With fresh bodywork resprayed Toner White, the Zombie looks like a meek Datsun 1200 with cool wheels.
With 500+ electric horses under the hood though, it may be the ultimate street sleeper!Photo by John Wayland
Motor: 'Siamese 9' dual armature. Forced air-cooling.
The Siamese 9 motor was rebuilt in 2013, runs perfectly and is in top condition.
Drive type: Direct drive into Ford nine inch differential - no flywheel, clutch or transmission. Electric reverse.
Driveshaft: Single piece all aluminum driveline from 'Inland Empire Drivelines'. NHRA required Driveline loop.
Rear axle: Dutchman heavy duty Street/Strip Ford nine inch rear axle setup with Strange aluminum differential housing, Detroit locker and 31 spline racing axles.
Photo courtesy of Keith 'The Dutchman' Ebeling
Tall 3:25 gears, CalTrac traction bars and sticky drag radials take advantage of the electric motor's max. torque at zero rpm (1250 ft. lbs.) for quick launches! (1.33 best 60 ft.):
Wheels & tires:
Batteries:192 Dow Kokam lithium manganese nickel cobalt polymer cells configured at 2P96S make up the Zombie's 355V, 21.3 kWh high current battery pack. With a manufacture date code of 2007 the cells are now 7 years old and have been in service since 2010. All cells are still performing 'as new' and are well balanced. They are 3.7V, 30 ah nominal with a continuous discharge rate of 20C, have a 40C 10 second rating for a maximum of 1200 amps from each cell, and are configured in paralleled pairs so the battery pack can safely output 2400 amps.
Controller:Zilla Z2k 2000 amp controller. Quick-pull emergency disconnect.
12 volt system:
Other Mods: In late May we loaded the Zombie on the trailer and in yet another epic Plasma Boy Racing road trip, hauled it all the way to Austin, Texas where it received a full makeover. This was the beginning of our relationship with Blood Shed Motors. The trip had a two-fold purpose - to do full restorartion on White Zombie, and to codesign and build the Black Zombie Mustang, aka 'Zombie 222'... OK, there was a third purpose - eat Texas BBQ!
Below left: The stout blue Hemi Jeep tow rig found a new owner and an equally stout 'Inferno Red Pearl' Hemi Jeep took its place, ready to take on the open road! Below center: Having learned my lesson over failed low quality straps on the Tucson trip (see 2012 section) dual chains plus the winch cable as a backup made sure the Zombie wouldn't break loose from the trailer again. Below right: Much beefier thick nylon straps and strong chains cinch the Zombie down:
It was fun to see ractions like this at the numerous Jeep refueling stops throughout the trip.
Oregon to Texas in three days:
Arriving at the Blood Shed:
First things first!:
Below: With the Zombie inside the Blood Shed, the tear-down began with removal of stickers that had been on the car for years. Then, everything from the bumpers, to the lights, to trim pieces, to all the glass was removed.
Below: Even the sunroof was removed. The wrinkled fenders were pulled from the car and repaired. They were then modified by spot-welding hand made metal pieces to reinforce the wheel arch lip. The factory right angle wheel arch lip edges were cut-away in 2010 in an attempt to make clearance for the taller front tires, but it had weakened the fenders to where any type of pressure would 'oil can' and dent them inward. Marko's thick curved metal back piece reinforcement trick worked well and the wheel arch openings are much more robust.
Lots of hard work - More BBQ!:
Below: The front and rear glass were pulled. Even the funky old headliner was ripped out - when you've got the windshield, the rear window and their respective rubber gaskets removed, it's the perfect time to install a new headliner!
Below: The Zombie's front valance has been a source of embarassment in up-close magazine shots that glaringly showed dents, scrapes and even drilled holes (it used to have a front chin spoiler). Using a stud welder dent pulling tool, Mitch was able to straighten things out
Did I mention we were in Texas?
Below: Mitch Medford, happy that the Zombie is finally ready for paint.
Mitch sprayed the car 'Toner White', then it was rolled outside to cure in the Texas sun:
Waiting for paint to dry is hard work that makes you hungry:
Below: Before remounting the fenders, new body seals were installed. Mitch even painted the sunroof frame and small parts before we sealed and remounted it. It always feels great to put the shiny stuff back on the car after a total repaint.
