I think I may have found the problem,

According the the schematic for the EV1 I see nothing to drop the voltage below battery level at the forward/reverse switch which in turn is the positive side of the contacts. I checked the voltage at the switch and it's showing 28 when the battery is at 37 so I ran a wire from battery voltage to the switch and as soon as I select forward or reverse I get full engagement of the contacts and lift runs perfectly.

So without a service manual I can't know if this is the problem but based on trial and error I think I'm headed in the right direction.