Tuesday 26 April 2011

Donor Vehicle Selection and Purchase

The basic requirements for the donor vehicle were:
- seating for two adults and one child;
- enough load carrying capacity to use lead acid batteries required for the approx 100km range (>800kg);
- enough space to include batteries;
- air conditioning;
- less than $5000.

The 1996 Toyota Hilux single cab is a good choice as it has:
- three seats in the front (the middle is a bit small but should be suitable for a child if all three of us want to go somewhere);
- a tare weight of approx 1350kg and a GVM of approx 2700kg so there is lots of weight margin for batteries if the range ends up being too low;
- the single cab means that most of the batteries can go behind the cab to keep the weight balance good;
- has a carburetted engine so there will be no ECU to be confused when the engine disappears.


I watched three car sales web sites every day for 6 weeks.  This one was advertised in Sydney for $6990 - out of our price range but worth a look to see what could be had for some more money.  When I went to look at it I told the dealer what I wanted to do with it and our budget.  Apparently he had paid more for it than I offered.  I asked him to call me back if he changed his mind.  Three weeks later he did and we got our donor vehicle. 
The Donor Vehicle

On the drive back from Sydney we had a bit of a scare as the engine cut out on the way up a hill on the freeway - not a good sign. 
Luckily it was just a blocked fuel filter and easily fixed.  There are no rattles or squeaks, the air conditioning works, the radio might need replacing and some seat covers won’t go astray.