Looking to buy wood gas powered car

Tom, desk top mode is for the browser, so most web pages now have a mobile version but if you need the desk top version most web pages will have a button to switch back and forth. You can also request a mode in the upper right pull down, three vertical dots. For my phone I do not use a browser for hang outs I use the app. Hangouts has a program/app of it’s own. But I ain’t no expert so might be off track.

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Here’s some interesting and informative history on the VW power plant with CI, HP and use specs to aid in building the appropriate size gasifier. No need for extra metal when you have to carry wood. Some pictures.

I bought a (running on 3 cylinders and quite driveable) dark wine colored 1957 Karmen Ghia convertible in 1971. My first ever total engine rebuild experience. Darn, some of the paper gaskets threw me for a loop. Looking back, I have to say it’s a great engine to start learning on, almost simple, air and oil cooled. A great fun to drive car, loved it!

I just found this pic from our humble beginnings (yeah, it’s the same house. We hung a hot water heater under the plastic green house for showers. Ahh, the good old days. A VW fan, I had this plank and tripod engine removal setup. Back on to it under the tripod. Block tires, take off a couple of connections, prop up the engine, slide it off the transaxle, hoist the car up for clearance (oil cooling tower sticks up quite a bit), jockey the engine support rearward. Got it down to about 10 mins from drive on to removal.
But, I digress.
Pepe

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Wood that bee a Bark Beetle?

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Mike, up here in the North West we have the Pine Beatle, loves pine trees to death. Lots of dead trees to be used for Gasifiing VW Bug.
Bob

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Bob,
We have some beetle-killed pines here in our yard (Northeast Indiana). When we moved here in 2000, most of the pines in the mixed-variety pine wind-breaks were healthy. Now many are still OK, but others dead or sick. Lots of holes in the bark where the beetles have been. I will be getting a chain-saw soon.
I understand the problem is very serious in the Pacific Northwest.:cry:
I would love to recommend a wood gas powered sedan for the museum, I don’t know of any except Gary’s VW or the wood-powered Caddy! Lots to look at on the Finland / Sweden web sites. I recently saw a cool one on a Russian site, mostly built out of sight into the trunk of their FIAT 124 clone. This is the link.

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My aunt had one of those cars when I was a boy.
It was later model Lada.

Awful car, but it was cheap ha ha.

You know I think now that I ponder this for moment, it had a hand crank for emergency starting ( maybe that was a joke my dad used to tell )

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I wonder how much work (both installing and operating) it would be to put in a small dynamo to crank up enough juice to start a car engine?

One would probably need a big capacitor to accept and then give up the current for the starter. Standard batteries would charge too slowly so a person would need to crank for 10+ minutes straight just based on charge rate.

I ran into these clock work starters from Lucas in the 90s.

Then they got scarce but I always tried to convince the management where I work we need to convert to these.
Crank it up and hit the release.

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That green opel looks more like the simco car we had back about 1975 the car was about a 1960 something.

hello new guy here. but my 2 cents is what about compressing woodgas into a container mounted on the vw. you might be able to start and run on that for a few minutes heck even drive forward and back a few feet . just to show off .its not a funtional way to drive around town but it might be a cool way to show the concept.

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Hi Brian,
I’ve seen WW2 movies (real) of men hand cranking a flywheel up to speed, then the pilot engages the spinning flywheel with the engine to turn it over to start. These happened to be German planes.
Pepe

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Look at youtube for;
How to start a truck in West Bengal India
'George lucas, the prince of darkness

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I’ve got to remember that method, William.

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Reviving this old thread… I’m still looking to buy a small woodgas rig, preferably SUV or sedan based. Any leads?

It would become an functioning exhibit at GreenSpark Interactive Sustainability Park we’re building in Vermont. Check it out - www.GreenSparkVT.com