And for politics I feel the same. Never thought I will take it up for those lazy …But when I was a kid, no buzzard, no stork, no frogs, no salamander. It all came back nowadays, thanks to politics. It is up to them to change the agriculture, and that is not going without a fight. Maybe in ten years we are gratefull. No more profit maximization but long therm profits. Our soil was the best 50 years ago, now it is exhausted. The same with the clean technologies, dont fight it, take your chances.
And fuel prices went up to €1.77 in Luxembourg now, it was €1.37. Netherlands was €1.88 now €2.50. It is up everywhere. Just driving from PV the last days, who cares about fuel price?
My hunt for a early 1.6/ 1.9 vw diesel that will run black diesel/ WVO has intensified…. Fuel mileage is life in these circumstances when you travel distance for work. Not to bitch about 46-48 in the metro, but cost is still adding up daily and geo isn’t the best handling characteristics with 500+ pounds of tools spread across the car to weight balance. Btw that’s about 400lbs over the rated occupancy weight says Chevy….
VW 1.9 TDi 88 kW was the best workhorse among “small” diesel engines. 50 mpg was not uncommon with Octavia Combi and drivers with very ligth foot on pedal easily get 60 mpg.
I’m searching for the pre TDI, I want the indirect injection head with mechanical injection, simplicity at its finish even going to bypass the electric fuel shutoff and set up a kill cable, I’d add a hand crank start if I could
Wasteland approved fully mechanical nothing electric to fail, plus the bosche ve pumps are well known to like the diesel replacement fuels much more then the electronic pump TDI post 97 engines
Marcus, you have a good plan, let me list some features of the 1.6 D (TD) and 1.9 Tdi (SDI) engines:
1.6 D:
-engine with diesel fuel injection into vortex prechambers, nozzles with one large bore are used here, which practically cannot be clogged by black diesel fuel, the fuel is thus injected into a separate prechamber, where it is well mixed in a vortex of hot air and burns nicely
-injection into the prechamber is required to start the glow plug, otherwise there will be no ignition in cold weather
-Bosch pump is completely mechanical, it only has a solenoid valve to stop, well, if you remove the core of this valve, you can stop by reducing the idle setting on the pump
-diesel fuel consumption is slightly higher in these engines due to heat losses in the cooled vortex prechambers, than in the SDI and TDI generation, where direct injection fuel
1.9 SDI / TDI
-direct injection of diesel fuel, the nozzles are precisely made with 5 mini holes, the fuel must be clean here, otherwise these holes will clog, and the nozzles must also spray the fuel well to achieve clean combustion
-these engines only turn on the glow plugs for starting at a temperature of around 0°C
-just like the previous 1.6D, they have mechanical Bosch pumps, otherwise electronically controlled, well, if you want completely mechanical control, the replacement is easy and the thing works
manual starting of one or the other engine is possible, well, however you need some electricity to heat the glow plugs,…
Hey Marcus what I will opinon here is really specifically for Washington State living and driving.
Sure you could dig out find some barn-find VW diesel.
I saw locally an older Mercedes Benz diesel road side for sale just this last week.
Once was even 10-15 years ago many fellows who were searching out Mazda and Fords small diesel’s and sedans.
They’d “greaser” them. DIY bio-diesel them. Some using diesel truck take out drain black-oil.
Most all these oldies are used up now. You know now well work-using an oldie means you better have 1-2 spare parts same-same parts rigs too.
And you do not live in the Big Urban areas so restaurant oils and greases are off the board for you.
Our now in-state solid 30% higher for all pump diesel fuels really wipes out any, and all, better economy of using a diesel on pump fuels cost wise. A super sipper VW TDi Turbo (needing pump spec fuel) versus an old second generation Prius on gasoline loses out running cost wise.
The Washington State Carbons Cap excise taxes are now on ALL carbons based fuels assessed as an additional excise tax burden. Over, and above the highways maintenances road tax.
So short of a daily woodgas driver I’d say bootleg converted a gasoline sedan to propane. Not declared, and re-certified for propane use only by the State Patrol.
Trunk full of 20 and 30 pounder tanks. Filled as for BBQ’s. I can rack at least ten-twelve of those in the trunk go my Camry sedan.
You’d still have to indirectly pay the ~45 cents a liquid gallon Carbons Tax assessed onto the propane distributor.
But cost reduce “cheat” out the $600 dollar annually propane vehicle excise tax.
Have a vehicle the wife could drive. Bigger, safer for the kids.
You instead go with a Toyota pick up four cylinder on wood. Like J.O. Like others.
Regards
Steve unruh
Marcus, I understand you well, when you have to get up early every morning and go to work, the easiest thing is to turn the key and do the journey. My journey is 23 km long and I drive an old Audi a2 1.4 Tdi, it is a 3-cylinder 75hp engine, and the consumption is about 4.2l / 100km, at today’s price of diesel fuel, transportation costs 7 Euro per 100km. A few years ago I drove a Fiat Seicento with a 1.1 petrol engine, I modified it a bit, increased the CR to 1:13, ground the channels in the head, the exhaust system,… and installed an LPG gas system, the car weighed 800 kg and reached 190km/h, and the gas consumption was about 6l, at today’s price of LPG 0.9 Euro, transportation per 100km would cost a good 5 Euro, it was a really cheap ride with a lot of adrenaline during accelerations and bends on the mountain road.
How long is your trip?
