled the car forward with very strong acceleration. This first run was far quicker than I had hoped for at 13.35 and 98 mph, a quantum leap for my car, a whole 4/10th second quicker than the previous weekend's 13.7 times!"

(5) May races..."The fourth run was 13.004 @ 100.76 mph against the V8 Camaro. The driver shut down the engine, opened his door, and with his time slip in hand, he looked over at me and said, "I 'should' be happy...this is the quickest my car's run, and the first time it's broken 100. You know your car pulls its front tires off the ground, right? I knew I was in trouble when you launched like that...the worse part, is that I'm going to have to tell my buddies that I got beat by a battery powered Datsun!"

(6) May 14th 12.99 second run...."I almost gave it up for the night after run #2, as I was certain the contactor was checking out and felt the 3rd run would only be a bust. Many of my friends were there to watch the races and see the car run, and I figured the first low 13 second run was a good memory for them, the second a bad one, so I should cut my losses and go home...glad I stuck it out for a couple more runs :-)"

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Ford 9 inch w/4:57 gears. Replaced previous minispool axle locker with a 'Detroit Locker' ratcheting axle locker.

New rear brakes. Air shocks & traction bars.

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and BF Goodrich 'TA Drag Radials' (24" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

(2) Drilled 4 extra sets of mount holes in the third battery tray in preparation for an upgrade to 288V, but did not add the 4 extra batteries until after the Woodburn races. You can see the holes in the photo below. To make room for the extra batteries, the Todd DC-DC converter was moved from its former location in the third battery tray and relocated to the space vacated by the no-longer-used Bubba pack-splitter contactor on the aluminum bracket just behind the rear seatback bulkhead (11:00 position in photo).

(3) Deleted the previous dump charger split pack relay & fuse system. The relays and two of the fuses were removed (below left) and a new setup was designed and installed (below right):

(4) As can be seen in the photos above, we also eliminated the dual runs of red (left photo) and dual runs of black 1/0 power cable. Both the positive and negative runs were replaced with single 4/0 cables, orange for the positive and black for the negative. The small black cable in the right photo above is a 4 gauge charging lead only, as the 4/0 black negative power cable is not shown in this view and comes directly off the negative-most battery terminal. (below) Tim Brehm does the dirty work of removing the old 1/0 cabling:

Car weight:

Races and EVents

6-5-2004, VEVA REV 2004 Car Show in Vancouver, BC Canada

6-13-2004, NW Datsun Owners Show & Shine Picnic

6-26-2004, SEVA's 'Gasless on Greenwood' car show. (left) White Zombie cruises Greenwood Avenue. (right) Lots of interested folks check out the car:

9-25-2004, Woodburn Nationals...best ET 13.654 @ 94.02 mph

Carnage:

(1) Pre-Woodburn race - blew up new SCR bypass device.

(2) Woodburn - welded new Albright contactor used as last minute controller bypass.

(3) Woodburn - rear motor's output shaft Dutchman flange coupler had come loose and had slid back a half inch.

(4) Woodburn - First half of the two piece driveline shifted back against the carrier bearing to where the grease cup was scraping against the bearing's outer race.

(5) Woodburn. - Both rear brake drums were dragging badly, to where it took two people to push the car on level ground.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Pre-Woodburn races... "I'm still trying to locate the 5000 amp SCR I need, as well as a 10,000 mfd, 400V cap. to make the new solid state afterburner. Once I get that up and running to where welded contactors no longer halt racing and the car can go on to make a 6th, 7th, 8th, etc., etc. run, as the battery pack continues to heat up internally, each consecutive run will get a bit quicker by a 1/10-2/10 second. I believe that a 12.7-12.8 @ 103-104 mph is possible while still retaining the 240V pack."

(2) Pre-Woodburn races... "I'm trying hard to get all this done before Woodburn. I'll add in four more Exides and pump it up to 288V!!! That should drop the car into the mid 12's immediately. Who knows, maybe it will even dip to low 12's. The 288V pack should be capable of 400+ KW at 2600 amps...that's over 400 hp of battery power, and probably over the 300 hp mark at the motors. I'm hopeful, that the Zombie will shatter the current 13.18 @ 99.19 mph SC/A record with a mid 12 second run!"

