Noob From Aus

[thepunisher]

Originally Posted by MPGeo

Hello, and welcome to the site.

I like what you have done to the car. I particularly like your external rear view mirror cover... is it 3d printed too? it loos really good from the picture.

I can relate with the commuting being more interesting and fun now!

Welcome Again.

Thanks! The cover is just a chunk of plywood cut to shape and painted then siliconed around the edges. It also doubles as something to screw into to hold the internal mirror bracket on with some short wood screws.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by thepunisher

it would depend on the cop that wants to have a look

It would be legal to install a non PS rack from the lower model starlet and remove all the associated PS parts but it's just laziness and too many other things to do that is stopping me.

Few things bug me more than having to rely on the cop making the decision. He's a cop, not an automotive engineer. I say if there aren't regular inspections where your vehicle is registered, then don't give the cops jurisdiction to make judgment calls or give tickets on such subtle things as whether or not the power steering is hooked up!

"Is this vehicle safe to drive in this condition?"

"I got it this far, didn't I? I steered safely to the side of the road and came to a stop, didn't I?"

Unfortunately, exchanges in that vein rarely end well for the motorist.

As to the rest of it, that's just saving a different kind of energy.

Happy motoring!

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by elhigh

The bit about the power steering components has a bit of room for interpretation. As written it requires that any installed power steering components have to be in good order, so that rules out the old looping-the-lines trick. It doesn't say that you have to have it.

Obviously you guys in Australia know your road nannies better than I do so feel free to ignore me. But if a concurrent Starlet was available in Oz without PS, doesn't that open the door to removing it from yours? Just install the same hardware that would be on a non-PS Starlet and enjoy the reduced engine load. It wouldn't be stock to your car but it would be a stock application.

The law was never intended for people removing power steer. It's legal to add power steer to a non PS vehicle (at least in my state) without any special permission, as long as you use 100% OEM components installed as designed for that model.

Reading between the lines the reverse should also be fine, but looping lines or removing drive belts is definitely a no-no.

[ar5boosted]

Nice effort with the 3D printing.