Currently about 130 miles round trip, but as of late add 120-150 per day chasing down parts for these obsolete machines I’m fixing up for my dad
1956 allis chalmers HD5 2-71 Detroit diesel
1979? Timberjack 6.354 Perkins diesel
Long form videos coming on both, both are quite the mess to get resurrected and been a LOT of parts running around the last few weeks
The turn key approach is the appeal yes, I’m fine with slower driving I don’t drive to fast on the roads anymore getting to old for that. Iv debated about every option and black diesel/wvo peaks my interest, propane is a strong runner up but I’m also planning out future projects to alight with content making for my YouTube, trying to make it a viable small secondary income and unique engine swaps/ alternative fuels do well in the algorithm in the age of AI slop content
The woodgas I have come to enjoy for the weekend when time is of no consequence, it was a major strain trying to keep up with wood supply for both trucks two and a half years running daily driving long distance plus gassifier maintenance, it became a slog and started to feel like work to keep the beast fed and I did not want to ruin it that way, I want to keep enjoying it
Usually some final storm in March. It’s been so mild lately that I thought we may have dodged the bullet, but no. Forecast is for 6 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow and then perhaps 2 feet Sunday through Monday, Something like 2012 when we were snow bound for 5 days and ran out of everything. No worries now. Plenty of gas, generators, power stations and battery banks. At worst we could run out of milk if we get socked in again, May be worse for Bruce J.
I had one of those 20 years ago. I really liked the machine, especially the heavy duty winch on the rear. Before that I had an HD7. Now that one had a really sweet exhaust tone.
Hey Marcus,
I’d made a probably too bold of claim just how many 20 and 30 pounder LPG tanks I could stuff in the trunk back of my Camry sedan.
Ha! Three days now of Atmospheric River has kept me from actually loading up and picturing a trial fit:
I’ve had two days having to make-time blast down the I-5 to Vancouver for the wife’s medical appointments. And me just two days out from 7 teeth extracted and trying to fit in now dentures.
Not fun. Not fun at-all in the trucks road sprays at 65-70 mph to keep from getting ran over.
Anyhow; I do read your interest in promoting now unusual engine/alternative fuel swaps.
Any type of small diesels will be available tough, tough.
You have taken spark ignition down to the available in the US minimum with the Geo/Suzuki 1.0L three cylinders.
Suggest for spark ignition maybe converted to DIY propane seriously look into the 95-2004 Suzuki Swift sedans. Has both the 1.0L three cylinder and the better capable 1.3L four cylinder. Avoid their auto transmissions. Not as prices jacked up like the Metro’s.
Having an actual trunk allows you to sheet metal wall off the trunk for gas leakage safety. Even make some flow through venting.
Then be quasi-safe for “transporting” LPG consumer cylinders versus the for-vehicles crash safety certified actual cylinders.
Ha! Now you got me thinking, thinking, thinking . . . Why Not? My Camry actually has the power overhead to pull this off.
And Tone has pioneered the way.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Here in Europe there are many small economical vehicles, now the prices of used ones are at the price of scrap metal, most of them have built-in “computers” for engine control, which presents a lot of problems when converting to LPG, for example. Personally, I love the generations of vehicles before 2000, which operate on “analog” technology, especially those that do not have a “computer” at all, diesel with a mechanical Bosch pump, and petrol with a mechanical carburetor. In fact, the use and safety of LPG in vehicles is very good, because the tank is made of thick metal, if there is a leak, the wind quickly carries the gas away, petrol or diesel is more problematic if it spills on the chassis of the vehicle.
The basis for good operation of an LPG engine is a good gas mixer designed to maintain a ratio of 1:15, well, because the engine is operating at low load for a lot of the time, the mixer must have variable geometry, or with an adjustable gas supply to the throttle area (similar to how carburetors for chainsaws have an L setting and an H setting), I used this method on a Fiat Seicento. I also tested the gas on a Ford Fiesta 1.8D diesel engine, here the mixer must provide a lean ratio of about 1:50, and the gas supply opens proportionally to the opening of the diesel fuel at the Bosch pump.
But there is an even cheaper option for driving, an electric car that you charge with the sun or with a wood-burning generator, well, this requires a lot of equipment,… finally we come to the conclusion that the best option is a wood-burning car.
DOW or DOC is looking better and better as time goes on. Boy I sure hope we can keep it a secret. No that will not happen there has been books written on it for many ,many years now. Just gotta get your hands dirty, and sweat alittle thats all.
Thank you Wayne and Chris for making it possible with the book, "Have Wood Will Travel ". DOW.
You know, I don’t think it matters. I hate to say this, but the USA and many other western countries just aren’t the same as they were 80 years ago when there were severe disruptions. They’ve become fat and lazy. Just look at the current crop of workers just out from the government indoctrination centers, oh I mean schools. They all know about what gender they are, but can barely read and do math. Universities have to have remedial reading courses! The kids when going for jobs can’t handle the work - too hard and demanding. Not everyone is like this of course, but it seems the ratio of hard workers to slackers has flipped from years ago. I seriously doubt many young people of today in the US have the skills or determination to make a gasifier. Sigh. Rant off.
Iv attempted to get many around me that showed interest into woodgas, many truck show offs, YouTube, answered more questions then I can imagine, have yet to see anyone dive in. It’s like a gym membership, they feel good with their foot in the door, but they won’t step inside and begin actually working. It’s a trait of the current generation, in my experience.
I would be rich if I could sell brush like that for 7.99. Actually the brush I am trying to burn up right now to make maple syrup is mostly honeysuckle, because it blocks the trees from growing and then the grapevine takes off on the honeysuckle bush, and knocks the trees I do have over. Which I don’t think either woulld fetch 7.99, so dreams of being ultra-wealthy are now just distant memory.
Actually the brush I am trying to burn up right now to make maple syrup is mostly honeysuckle, because it blocks the trees from growing and then the grapevine takes off on the honeysuckle bush, and knocks the trees I do have over. Which I don’t think either woulld fetch 7.99, so dreams of being ultra-wealthy are now just distant memory.