Thanks for all the warm welcomes! I was half expecting "you've ruined a perfectly good car" type responses.... Maybe I have.
crazycanadian wrote:Thats a really cool interesting project...
You live not to far from me, I am just over in cloverdale...
Cool! PM me if you want to take a look at it. I will take you for a rip too, but you have to pay for the gas.
Nd4SpdSe wrote:I've wanted to build an electric car for YEARS. I've seen them well done in Festivas and I'd like to go that route and lighten it right up, doing fiberglass fenders and hood, replacing the rear glass with tinted lexan, finding a model with manual steering and manual brakes (so no vacuu, pump is needed for the brakes). Dropping it down for better aerodynamics. That project is still many years away and good luck finding a good condition Festiva...
I have yet to "depower" the steering rack, but even now I find that having no power steering pump isn't a big deal on the MX-3.
The Vacuum brakes issue wasn't an issue at all. I used a Volvo vacuum pump ($50 used off eBay) and a $20 vacuum switch to turn it on and off through a relay. It works just as well as when the engine was providing vacuum.