Hi all, I just arrived back from may vacation in England to visit my wife Monica's family, who lives just north of London in Hatfield Heath.
While I was there I had an opportunity to visit Paul Compton who lives just an hour away in Luton. I also had a chance to meet the father of the Lynch motor, Cedric Lynch himself. Cedric just happened to drop by Paul's house in his EV while I was visiting. When Monica's Aunt dropped me off last Saturday, the original plan was for me to visit for just a couple hours and I'd catch a bus back to Hatfield Heath, later in the afternoon. But time flew by . . . I didn't even bother to leave to catch the last bus out of Luton and didn't get home till after midnight!! Paul was gracious enough to give me a lift home. After our introductions, when I met Paul and his mom, Paul led me to his garage in his backyard. As we approached the garage, along the path were bits and pieces of engines and even a Triumph Spitfire chassis hidden in some weeds . . . just clues to what awaited inside. And what a garage indeed . . . an EV hobbyists dream. The garage is two-car deep with the front section wider then the back section by a few feet. Paul needed the extra width of that front part because occupying it was a humongous milling machine, a lathe and a drill press. On the opposite side of the garage was a mechanics tool chest loaded with the usual mechanic's tools and sophisticated measuring devices and shelves from floor to ceiling loaded with all kinds of EV parts . . . Prestolite motors, controllers, Paul's prototype component projects and more. With all this equipment Paul has easily been able to create his own adaptor plates and more. I was awestruck . . . After picking myself off the floor I glanced upon one of Paul's project cars . . . a rolling Formula F4 race car frame which he bought for 500 pounds ($750.00). Paul had stripped it down to the metal and had brazed battery support frames to the sides. The gear box, gear shift and Prestolite motor were all installed and he was working on installing the axle shafts. He had created new end plates for the gear box, which he modeled himself and had custom cast, to adapt the gearbox to the axles he was using. On the floor next to the car was a row of Genesis EP batteries which he had bought from Solectria. He was in the process of charging and load testing them with a charging system and load tester he configured himself. I had a chance to slip inside the drivers seat and imagine how thrilling it would be to pilot this beauty around the race track. After a tour of the Formula car we went for a spin in Paul's daily driver, a VW Scirocco powered by 192 volts of Yellow Tops and a Godzilla controller. It was parked just behind the Formula car. Since Paul has a short commute to work . . . where they let him charge up . . . he had the controller set to "Valet" mode and was still able to keep up with a Porsche Boxster S that was in front of us! The Scirocco is where some of Paul's craftsmanship shines. No visible wires anywhere. Under the bonnet everything looks OEM. His battery boxes are constructed of, if I can recall correctly, 20 gauge steel. The boxes were professionally bent, rivited together and supported by a MIG welded tubular steel frame. The entire unit was topped off with industrial grey enamel paint. Although Paul uses thin gauge metal, instead of angle iron, his frames, boxes and brackets are built in such a way that the whole stucture works together as a single unit for strength. The tops of his battery boxes are bolted on with fasteners every couple inches for added rigidity. He told me he was once offered a job from a fellow who worked in the aircraft industry after he seen the car. In the boot the batteries are sunk low in the floor so no space is wasted. He also installed a battery monitoring system of his own design with a digital readout cleverly mounted in the dash which also looks OEM. There is also a port installed on the control box so he can export data from the unit to a PC. He mentioned that he sells these systems to anyone who wants one. After the tour of the Scirocco, Paul showed me his other project which was parked outside the garage. A red Skota, which I believe is a '96. Skota's are Czech built cars and are actually perfect for building conversions. The body style kind of reminded me of an Avanti. The Skota has a high profile and a heavy duty suspension. The spare tire compartment is cleverly located under the front of the car between the front wheels. The engine is in the rear with a gearbox setup similar to a VW Bug. As a matter of fact the Prestolite he is using fits perfectly where the rear motor mount is. The Skota's rear tailight panel is bolted on, instead of welded, so the panel could be easily removed to access the engine (when it had one). Paul installed a battery box above the motor and a battery box in the front. This conversion is going to be a simple one only using 96 volts. Kind of an around town car. Paul also showed me some EV videos including one of the Tropica, some footage of EV activities from our friends on the West Coast and an interesting video of some "Feet-First motorcycles". He also showed me some pictures and plans for his design for a new IGBT controller. At some point in the conversation that day he told me of his work helping Clare Bell with her 914 at the APS Electrics . . . awhile back. Paul was over in the states for 5 weeks tweeking the car for the race. After the tour of the cars and the garage we headed inside for dinner. While we were having dinner Cedric Lynch called and said he would drop by in half an hour. By that time I had missed the last bus I was planning to take back but I didn't mind since I was having too much fun. I did call the family to tell them not to expect me for dinner that evening. Shortly after dinner, Cedric drove up in his electric powered recumbant styled bicycle complete with a body and lexan top, akin to an Electrathon EV. He often drives his bike quite frequently to Paul's house which is 25 miles from Cedric's place in Potter's Bar. The bike is 48 volts and is powered by one of his Lynch motors and a Brusa controller. The charger is a Zivan K2 and the bike is also equipped with regen. Cedric welded the bike together himself and the body panels are plastiboard. I'm not sure if that's the name but it looks like corragated cardboard but it's made of a plastic like material. Cedric let me sit in the vehicle. Although the two-wheeler is enclosed the sides aren't fixed so when you come to a stop you can easily pop your legs out to balance the bike. Another unique feature of the bike is a gimble type steering setup he has. It's rather complicated to describe but works quite well. The front of the bike features a fiberglass over foam constructed nose with a headlight in the middle. Since Cedric was there I asked him about his motor and to get a gist of who is marketing and manufacturing it. There is Lynch Motors which Cedric runs and there is LEMCO which manufactures the motor. Briggs and Straton also bought the licensing rights for the Lynch motor and is selling it under the brand name E-Tek. Paul has a version of the latest Lynch motor which is quite powerful. Although I can't recall the specs, I do remember him saying that its a permanent magnet motor and the magnets are so powerful there are no fasteners holding the two halves of the motor together. You need a special jig to pull the the halves apart. Surprisingly the conversation that evening didn't center around the Lynch motor. Instead we talked about EV's in general, the Battery Vehicle Society that Cedric and Paul are a member of, motorcycles, American versus European cars, and even planes. Towards the end of the evening Paul's mom kept coming out as a polite gesture to remind us it was getting late and I needed to head back. So Paul closed up the garage, Cedric got in his bike and Paul gave me a lift home. It was quite a trip. One I'll never forget. Visit Paul's site at http://www.sciroccoev.co.uk Also check out the Lynch Motor site at http://www.lynchmotor.com Cheerio, Chip Gribben ******************************************************************* Chip Gribben Today for a [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cars Brighter Electric Tomorrow 5809 Holger Court ________ Laurel, Maryland 20707 / / \ ___/ /________\_____ 144-volt Ford Escort =--------/ __ __ \ GE Elec-Trak E-10 \_/ \__________/ \__> 24-volt Electric Bike \__/ \__/ Visit the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC Website at http://www.evadc.org *******************************************************************
