Tom,
Thanks for the timing tip. That should save a lot of frustration when getting things set up or when I lose my starting point. Once set, I will have a vernier cable to adjust timing on the fly from the driver’s seat.
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Dave, Thanks for biting on my cyclone hint. The inlet enters straight into the cyclone, not on a tangent. The inlet pipe is cut diagonally and the gas is forced into a swirl via an air ramp. Think of a split lock washer with the inlet squeezed between the ends of the split. The air ramp is existing technology, the straight inlet is my invention. I originally tested this new approach with a clear cyclone body. Fabrication and mounting are greatly simplified with this design.
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Tom, Iearned this static timing method a long time ago too. Probably not in the 60’s since I was born in the 60’s.
If we didn’t have a test light handy we would just watch and listen for the points to spark indicating that they had opened.
When I was in high school auto shop, one of the tests we took was to remove the distributer from the engine, the teacher would come and crank the engine with distributer out and then we had to replace it and retime. Our grade was based on how long it took for the engine to start for the first time after.
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the “Turbinator” it is an electric supercharger?
this building is very inspiring, congratulations.
Thierry
Hi Bruce,
That’s a very neat setup you have on a great car. The cooler is unique. Do the ammo cans serve another purpose other than a manifold. I was curious if any fines settled there after exiting the cyclone?
Thierry,
The turbinator is a gimmick claiming to increase horsepower by simply inserting it in the air intake hose of your car. It has a good bearing that allows it to spin at very high RPM powered only by the airflow. Seeing this thing screaming when placed in the end of your air hose is visually impressive, but many tests have demonstrated that there is little to no benefit. However, under certain conditions creating swirl can deliver a better fuel/air mixture. Producer gas mixers have been shown to operate with a laminar flow. The gas and air flow in layers and are not mixed properly. Swirl or turbulence in this situation can deliver significant performance improvement.
BTW, It takes a very fast and powerful electric motor to actually create pressure like a turbo or supercharger.
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Pepe,
I took this cooler off of my Toyota pickup gasifier. On the truck the tubes were vertical and there was no media in the boxes. The cyclone captured the dust. Microfines did not settle out. They were entrained in the gas flow and were captured by the filter. I have added SS scouring pads and silica gel in the ammo cans hoping to capture some microfine dust, tar and water vapor before the filter. I won’t know until I get some run time.
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See Bruce I told you my eye for detail had long gone !
sometimes I just don’t see the wood for the tree’s .
I shall have a read up on the air ramp system if I can somewhere , just as a matter of interest I once saw a wood gasifier that used silica gel beads and the flame was so pure blue looking , where did you go to buy your silica ? I couldn’t find anywhere here in Aus that sold it in larger than 100gram sachets and the price was shocking .
Dave
I found a bunch of used silica packets on ebay. I renewed them by baking them dry. Some are treated to turn color when moisture laden. These were not so i also picked up some indicator strips.
Funny that we may be some of the few people that these things actually help. 
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Hi Bruce
Am I right? With your gas cooler you plan INCREASE the mileage of your car ?
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The primary purpose of the cooler is to capture moisture. My filter is a pleated paper spa filter covered with oiled Unifoam filter material. I want avoid moisture fouling of my filter so I am cooling, coalescing vapor on SS scouring pad and using Silica Gel to remove as much moisture as possible before the filter. The filter has a very large surface area, so the cooler is probably overkill.
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Why is t he much moisture in your gas?
I think Koen said, condensation in the gas can come from too low gasification temperature
Koen recommends entering air at 25 meters / sec minimum in the reactor
See “Gilmore style?”
Sincerely Thierry
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I’m hoping to stay under 1200C to reduce slagging/abrasive dust. I don’t know how to calculate for 25 meters/ sec at idle and have tuyere that is optimized for WOT. I may add water mist for open throttle condition. If I find no condensation in cooler then i can easily remove it from circuit for cleaner/simpler arrangement.
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Bruce
I’m probably not the best for advice (I currently begins in DOW)
In this pdf “http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAV703.pdf” there are many very relevant information (easy to read for English)
a page 74 there is a table that might help (speed of air vs nozzel size)
I hope this will help you
Thierry
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bsoutherlandBruce Southerland8d
Gas Mixer. High temp gas supply hose visible on right. Air & gas inlets visible at bottom. Turbinator swirls gas and air before passing through throttle. No gas tank or liquid carburetor, straight producer gas.
why did you removed the original carburetor?
Have you replaced the inlet manifold? why?
Thierry
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I removed the original carburetor and both manifolds for a few reasons: The original intake and exhaust were physically connected directly under the carburetor for heating the fuel mixture–good for gasoline bad for charcoal gas (cool gas is denser and more powerful). The stock exhaust was very restrictive (180 degree reverse bend) and included a catalytic converter (new header should improve gas flow in and out of cylinders). The stock intake was restricted by sharp corners and included an electric heating coil. Very little clearance between the top of the carburetor and the hood. I removed the gas tank and lowered the reactor, cyclone and filter through the trunk floor for lower profile and easy cleanout. So I don’t need all of the gasoline stuff. The new intake manifold is for a dual carb setup and provides better gas flow. With producer gas we need as smooth and open a gas path as possible to get as maximum gas into the cylinders. I needed room for a mixing chamber to improve the quality of the fuel/air mix. The new throttle body is a larger diameter and less restrictive that the original carburetor.
I had this kind of no gasoline/straight CO on my Toyota pickup. I enlarged the opening where the carb was bolted on and added a mixing chamber. It started quickly and ran well without dino juice.
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My oliver tractor 1960 also has intake and exhaust welded.
I want to build a similar Inlet as your MGB.
Do you think it could work?
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Thanks for the picture, but I can’t tell much from this one view. I would probably try to find a spare manifold then start cutting and welding or brazing. You probably know that cast iron needs some special care and welding rod to weld properly.
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