(3) Pre-Woodburn races..."Today will be spent on installing the four extra Orbitals, installing the new emergency disconnect mount (a super nice stainless steel Marko Mongillo - Wayland design that tilts the device, moves it more to where my right hand falls right to it, and makes it conform to NEDRA-NHRA specs with all high current conductors outside the car), and prepping the motor bay for the new killer SCR Afterburner bypass. Marko and I have the metal fab shop scheduled for a couple of nights this week to make up the new bracketry needed to support the monster liquid cooled SCR and cap. bank."

(4) Pre-Woodburn races..."Tim Brehm and I worked until 12:30 last night assembling the Zombie's new full race prepped rear end setup...we were joined by Steve Schraub, a top notch forklift wrench, will be installing the new electric Line Lock this afternoon as I finish up the electrical mods under way. Dutchman Motorsports did their typical sano work on the Zombie's killer Ford nine inch axle setup, and it dropped in and fit perfectly. The car's driveline is now perfectly centered in the tunnel, and with NHRA approved drag axles, a Detroit Locker, Strange gears, new brake parts, and tires that just barely tuck under the fender lips while completely filling the little Datsun 1200's rear fender wells...I went with 'Plan B' for the disconnect side of the SCR Afterburner bypass array...a beefy freewheel diode will be switched into circuit during motor parallel and bypass operation to clamp back EMF, and when the high side contactor opens to shut down the SCR, twin 140 mfd, 800V non polarized film capacitors buss-bar connected to the contactor studs will, hopefully, absorb the flash-over energy between the opening contacts...If all this fails to take care of turn-off, I've still got the emergency pull-out disconnect at my right hand inside the car."

(5) Post Woodburn..."The rear motor's output shaft flanged hub had come loose, even though all three of its set screws are doped with red Loctite, and it had slid back a half inch on the shaft towards the rear of the car."

(6) Post Woodburn..."The first half of the two piece driveline, due to the slid-back motor hub, had shifted back against the carrier bearing to where the grease cup was scraping against the bearing's outer race."

(7) Post Woodburn..."One of the emergency disconnect's BIG power cables had moved a bit and was being ground on by the front driveline stub."

(8) Post Woodburn..."The front motor's splined output shaft hub that is part of the three piece motor-to-motor coupler, had come loose."

(9) Post Woodburn..."Both rear brake drums were dragging badly, to where it took two people to push the car on level ground."

Motor:

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and BF Goodrich 'TA Drag Radials' (24" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

12 volt system:

Other Mods:

(2) Replaced mechanicaly operated line lock with new electric line lock.

(3) Emergency disconnect modified with new stainless steel mount that better positions device and covers high current conductors (shown with top pull handle piece removed):

Car weight:

Races and EVents

None.

Carnage:

None.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) "Repositioned and re-secured, the hub still has a wobble that 'may' be the source of all the past and present vibration problems. This weekend, a dial indicator will be used to further check this out."

(2) "Considering the battery pack was tired and needed to be cycled several times to bring the batteries back up to high power levels, it's amazing that the car was able to run a 13.6 at Woodburn!"

(3) "The car is now fully loaded up with the 2005 race season's 288V pack of Orbitals. Tim and I ran the Orbitals through the table saw and made up all new 4/0 wiring for the extra 4 back batteries. Although there's 160 extra lbs. of weight in the car, it gained another 80 hp of battery power bringing the total pack power up to 494 hp of electrical energy"

(4) "With 24 Orbitals at 288V, no more brake drag, a new lighter aluminum drive line, and all the vibration gone, the car should have a respectable street range per charge."

Motor:

The two motors were torn down and all parts were rebuilt. Next, various hot rod tricks were applied, new parts were designed and created, and after motor artisan Jim Husted of 'Hi-Torque Electric' and Plasma Boy came up with a plan, a custom extra-long stainless steel shaft was fabricated by 'Dutchman Motorsports'. Below is an early drawing of the proposed extra-long motor shaft required to make the Siamese 8 motor possible:

The two armatures were conjoined at their heads as they were pressed onto the new shaft with their respective commutator ends at the far ends of the shaft, who's large splined output end mates into the female splines of the new aluminum driveshaft. For more details on the entire design and build of this unique racing motor, click the 'Photos' button, then look under 'Plasma Boy's Various Electric Vehicles', sub-album 'White Zombie'.

