I have an old Nissan Altima which breaks down quite often and the milage sucks. With the ever increasing gas prices I thought of trying to convert the thing without selling to scrap yard but the question is, is it worthwhile spending all that money on that old thing? I would love to take any advice at all from all of you.... Please give me your feedback.

Electric Car Conversion Kits

Would probably cost more than a new one to convert it.

#2027 Sold 7/23/2005


EX, 5SP, 2WD

Of course, it's possible. It's a simple 3-step process:
1. Buy a complete set of parts for a new Nissan Altima from a dealer.
2. Remove all of the parts from your old Altima, except for the VIN plates.
3. Install all of the new parts.

The total cost will be, roughly, thirty or forty times the price of a brand new Altima.
When you are done you will still have an old car with no warranty.
And, because you don't have the factory training on how to do the assembly work,
it will still break down a lot.

Just because something is possible does not make it a good idea.

This question is akin to "can I hot-rod my car at home?"
Of course you can. It would not be very cost effective, but if you are technically savvy, are skilled with tools and have access to good ones, of course you can.

Perhaps the best would be to convert it to an experimental all-electric vehicle.

I believe that the time is ripe, just like it was in the mid-1950s, for car performance business to flourish. Contrary to what happened back then, these mods will be geared not towards raw horsepower and speed, but towards fuel efficiency and low emissions.
I do hope that in the near future, some tinkerer develops in his garage a bolt-on electric conversion kit for some popular vehicle. Fortunately, the Altima is one of those vehicles. And hopefully, he can make a business out of it.

The true smart man is the one who appears to be dumb in front of dumb man who appears to be smart.

try shedding about 500lbs off the car. Fix your motor and watch you mpg climb. take everything out that is not essential, eliminate all the seats except for driver, etc. go extreme... and this will not cost you that much, if anything...just time.

The first thing to work out are the requirements: (1) speed, (2) range, and (3) expected operating cost per mile. Once you know what you want to achieve, the engineering begins.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me:

You can convert your car at home but it would cost more than a new and it needs so much time and effort.