@SteveUnruh Steve, what did mean by
A) newer vehicles do not make good candidates
B) the list has already been written
C) something else
@mekennedy1313, you raise a very valid concern that we need to be identifying newer candidates as the older ones become less available. The problem was first and second generation Magnum V8 Dakotas were the best we’ve found for several reasons:
- The engine runs well on woodgas
- They have a power:weight ratio that even when horsepower drops when running on woodgas, there is still enough to move them along at highway speeds. A D-150 might have the same motor and thus will run just as well, but the reduced weight of the Dakota will permit you to cruise as 65-70mph which is not possible in the larger shell
- They have MPFI and a distributor, making it easy to manage gasoline delivery and timing on the fly
- First generation Magnum 5.2 (92-96) are OBD1 and second generation 5.2 (97-99) and 5.9 (98–03) although technically OBD2 still play nice with woodgas – fact check me on this one, I know people have had success with early gen 2 Dakotas and assume the later trucks are similar.
- It is a truck and has a place to put the gasifier, and you won’t need to cut a hole in the lid of your trunk or be forced to pull a trailer
- The trucks are relatively easy to work on and inexpensive parts are readily available
- Fifteen years ago many nice used ones could be found inexpensively
All of the above remain true with the exception of the last point. However, a 30+ year old donor is not your only choice. We recently had our annual meeting and I had a nice discussion with @Chris and @JocundJake and we have a desire to test GM’s LS platform (see http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/ls-engines-on-woodgas/) initially focusing on engines introduced prior to when Active Fuel Management was introduced,. Should this be successful, it would not only open up a very large supply of donors, but also a massive increase in the number of aftermarket performance parts. To my knowledge, nearly every gasifier is plumbed to a nearly stock motor. However, many of the mods which the hot rodders have been developing for the last 75 years would also help an engine when running woodgas. What other improvements can we make? Increased compression, high flowing intake and cylinder heads, custom cams, and headers? What is the ideal spark plug heat range for woodgas? I am confident, that question had never been asked but if we move to the LS as the default woodgas platform, we can begin to explore those questions.
The simple truth is that is it very possible there are many newer vehicles which could be great donors, but no one has taken the time to investigate. Woodgasers are few in number and new car models are many.
Theoretically, once tuned properly, both performance and efficiency will be greatly improved.
This is what has happened to gasoline engines:
1968 Porsche 911 Sportomatic
0-60 mph 9.3
Quarter mile 16.8
2012 Chrysler Town & Country Limited
0-60 mph 7.8
Quarter mile 16.1
Computers are more responsive than springs. Fellas, let’s bring wioodgas into the 21st century. And Max, thanks for the question.