Quote:
Originally Posted by Poser
Really?
How do you figure? Presuming you do not have power steering currently, how does not removing any parasitic accessory drag from the belt drive currently equate to better MPG?
The marginal amount of parasitic drag of a power steering pump spinning under virtually no load, ie. while cruising down the highway, is not something that you are going to feel in the seat of you pants when removed from the system.
In all honesty, if fabricating a power steering pump bracket and getting a belt properly aligned is a challenge and something that would be worth worrying about, then perhaps getting someone else with more experience with this type of modification involved in the project might not be that bad of an idea. After all, it is not just your safety in the balance when you are on the streets.
Perhaps the poster ran across “nine page technical rant” Will Byars dissertation about the virtues in converting a Land Cruiser to diesel-electric...... 
Good luck with the conversion. I hope that it is reliable and safe.
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I want to reduce the parasitic drag as much as possible and considering I want power steering, this would reduce it. I can fab up metal, electronics, computer programs, wood, plastic, fiberglass, etc without any problem. On my last 40 I did a Scout II PS conversion that ran down the highway like it was on rails. I never said my fab skills were poor, this is just using newer technology that is in fact becoming more and more prevalent in newer cars and trucks. It is a lot easier to mount the items under the hood, connect the wires, and plumb the pump to the steering gear than it is to create a bracket from scratch and find the proper pulley and belt IMHO. If I bought a mechanical pump kit for the 2f it would cost just as much as this setup is costing me.
The reliability of these pumps is excellent. They outlast the lifetime of the MR2 by a whole lot. Toyota built these things right, you can replace the brushes on the motor without ever taking it apart. Taking it apart is trivial too, no special tools required. Wiring this pump up with the PS computer, the PS driver, the steering sensor, and the VSS means that it will only turn on the pump when I am going slow and I am turning the wheel.
I don't need to rev up the engine to get more pressure from the pump while rock crawling or moving slowly because off-road I will have it switched to high full time. This pump also has 2000 PSI which is about 400-600 more PSI than any expensive HO mechanical pump running at full tilt off of the engine that I have encountered. Keep in mind to get max PSI out of a mechanical pump you need to rev the engine which in turn needs to be in neutral so that it can rev it this high and not go anywhere just to turn the wheel.
As for safety going down the highway, it is just as safe as any Saginaw steering gear. Same thing that happens when a mechanical pump stops working applies here. You no longer have power steering and still have full manual control. I am using another Scout II Saginaw gear.
I don't need to carry around a spare pump any more than a truck with a mechanical pump.
Like it or not, these days electronics and electricity are longer lasting, more reliable, and cheaper than mechanical by a long shot.
And yes I can come across as a snarky prick even though it is not my intention.
Any more questions or clarifications needed?
