Project X 1957 Chevy EV Electric Driveline Modifications for eCrate System from Chevrolet Performance

This is going to sound a bit repetitive, but it needs to be said again: since we bought the 1957 Chevy, now named Project X, for $250 back in 1965, its sole reason for existing has been to act as a testbed for new hot rodding trends and technologies. There was a time when that was electronic ignitions and EFI, but it’s 2021, and just as Smitty explained in The Hollywood Knights, “everything changes… nothing stays the same.” Project X has been on 21 magazine covers and has been the subject of 93 articles, many of them technical stories where changes were made to the car.

Of course, doing an EV conversion is a pretty big deal. Or is it? We get the mixed feelings-and in some cases, outright anger-expressed by some people (mostly in the vicious jungle known as the internet), but after unveiling the iconic Chevy at the 2021 SEMA Show, and talking with attendees, much of the negativity was rooted in a perception that we had to significantly cut up the car to do this EV swap using a prototype Chevrolet Performance eCrate system. Once those who were doubtful saw how little had to be changed on X to do the swap, they tended to warm up to the idea at least a bit. Of course, some were ticked off that the Chevy lost its V-8 rumble. Hey, we get that, we’re all about a sweet-sounding exhaust. But EV power plants moving into our hot rodding world won’t stop you from staying with your tried-and-true infernal-combustion engine any more than EFI has removed carburetors from the scene.

Related: How EV Motors Work, Tech Differences, and More

After walking around SEMA and seeing all the various EV conversion companies out there it’s clear that EV is here to stay and, just like always, Project X is on the leading edge to try out this new technology. In our lifetimes at least, EV isn’t replacing internal combustion. It’s just another item added to the menu of possibilities. Chevrolet Performance knows this as well, as evidenced by their SEMA introduction of the ZZ632, a 1,004 hp big-block engine.

How Much Has to Be Changed on a Car to Do an EV Conversion?

So, how much of Project X needed to be cut up and changed to make this radical switch to electrification? The answer is a lot less than you would expect. In fact, looking back at the transformation, we would say zero sheet metal changes would be necessary to convert X to some other driveline in the future, including back to internal combustion. That’s the beauty of the Chevrolet Performance eCrate system-since the motor spins a longitudinal driveshaft, like a traditional engine, it doesn’t require you to slice and dice your classic car or truck to get it installed.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the modifications we had to make to Project X on its journey to electrification at Cagnazzi Racing.

Project X was far from stock, but it still had a custom fuel tank between the custom frame rails that were done when Chevrolet rebuilt the car in the early 2000s.

Where Do the Batteries Mount?

When we started the EV conversion, this was the trunk of X. Not at all stock. The challenge here was that the EV Project X needed to run on battery power, so the fuel tank had to vacate the car to be replaced with the much larger batteries—around 700 pounds worth. Fun fact: we weighed the car before and after the conversion, and Project X actually lost 60 pounds overall. The weight bias also shifted from 60 percent front and 40 percent rear to 40 percent front and 60 percent rear, with much of that weight above and behind the rear axle. Wheelies, anyone?

The driveline swap was done at Cagnazzi Racing in Mooresville, North Carolina. They had just launched their E-Crate Solutions shop and had the facilities needed to pull off this swap in the short five-week timeframe we had to work with. One cool piece of kit they had was the Gom Optical Measuring Techniques ATOS Core blue-light 3D scanner. Using this, they were able to scan the entire car as well as the various EV parts, which then allowed them to lay out the parts in CAD so that a minimal amount of changes needed to be made to X.

How Much of Project X Changed for the eCrate Electrification?

The biggest change was made to the trunk area to house the eCrate batteries. This area had already been heavily modified by Chevrolet, and now it needed to be transformed again.

When Chevrolet rebuilt X, they installed a modern chassis under the Chevy. To accommodate the huge Mickey Thompson rear tires, the frame rails were moved inboard. Ironically, to make room for the two lower, latitudinally placed batteries, the frame rails needed to move back to where they were in 1957.

Of course, we didn’t want to lose our massive rear tires, so Cagnazzi Racing used their 3D modeling to have frame sections computer bent so the frame would jog back out to its stock location right behind the rear tires.

To hold the other two longitudinally placed batteries, Cagnazzi designed a removable shelf. This provided a secure mounting spot for the batteries and minimized modifications to the Chevy. It’s also a bolt in part, which will make future changes easy.

This gives you the clearest idea of how the trunk area of X was changed. No sheetmetal forward of the rear axle was altered to do this EV swap, which is a real bonus for the Chevrolet eCrate system. To be honest, this is the same trunk modification we would have made to house a fuel cell if we were installing an internal combustion engine.

Once the sheet metal work was done, the shop prepped it all for paint.

And with that, our trunk was modified to hold the new battery packs.

From the underside you wouldn’t know what was there—Batteries? Fuel Cell? Hydrogen tank?—and that was the point; to install the EV system while changing the car as little as possible.

