Insanity Reigns!

To remove the engine from a perfectly functional auto violates the sacred dictum: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".  I've pulled engines quite a few times, but we always broke them first!.  My tool kit and skills have deteriorated a bit, but with a couple trips to Sears and little help from the instructions, it is done.  The basics haven't changed in the 30 or so years since last time, but there sure are a lot more wires and tubes in a '97 Mazda than a '72 Ford.    I'm glad I don't have to put this back in and expect it to work! 

It actually took Jared, John and I about 6 hours with prep and clean up, but I thought you might prefer the "Reader's Digest" version.

Engine and exhaust out.  Minus about 330 lbs.  Mounts and battery boxes are being made and powder coated.  I'll order the transmission adapter, motor and controller on Monday.  There's still some cleanup and prep to do, but we'll look forward to installing new stuff over the winter school break.

Committed (mostly)

Who would have thought that we'd be comfortably motoring with the top down Nov 22?  But it really is snowing now, and the high tomorrow is expected to be 28. It is time.

After this "farewell to internal combustion" cruise, we've removed all fluids, wanting to get the messy work done outside.  Then pushed her into the (heated) garage.  While I think I could undo this if I had to, it's getting harder.

We also bypassed the power steering pump to see what manual steering might feel like.  Not bad, but I think I'll still replace the rack with one intended to work that way, it will have a slightly easier gear ratio.

I've settled on a clutch-less adapter system from EV-America.  This drops a few pounds by removing the flywheel and picks up acceleration a little because of reduced rotating inertia.  Since the electric motor doesn't need to keep spinning when the car is stopped, and loves high RPM, there's very little need for shifting.  And there's more parts I can take off the car and don't have to put back!  That's the clincher.

Farewell to ICE

After a slight detour caused by the wreckage of Miata 1, we are back on track.  We have a relatively pristine '97 with 72,000 original owner miles.  Looking for a new home for the ICE now.  Went for a ride today and Lauren video taped the dashboard for me in a mediocre 0-60 run, just to show any interested parties that the engine does "vroom vroom".  Expecting snow in the near future, therefore a good day to put your convertible away.

We plan to install an AC motor and Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries based on the plan and parts from  EVMiata.  This should give us a car with good range (50-90 miles, haven't decided on exactly how many batteries yet) and weight very close to the original.