Hi, as you can tell by my post count, I'm a nooby here at the forums. I have been reading, researching, and preaching how hybrids (and the like) are the wave of the future, for years now. But! I do have one love in this life, my 1968 mustang that I am working on. Now to appease both my love of hybrid technologies and my baby, has anyone heard news of private citizens converting old classic/muscle cars into hybrids. My mustang is running an original straight 6, and as one of the last things that I am upgrading/replacing, is going to be the engine and such. I know there has been people who have taken their prius and added batteries and such to get 80mpg. Now I do understand I won't get that good of fuel efficiency, but one can still do their part by increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing foreign oil dependence.

Thanks for listening to me blather on and have a great day!

spellingBrian,

Hybrid conversions of front wheel drive cars are straight forward (electric motors on the rear wheels). Doing it on your mustang is problematic as adding motors to the steered wheels is difficult. By the way, I don't care for the Mustang 6 (I had one, 1966), the small v8 was a nice engine. Good luck.

Jeffd

I get 60 mpg on my 03 Civic Hybrid CVT by driving smart.
My club converts cars to total electric, a hybrid is very complicated to do. Check us out at www.phoenixeaa.com there are Elec Auto Assoc clubs all over the USA and Canada.
An Insight can get 100 mpg by driving smart, a Prius about 70. Hybrids als require less oil changes, my Honda is 10K intervals and less brake wear and dust becuase of regenerative braking.
jim jstack6@juno.co Chandler AZ

For old cars ethanol can be a great clean fuel. I have a 1930 Model A ford and the model T and As can run on E85. Thats 85 % American grown corn alcahol. A few people have EVen make old classics into 100% electric. In fact there weere more electrics than gas or steam at one time. EVen hybrids back in 1915 but no one cared. Jim

I'd actually guess that making a full EV first is probably the easiest way to go.

(See a '65 Mustang EV here: http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/098.html )

Easier as it has been done before, so plenty help from friendly enthusiasts and a wealth of experience out there in simple EV conversions.

Then to make it a hybrid, you should just add a small generator in the boot (maybe a Honda 30hp?). With that arrangement you'd actually have a more advanced and efficient powertrain than that in existing hybrids (ie a plug-in hybrid).

Much easier doing it this way as it avoids a lot of complicated software / integration problems that you'd have with a conventional small battery hybrid system (eg trying to integrate engine / motor output shafts onto the same differential etc).

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ecotech/ecot.htm

It crossed my mind that a pickup might be the "easiest"(easy is relative) vehicle to convert to a regenerative braking hybrid.You(better be a very adept fabricator) could line 10 1500 watt alternators-5 on either side-of the driveshaft.Probably have to use a belt or maybe chains with tensioners to follow driveshaft movements.You would need 5 pulleys or sprockets on the driveshaft.The best way would be to have them clutched in some way so you aren't driving them all the time.You might have to settel for constantly driving them,or maybe drivng them,but with the electromagnets not powered up so your just driving bearing-chain drag(it would be simpler to just drive them all the time,but not too efficient).When you take your foot off the gas,them flip a switch to engage them,and they will provide braking,and recharge the Honda or Toyota battery pack in the truck bed.When you accelerate the battery can power the electric motor-10-20 hp- which will chain drive-or belt- the driveshaft.This would be a manual switch.Once again this would have to be clutched in some fashion.
My guess is that the junkyard alternators would weigh about 10 lbs each,with another 3 lbs in belts chains drive shaft sprockets.The battery pack 100 lbs-electric motor= drive pulleys-sprockets 150 lbs(just a cheap off the shelf motor-a Toyota or Honda motor would be better,but I'm not sure how easily they could be adapted.
Obviously there are plenty of downsides to this:
1)At least 400 lbs
2)Loads of drag-it would be nice to figure a way to clutch the 6 driveshaft sprockets-pulleys,but it would be tricky.The clutch engagement would have to be gentle enough(but small and light) so it won't break on 1st engagement.
3)You would have to engage-disengage manually-you would have to throw a switch to engage-disengage the alternators-same story on the electric drive motor.
4)cost-maybe $250 for the alternators-$800 battery pack-$300 electric motor-the fabrication and one off sprockets-pulleys would cost many $K unless you were very adept,in which case it would be maybe 1000 hrs.
PLAN B-find a 2500 watt alternator to replace your 1300 watt alternator(set it up so you can activate the electromagnets).Get a battery pk 1500 watt-hrs like a Prius-and set it up so you can charge it at home.Hook up a 10hp electric motor as above.When you want to brake-throw the switch on the alternator to engage it-also engage it while idling.
Yes,you would think it would cost energy to engage it while idling-but I'm not sure that is so.The load will drop the RPMS from 725 to 600;the slower speed will allow the charge to act on the piston longer and transfer more energy to the piston(exhaust temp will be lower-explains the "free energy"-perpetual motion aspect of this).There will be lower friction losses at 600 RPMS than at 725 rpms.Well,why do engineers set the idle at 700-why not just save the gas and set the idle lower to begin with?I'm not sure,but 700 is smoother,and maybe easier on the bearings-600 or less might be like lugging.
A DIY would be hard.Good luck,Charlie

Well sorta.. I could almost guarantee a 30hp generator is a lot cleaner in terms of smog-forming emissions than the original 1960's engine, but it's still not going to be as clean as a Civic, Prius, or any other modern car. In that sense, it's still not ahead of the modern green machines.