The only change to the driveshaft tunnel was to repair the section where people had hacked holes through it for various shifters and such.

Can an Electric Motor Turn a Traditional Driveshaft?

Since the Chevrolet Performance eCrate system was set up to spin a driveshaft, no changes had to be made to the bottom of the Chevy. Given the length of the shaft required, we did decide to go with a two-piece unit, with the center bearing located on a support near where the old transmission crossmember used to be.

X still runs a rear differential just like every other hot rod. To let us easily tune the gearing for the track, we went with a quick change rearend. Since there’s no transmission, we’ll be able to quickly swap the rear gears for cruising or the drag strip.

Cagnazzi made custom brackets so we could keep our QA1 coilover triangulated four-link rear suspension. If this EV system was a transaxle-type drive setup, we would have had to heavily cut up and modify the rear of our Chevy.

The people over at Chevrolet Performance have a long history with Project X and understand how important that car is to hot rodding. They also get that most people interested in their eCrate package would rather not cut up their classic hot rod to install it.

What Do You Have to Modify in the Engine Bay to Install an Electric Motor?

In the engine bay the only cutting and welding was to remove the old engine mounts, and to install new mounts for the electric motor. Again, the goal was minimal cutting and welding.

The motor swap was a lot like any other motor swap that’s been done to X over the decades.

Like an internal combustion engine, an EV driveline needs a cooling system. By using the CAD software, Cagnazzi was able to design the system to mount to a traditional core support.

An AC condenser for the Vintage Air system was sandwiched between three smaller radiators, each with their own high-CFM electric fans. Aside from there being three radiators instead of one larger one, this is no different than any traditional build.

Where’s the Charging Port on Project X?

To keep the changes to a minimum, the charging port was modified to fit in the stock fuel filler location, which is hidden in the rear driver side tail fin.

Back in the engine bay, Cagnazzi kept body changes to a minimum. For example, rather than modifying the firewall or punching a bunch of holes in it, they used this plate to hold all the components for the interior cabin heater. If this system was ever removed, there would be only one small hole in the firewall as evidence that it was ever there.

The original hood from Project X was pulled out of storage and, thankfully, all the custom latches and hood hinges were found as well.

How Do You Shift an EV Conversion?

Almost no changes were made to X’s interior aside from the gauges that were massaged by Classic Instruments, an emergency cutoff switch, and this C8 Corvette shifter, which was mounted in Project X’s original center console.

With the hood back on, you would be hard pressed to know that anything was changed on the Chevy, and that was the idea. Our goal was to try out this 21st century technology without hacking up or forever changing our 1957 Chevy project car.

So, will people still hate this version of Project X? We imagine some will, and that’s ok. Sometimes new things aren’t for everyone, but that’s why there are options for your hot rod project from ancient flatheads to modern LS mills, and now EV power. What’s on the horizon for hot rodding? Well, we have no idea, but we do know Project X will be there to try it out and see if it’s worth considering for your hot rod project.

Concept Features of Project X EV Conversion Project

  • All-electric next-generation Connect & Cruise eCrate Propulsion System Concept

– Electric Drive Unit derived from upcoming GM production EV with next-generation motor

  • Integrated DC to AC inverter
  • Estimated power 340/255 (hp/kW)
  • Estimated torque 325/440 (lb-ft/Nm)
  • Modified Gear ratio 11.6 to 4.5
  • Open differential converted to Spool
  • Potential for PTO off front of drive unit
  • Longitudinal driveline
  • Proof-of-concept lithium-ion performance battery system with 400 volts and 30kWh of usable energy, located in trunk

– High Power Lithium Ion pouch cells arranged in 2P96S fashion

– Integrated cell heating and cooling with battery management system

  • Onboard 7.2KW charging system
  • Onboard 1.6kW DC to DC inverter
  • Quick change rear end: 4.125 ring & pinion with 0.571 or 1.75 gear set resulting into overall ratio of 2.36 or 7.22
  • Wilwood brakes w/ABS system
  • Rack-and-pinion steering with electric power steering pump
  • Iconic Yellow exterior
  • Custom billet specialties 15-inch wheels
  • Custom interior with Corvette C8 push-button shifter

Build Team at Cagnazzi E-Crate Solutions

  • Victor Cagnazzi
  • Michael Lyons
  • Parker Grove
  • Todd Berrier
  • Adam Badgett
  • Fred Badgett
  • Gene Dehart

Build Team From Chevrolet

  • Prashant Ahire – Project Management
  • Russ O’Blenes – Director, Performance & Racing
  • J. Hamley – eCrate Electrification Engineer – Controls lead
  • Adam Maloney – eCrate Electrification Engineer – Electrical Systems lead
  • Steve Yocum – Design Lead
  • Mike Ernest
  • Steve Richie
  • Sean Sheehan
  • Cole Leether
  • Performance and Racing Propulsion Lab
  • Pontiac PPO (Janellen Preston and team)
  • GM Production Electrification Team

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