We worked up an appetite putting the car back together, so we headed southwest out of Austin to Driftwood and grabbed more killer BBQ at 'The Salt Lick':
Way back in 1998, we had the famous 'Plasma Boy' incident when the back seat area lead acid battery pack was accidentally shorted out. The intense heat caused an interior fire that blackend and partially melted the vinyl headliner (see 'Carnage' section, Early 1998). Sixteen years later, it was time to replace it and dress up the interior of the Zombie a bit. Mitch told me about Blanchard's Upholstry that was just up the road from the Blood Shed in Lake Travis. I met with Lonnie the owner (left in photo), saw their great workmanship, and had them to make and install a new grey cloth headliner while the front and rear glass were still out of the car. Datsun 1200s were inexpensive econboxes that had minimal interior trim, and the factory headliner was cheap thin vinyl that did not cover the painted A and B pillars, so I had them extend the new headliner to cover the A and B pillars. I also had them make a grey vinyl rear package shelf cover, as the painted steel shelf was a bit too 'shop class':
I had ordered and received a NOS (new old stock) genuine Datsun rear window rubber gasket, but it was the Japan market only solid black gasket, not the gasket that accepts the bright stainless window trim all USA 1200s came with. After searching the internet, nobody had the bright trim gasket anymore and it's listed as 'no longer available'. This was very disappointing, as these before and after photos show:
The Zombie's windshield had never been replaced and was pitted and had a few good sized rock chips. Attempts to find a new 1972 era Datsun 1200 windshield failed while we were in Texas, so the plan was to have Blanchard's put the original glass back in following their headliner replacement work. They were successful with the install of the back glass, but the windshield shattered during the install! What to do? More BBQ!
The windshield disaster aside, the rest of the car was assembled enough to load onto the trailer for the long return journey back to Portland. Missing its windshield, we stretched shrink wrap around the A pillars and loaded the Zombie backwards, then prayed for no rain. With the funky wrap and the ugly rear window gasket, the Zombie looked pretty sad after a few hundred miles of the wind tearing away at the wrap:
Days later we arrived home to Portland. After an exhausting road trip, I then went on an exhausting search to find a Datsun 1200 windshield. After scouring the internet, it turned out that a local warehouse had two in stock! I had bought and stored-away a brand new genuine Datsun (Nissan) windshield gasket three decades ago that was still in its sealed plastic bag, and I now had a new windshield! I contacted the good guys at 'Auto Glass Company' who's motto is "A Company That Takes Pride In Their Work" and they lived up to that promise. They were both Datsun fans, knew about and had always wanted to see White Zombie. The glass guys arrived on time and did a fantastic job!
Being Datsun aficionados, the Auto Glass boys noticed the funky black rear window gasket, and asked if I had lost the stainless bright trim pieces. I told them I had the pieces, but the gasket was not the type that could accept the trim - they corrected me and pointed to the trim insert groove of the gasket. The online Canadian NOS Datsun parts reseller had told me the bright trim type rear window gasket was no longer available and that they had sent me the plain black type, so this was an unexpected nice surprise! I did not hesitate to have them pull the rear window out (the only way to install the bright trim) and do the job for me. While we were working on the window, I decided it was time to peel off the 'Suck Amps!' taunt that had been there since 1998 and replaced it with the monster green 'Zombie' logo - same stylized font as used on the Black Zombie 222 Mustang - brand/blood recognition between these two hi pro EVs that are blood brothers! :
With a brand new windshield & gasket up front and the brightwork trim restored around the back glass, White Zombie was looking fresh and clean - time to address the details!
Using a spray can of close matching Krylon gloss white, the hood hinges were cleaned and given a nice coat of paint. Again, I dug out NOS parts hidden away in in my EV shop, and found brand new hood hinge rubber air seals to install:
The same detail treatment was given to the trunk area. Both hinges were cleaned and painted, then a new trunk gasket was installed:
The tail lights, bumpers and custom license plates were all cleaned, polished and detailed. Note that a new emergency shut-off decal was added as well:
The interior received upgrades as well. Below left to right: The carpets were made to fit better and stay in place. The factory door panels were detailed and have new black buttons that cover up the previous white painted threaded screw holes that held the armrests in place (no room for them due to roll bar system). New carpeted wheel well bump covers were made and glued in place (stock covering was paper thin vinyl). A new carpet piece was made to cover the bare white area where the rear seat cushion once lived.
All the hard work, determination and attention to detail makes it all worth the effort. A special thank you goes out to our new Texan friends at the Blood Shed - especially to Mitch Medford for making it possible! As can be seen in the photos below, White Zombie is one clean and straight machine!
Photo by John Wayland
Car weight: 2350 lbs.
May 10th...Papa's Toys Car Show, Forest Grove, Oregon
Panoramic photo courtesy of Steve 'The Taunter' Schrab
While in Texas for the car's body & paint makeover, the windshield shattered during reassembly - it actually shattered on its own when left on a bench overnight. Other than the broken windshield, since the Zombie was not raced in 2014 there were no failures of any kind. It was however, driven extensively as a sleeper street electric hotrod.