In a good mood this week!
The Gasifier (non Wayne K style) I built for Dan last Spring ran his generator on Sunday.
He was excited to see his engine running. He is planning to heat and power his house with it.
My next 2 builds are a Wayne K. unit for myself, to power my '73 Plymouth Duster / 6, and a Gary G. charcoal system for my lawn mower.
Wow, I haven’t seen a Duster in quite a while. I think it was probably the sad rust heap in my first girlfriend’s yard. Pictures?
This is the Duster I am planning to run on wood; when that works I will do a few other vehicles I have.
The Duster is a '73 slant six 225ci with a 2 barrel - 3 speed manual trans - just over 40,000 miles on it now. I would like to build a trailer unit to haul behind the Duster and also use it to power another 225ci generator in the shop.
When I begin I will start a thread in the Builders / Projects section.
Great, efficient engines WayneB. I knew of a fellow who methane/city gas converted one for generator power at 1800 RPM. He was able to get ~30 kW as I recall.
Awfully nice chassis you have there. Do you think you have room up past the LH side of the bell housing with the clutch arm and shift rods in the way to route the gas line past the long torsion bar set up?. Be a shame to have to go over the top and hole clip out a corner of the hood.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Wayne, Hey, I had a 73 duster also but it rotted out around 1982 or so … I seem to recall having a friend weld the reinforcing plates for the torsion bars in just before they could spin out. My 72 dart, same same had both wheels up through the front fenders just sitting. The rear spring shackles were up in the trunk as well. Obviously this is a summer only car and stored indoors … My gasifier is running way better in the cooler weather. I run them until it becomes a major hassle to deal with the condensate. It is tough to pull a trailer on snow covered roads as well. Salt spray into the primary air really adds to the internal damage … ML
@ Steve U - You know your Mopars! I have not checked the Duster over for clearance and I am sure I will have a hard time clearing the z-bar. I will not cut this Duster in any place and will need to look for good places to route lines… so maybe I should use the Charger…Lots of room available there. I figure on using the old plow truck eventually but thought the Duster would be the easiest one to get going because it is already road worthy.
I built a trailer for a 30kw genset a few years ago that was powered by a Ford Industrial straight six. 300? iirc The slant will more than provide what I need; I only need a lot when I am welding. I am hoping to run the slant on 4 cyclinders and use the other 2 as an air compressor. Similar to what my Grandpa did with his model A.
@ Mike - Old Mopars are fun to drive and easy to work on. My first Valiant in the 80’s only lasted me 2 days before the torsion bar dropped the front end. I should have noticed a problem when I bought it; but what can I expect for $200? The orange '72 Valiant was my daily driver for many years until recently. I need to replace all brakes and ball joints. I have the parts but no time yet.
As of now these are goals and I seem to always be behind on the projects; I spend more time on friends projects than my own.
I wish I had a dollar for every duster, valiant, dart, ect. I repaired torsion bar rusted out rear frames on. I had templates already made to cut out in plate steel with a torch ( usually 3/16"), (left and right) and loosen the adjuster, remove the clip on the rear socket. drive out the torsion bar. Drive the socket out, clean it up, relocate it…slide my repair plates on front and back,put on and weld in place with a 225 Lincoln buzz box…1/8" 6011…tack the bottom plate in place… heat it and hammer it into shape, weld in place. Install torsion bar… and adjust height. about 45 minutes a side…and (1981 prices) @ 100.00 a side. Stronger than new…and gave a new life to cars ready for the scrap yard.
