Start of a new build - 1999 Ranger with a Gas Station XL

Hi Wood Gassers,

I want to be like the cool kids so I picked up this 3.0L '99 Ranger as the start of a build:

At $200 it was cheaper than another generator. I also want to test some of the conventional vehicle wisdom by building a Gas Station XL to power it.

Stephen

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Way to go Steve! Now you can D (rive) OW instead of
G (enerate) OW. 3.0 - is that a V-6? Keep us posted please because I want to see you Arduino that truck. :grinning: I thought I was good at wheeling and dealing but you got me beat.

I’ve said it before; some of you guys should be arrested for stealing. $200 up here is junk yard price. I’ve sold several Junk vehicles for that. I am really glad to see you build something to drive. I was never impressed with that little gasifier sitting on the dining room table. I would try loading you “gas station” into the back and see how it does. I know, I know. You designed it for a 5 hp motor or something. We had a guy on Yahoo wood gas by the name of Joeph Monty. He built a gasifier for an 8 hp motor and ended up running a 2000 cc Ford on it. And not just around the block. Remember him? TomC

Hi Don,

This old girl is a salt victim at only 104K. The frame has more weld repairs than I can count. However, I have had people asking for 10-20kW generators so this will make a good test platform. It is also nice because I am not a Ford guy so I will not have any insane notions about restoring it.

After I do a few demos next year and show off the tech I intend to let it go to a new home for cheap money. I am going to follow some of Al Frick’s ideas and do a slide in/ trailerable unit.

Yes. It does have a V-6.

Stephen

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Tom,

The gasifier is not going to be a whole lot different than the Victoria. It will have the internal tar flare, a 3" restriction, and an appropriate hopper but that is about it.

Pascal ran a 1600cc VW engine up to 5kWe on the plain Victoria and other than incinerating the grates it worked fine. I suspect a little exhaust recycling would have brought the temps down nicely.

Stephen

HI steve,that sounds like an interesting project,hope it pans out or you can allways up size it a little if desired.Good job,BBB and stay cool.i am gaining on my WK little by little. just need too get a nice big welder sooner or later.Good luck.

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I like this. Amazing what a couple of new trucks on the forum can do for your insperation. I bet I’m not the only one.

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Ok Steven; You now have me interested in your work. I like “small” builds. That is why I mentioned Joseph Monty’s build. I have not built a WK because it occupies a truck box. I have my own design but over the years it has gotten too big in my estimation. I have gone back through you posts and keeping in mind the idea of being small: I would like to see you roll the “gas station” up by your Ford and hook it to the air cleaner and see how well you could get it to run. I absolutely understand that this would be over pulling it. I think we use to call that a “double dog dare”.TomC

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I have a Gas Station build that I DESPERATELY need to ship, but I may just take you up on that. It wouldn’t take long to build a quick mixer downstream of the MAF sensor.

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Stephen, take it for a drive down the road and tell me what the rpm is at 60mph. We’ll talk soon…

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Hi Stephen what is the plan for beating the dreaded OBD2 I’ve heard so much about? I am a ford ranger kind of guy so this interests me a lot… Favid

Honestly, at this moment I have no idea what I am getting into. My first thought is that if it doesn’t run correctly with simple piping I am going to get a cheap tuner kit and try to lobotomize it into open loop mode.

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Steve
You paid $200 for a text book with tires. I know you will learn a lot. Don’t let TomC worry you none over the price you paid I didn’t tell anyone what I paid for my baler cause he want me arrested too :smiley:

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When do you start your new job Steve? You gonna have time for all this?

Tom,

Any price is a fair price as long as there is full disclosure and both sides agree. Besides, she is too rusty to ever get an inspection sticker. That leaves only scrap value.

I’m sure he’ll be too busy with the new job. Tell ya what, Stephen, I’ll give you the $200 you paid and take the truck off of your hands. Ha!

Seriously, looking forward to following this build. Very interested in monitoring your progress!

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Hi Don,

I start on Monday, 8/3. I’ve been at this for eight years. What is another eight?

Somebody has to crack this OBD2 issue and I don’t have a license at risk. Many of the other things I want to do like building a wood burning gas turbine I can assign as senior design experiences and work on at school.

Stephen

Bill,

Once it’s running with no error codes you can probably have it for $2000. I will just want it gone at that point. Bring your own chips.

Stephen

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I bet that one runs e85… Nice find for 200 bucks. :slight_smile:

Tom,

How is this for a triple dog dare response?!?!

That’s even bigger than Wayne’s V-10!

Stephen

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