Great idea for a conversion. I have ridden and driven these and know them well. The are compact, relatively lightweight, and have an a really classic look. Those crazy pivoting pedals!
You can go a lot=t of ways, but with your budget, I would do a mix of new and used:
New:
AC-51 motor with Curtiss 144 Volt controller ($6K)
Some sort of Charger ($2K)
Used: Rejigger two Volt battery packs ($5K)
This leaves the DC-DC converter, battery monitor, throttle pedal, adaptor plate and other bits I'm not thinking of. I would build or at least partially build the adaptor plate myself.
At 88 HP you will be a little under stock, but it will have more HP through most of the RPM range.
Keeping the stock transmission and drivetrain I wouldn't go too high a torque motor.
You can go a lot=t of ways, but with your budget, I would do a mix of new and used:
New:
AC-51 motor with Curtiss 144 Volt controller ($6K)
Some sort of Charger ($2K)
Used: Rejigger two Volt battery packs ($5K)
This leaves the DC-DC converter, battery monitor, throttle pedal, adaptor plate and other bits I'm not thinking of. I would build or at least partially build the adaptor plate myself.
At 88 HP you will be a little under stock, but it will have more HP through most of the RPM range.
Keeping the stock transmission and drivetrain I wouldn't go too high a torque motor.