Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

Maybe you should own an independent bookstore. That also serves craft beer and cocktails at night, preferably served by waitresses with tattoos and bartenders with handlebar mustaches.

You should be proud of that. Assuming your house is not a shithole hovel.


You shouldn't be proud about owning a shithole hovel.


Unless you have legitimate plans to spruce it up and make it handsome.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

some one buy this, then give me the manifold, dp, and turbo.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=497536

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

We have a beer license, and I've had a handlebar mustache. Several of my female coworkers have tattoos and hipster glasses.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

1. Go in halfsies with the current owner (now you get more tax deductions and/or more income)
2. Structure the ownership agreement so that he is on the hook for most liability
3. Buy all the female coworkers some pushup bras
4. Profit.


Edit: I forgot to emphasize the craft and bespoke cocktails. Super high profit margin on high-end liquor cocktails. Speakeasies are in vogue right now.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

I could buy a fixie and ride it there.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

Only if you'll let me bum an American Spirit off you.

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

That's it.

I am thoroughly sick and tired of going through power steering belts.
Anytime I zing the engine past 5K at 13-15 psi, the damn belt comes off as I lift.

I am sourcing an electric P/S pump to adaptify in the engine bay. I'll just feed the damn thing off the MS. (Not the power, speed inputs and whatnot)

I hate not being able to use the throttle when some happless Bimmer is trying to mess with me on the freeway.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

buy a house somewhere more expensive that qualifies for FHA loan, pay your 3% down and then you can Mitt Romney your way to deductions the size of the average american household--which actually isn't that outlandish. cough cough.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I have two mortgages on two homes already.

I don't intend to breed a dependent. And I don't do diapers. I'm actually looking into adopting an older child who has been stuck in state foster care for years through no fault of her own.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Please start a thread once you source the electric pump. I am interested in following that option.

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

Looks like the simplest route is going with a Renault Clio/Kangoo pump.
Wiring is simple from what I gather so far. The only snag in the whole thing is determining what sort of a signal the pump should be fed for assistance level.
Apparently, there is some sort of a "handshake protocol" when you replace one in a Renault so the system recognizes the pump.
I have come across a couple manual rotary **** setups on Ebay for such a conversion. That way you just preset the whole pump for a fixed level of assist, and it runs as long as the engine does.

There are also some folks who have opted for an MR2 setup, complete with the wiring harness and ECU from a donor car. That route is pretty involved, costs a bunch, and could be a pain to make it work. The upside is, you get full functionality, and the pump runs only when needed.

I am still digging into this option, and trying to uncover info.

One sad truth is the utter lack of info on anything NOT sold in the US. I mean, you could get wiring diagrams for 50 year old cars in the US, but information gets scarce for European stuff.

I will definitely document this project in detail as I make progress.

One cool thing about an electric/hydraulic setup is the fact that you could just mount the pump wherever you see fit. Could even be inside the front bumper.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I was just about to chime in and say "MR2."

Apparently, these pumps are common with folks who have done their own battery-EV conversions. And these days, I'd assume that first-gen Priuses and other hybrids should be showing up in junkyards as well, so that would be another source.

In the OEM design, these apparently have a rather hideously complex control system. Some of the DIY-EVers have been coming up with their own control solutions, and it might be worth hanging around some of those forums for a bit.

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

Exactly. I am spending my evening (OK, early morning) trolling all sorts of forums where people address each other as "matey"...

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

One blindingly easy solution might simply be to use a PWM controller wherein motor DC varies inversely to VSS, and shuts off entirely when you are stopped and not in gear.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Quite true, lots of room in there for all sorts of electrically driven replacements for mechanical components!

I have also been trolling the EV boards. I saw one recommendation for using a treadmill motor to drive the original mechanical pump. Arduino for speed control, or maybe just a MS PW output triggering a solid state relay?

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

Actually, quite the opposite.. It needs to run at full power at idle and 0 mph for easy maneuvering.
Also, a delay could be built in so the pump would start running x seconds after the engine fires.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

I see joe p beat me to it. iPad fail.

Godless Commie

iTrader: (2)

That's an ingenious approach, but that means the motor would be running all the time.
I am trying to come up with a scheme where it will not run unless assistance is required.

flying_solo

iTrader: (5)

I commend you six!

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

That's exactly what I said.

Motor DC varies inversely to VSS, meaning that at high vehicle speed, motor DC is low, and at low vehicle speed, motor DC is high. At 0 MPH, motor DC would be at its highest.

The exception comes when the vehicle is both not moving and not in gear, in which case the motor would shut off entirely. You don't need to steer when you're not moving at all, such as when sitting at a stoplight with the gearbox in neutral. As soon as you depress the clutch or shift into gear, the motor starts up to provide you with maneuvering power.

Is it as elegant as the OEM design which sensed the driver input into the steering wheel? No. But it's probably good enough, and a hell of a lot simpler to implement.

If you really wanted to get fancy, you could sense the RPM of the motor and attempt to match it to a target speed. This would conserve some electrical power when operating at very low speed but also not applying steering input. It's a slightly less direct method of implementing an OEM-like steering force sensor.