latest news...
we can't use the lift to press down, unfortunately. it goes down by gravity only.
ramps... this thing wouldtn't really be able to drive up ramps with the juice we're (not) supplying it from our jumper-cabled 3 x 12v battery pack.
i'm seriously going to have a hard enough time driving the thing out of 1 - 2 inch divots its wheels have compressed into the driveway since i parked it on wednesday. truly. on the outside (softer) edge of the driveway, the narrower (steering) tire/wheel has pushed the bricks down about 2.5 inches. the larger & wider (front, lift end) wheels haven't sunk too much - maybe 1/2 inch.
spent today tracing wires, making crude schematics, and removing gew-gaws for possible ebay disposal: safety strobe, reverse beeper, horn, spotlights, hours-of-use meter...
also phoned up the company we got it from to ask if they had an extra service manual for the electronics side of things. i should have asked for this when we agreed to buy it. the tech said he figured they had an extra manual kicking around - hopefully they'll come through for us. that will save us mucho time in tracing, mapping & understanding all the components. a plea to the EVDL for any info on the antique EV-1 controller only netted one reply (unfortunately not too detailed - though he commended our "score" and said the EV-1 electronics are dead reliable, which is good news - and maybe self-evident considering their 25 year age and still-working condition
).
we borrowed and picked up a 20 ton railway jack this afternoon (used for lifting the rails for repairing the rail bed, i think). it's a manual "ratchet" type jack, a lot like an old car "bumper" jack, except on serious, serious steroids, and with a 5-foot handle.
so this weekend we'll see about raising & blocking the back end of the beast and performing the various motor-ectomies, and possibly hydraulic pump-ectomies too.