Over night I brought this home from 8 hours away. 1995 with 318, year old rebuilt transmission, 180,000 miles with no engine issues. I was awake 25 hours with this whole trip. Now it will not get licensed until it can eat a balanced diet. There’s good buys out there if you’re willing to search a while and then travel. This truck owes me nothing and I’ll later get reverse car payments. Dave Ramsey can’t beat that.
http://jamclasses.drbanjo.com/static/dimages/Truck2.JPG
You’re gonna love it!
Hey Douglas D.
Good catch on the dakota.
Did you push the accelerator down and if so how long did you get to hold it there ?
Excellent! May you reap financial rewards for many years from this project!
She’s a honey!
Nice looking truck …
Hey Doug
good looking truck, it looks identical to mine. yours looks a lot better than mine, the gold color on mine is all chipping off .going to repaint it all dark color.
Hey Wayne, I test drove it where it was hard to find flat land, so it was like riding on a tiger’s back. After about a half hour of road testing, I spent more time underneath the truck than inspecting on top. My wife made me promise to not let my co-worker drive her 2008 Focus, so I have only driven it the amount in Tennesee, From here it will live in the back garage without a box, hood, and gas tank. But it will live around a double barrel wood stove with cords of split ash a distance away. Life is good.
Doug, Good find!!
Hello all, today I was inspired by Marvin to search down a PWM to control the Dakota fuel pump. The famous car web sites list the pumps at 13 amps consumption. I needed three areas – amp capacity, an enclosed housing all around, and a remote control knob to place the housing and knob separated where I wanted it. I bought this http://www.ebay.com/itm/PWM-DC-12v-60V-30A-1500W-DC-Motor-Speed-Driver-Adjuster-Controller-24v-36v-48v-/261210374964?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd15a0334
Next I wanted as compact, rust free, and quiet mufflers so that my wife would actually go on endurance runs with me. These 2.5 liter units paralleled together make a true tuned setup for a 5.2 engine. They’ll get steel saw blades welded to the outside (mild spaced stitch) like the fire tube and go into a metal box.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-54601
You know, if you think about this every night, you’ll end up building a Swiss watch Doug D.
Well good luck on all the above, but I’m afraid the PWM won’t work as it appears to have an isolated ground rather than common ground input to output. Try it as soon as you get it to let us know as it really is a nice looking unit. Another choice is the electric brake controller for trucks.
You might have to run the ground from the pump through it to isolate the pump. A four wire pwm wouldn’t work just trying to use the hot wire on the fuel pump on the Ford and grounding to the body. I also have it wired up to a DPDT switch so I can turn the fuel on through the factory wiring, off or on through the pwm. No idea what works on the Dakotas yet. Either way I’d make it easy to bypass with a switch or plug in harness in case it goes down. Hope it works good for you.
Marvin
Thanks guys for the heads up on the potential hookup problems. With the box off the truck for a while anyway, I’ll test it as compared to the OEM operation. Plus I have an electronic specialist at work to ask. Doug D.
Hey Chris, on the Hangout last night I mentioned this small 12 volt pyrometer display I bought. There’s even a 4 input version that they sell. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-DC-Temperature-Meter-for-K-Type-EGT-Probe-F-/320896448583?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab6eb3847
Then there’s a third WIKA water inch gauge that I bought recently after learning that the hay filter is good to moniter.
Their price is hard to beat. http://www.dfs-gauges.com/products/9852344
Hi Doug, I have found that these newer trucks need around a minimum of 3 to 4 volts to spin up the 12V pump in the tank and keep it running at trickle level. I usually just have a single switch to turn the fuel pump off and then a second switch with a length of coiled nichrome wire to set it at the voltage that works best for the trickle in setting. I just move my screw and nut to get it right. It does disipate heat so that is why it is up in the air and in the open. Do not touch ! A couple of pics below. Very simple to work on of course.
http://www.intergate.com/~mlarosa/images/woodgas/98-S-10-CONTROLS.jpg
http://www.intergate.com/~mlarosa/images/woodgas/gasoline-dribble-control.jpg
I just tap the nichrome spring at the right point so it is a simple click click to get to the dribble mode. Wayne uses old car light dimmers but these are long gone here in the salt belt. Using a variable voltage regulator circuit would work just as well of course but it has to handle the current. The nichrome I am using is ancient and was intended to replace the elements in old hot plates and stove top elements as well as old oven elements … 1930’s vintage or so … All held in place by ceramics.
Local well pump guy stopped me today and said he had a tank for me but it is snowing too hard to go get it today …
Keep on diggin, Mike
I just bought 20 of these switches brand new from an online auction. They have two push/pull on/off switch settings plus the rheostat. I’m thinking of wiring the fuel pump and injectors on the switches so when the switch is pushed in I know the gasoline is for sure shut off, and when pulled out the rheostat can blend gasoline with woodgas.
Good catch Don !!
Don, How many ohms is the entire rehostat ?? I will report on my current resistor tomorrow … Thanks, Mike
PS, I had the dash in my 60 Buick catch fire 20 years ago when the dash dimmer shorted to ground … I disconnected the battery after every drive in any of my older cars after that …
Hey Mike, I had a guy stop off last week to donate a 10 gallon air compressor tank to replace a vertical LP tank I was going to use (15 inch diameter by 40ish tall) And a nice water heater. The tank will save me a bunch of work. I showed him around my workshop and basement with all the parts.It’s rare to talk to someone who doesn’t go into a polite trance with this topic. You know who this woodgas fairy is?..Don Mannes.
Mike, it looks like 10,000K if I read it right.