Drive type:

Driveshaft:

Rear axle:

Wheels & tires:

Rear - Eagle 5 spoke 14 x 6 alloys with 5 bolt Ford front drive offset and BF Goodrich 'TA Drag Radials' (24" dia.)

Batteries:

Controller:

One of the advantages of the Hairball & Zilla combination, is the ability to capture data and plot it to see how the car's electric traction system is performing. The graph below clearly shows how the battery pack reacts to the heavy loading of the Zilla controller, where the motor sections wiring shift from Series to Parallel occurs (peak 1/4 across the graph), and other vital information:

Due to the new location of the controller, it's cooling tank and pump was relocated to the firewall location:

12 volt system:

We also removed the 1st gen. 20 amp Todd PC20-LV DC-DC as it was unable to operate even at 1/2 the new pack's voltage. A second generation Todd 30 amp model DC-DC converter was modified to run at 336V input and installed on the behind-the-seatback-bulkhead aluminum plate. The blue and green (with the tacky yellow crimp style butt splice connector) wires were internally connected (soldered after the converter's voltage doubler to the high voltage caps.) then routed outside and connected to the 348V battery pack:

Other Mods:

(2) Removed contactor bypass.

(3) Reworked quick-pull emergency disconnect with 4/0 power cable.

Car weight:

Races and EVents

6-25-2005 White Zombie & drag racing videos on display at Seattle's Gasless on Greenwood Car Show.

9-2-2005 'Wayland Invitational I'...best ET 12.87

9-3-2005 White Zombie on display at the 'Electric Breakfast'

9-4-2005 Final Woodburn drags...JW receives Ed Rannberg Award. (left) Tim Brehm wearing T shirt and big smile, becomes team Plasma Boy's driver and tears up the track with White Zombie. (right) Car and driver

Tim set a new world record best ET on his first day of driving White Zombie with a 12.598 @ 103.92 mph. Here's the time slip for the back-up run that sealed that record::

Carnage:

Zorched a brush holder due to a flash-over incident during the burnout at Woodburn. Take a look at the left area under the Zombie's nose in this photo from that memerable burnout, and you can clearly see how the flash-over illuminated the pavement! A full video of the burnout (with great audio) where you can hear the 'pops' and 'snaps' of the high voltage mayhem is available at the 'Videos' page. Though there was way too much wheel spin off the line, Tim Brehm still pulled off a nice 12.65 @ 104 mph run with just 7 of the Siamese 8's total number of 8 brushes making contact with their respective commutator bars. Photo on right is a close-up of the rear motor section's brush end bell and the effects of the vaporized brush spring incident.

Plasmaboy Quotes:

(1) Feb. 27, 2005..."The only reason White Zombie has a two piece driveline, is because with the old Ford nine inch rear axle setup, the input flange of the third member's pinion was offset 4 inches towards the passenger side. I bought the rear axle setup used from someone else's project and never changed it. In order to keep the driveline from rubbing against the tunnel wall on the passenger side, I had to use small diameter tubing. I also had to use really thick gauge steel (read that 'heavy') to handle the torque. Because it was so small in diameter and due to the long total driveline length, it required a center carrier bearing and extra U joints, as one long and small diameter driveline would have turned into twisted rubble. Now that I have the all new Dutchman competition axle set up just right with the pinion dead center in the tunnel, I am going to a 4-5 inch diameter one piece aluminum driveline...no carrier bearing, no support brackets for it, and one less U joint."

(2) "The driveline will simply slide onto the rear motor shaft, then bolt up to the input flange of the rear end....simple, reliable, stronger, lighter, and hopefully, the absolute end to all the vibration."

(3) March 5, 2005..."Last night, still in our work uniforms, and with the front of the Wayland property adorned with dual service trucks, Tim Brehm and I attacked White Zombie. After about 3 hours of wrenching, wire disconnecting, and marking and tagging of all wire looms and connectors, we pulled the twin motor drive unit out of the car."

(4) March 25, 2005..."My electric motor rebuilder, Jim Husted of Hi Torque Electric and I have been hard at work. To get rid of vibration and losses, I needed to somehow, shorten the long twin 8 drive about 3 inches in order to make the rearmost section (the front motor's brush end bell) clear the car's front frame rail...this, so the twin motor drive unit could drop down and be positioned parallel to the road surface instead of at the angle it's been at. The front motor's rear shaft does nothing, other than get in the way, while its main output shaft t