Hi Tom,
I agree, but those 1990s dinosaurs are getting old! I have a '92 Dakota I bought for the purpose of gasification. The truck is nothing special, but I enjoy it very much and was planning to bring it to the meetup, even though it currently can only run on a dinosaur’s remains. But it crapped out the week before the meetup and I had to bring a newer vehicle. Two other Dakotas, broke down en route, and neither of those malfunctions were gasifier related. Great as those trucks are, they won’t last forever unless we mothball them, which is the antithesis of driving on wood.
From the discussion linked above:
Back in 2016, Chris asked Matt about the feasibility of LS engines and Matt provided valuable insights. Eight years later Chris revisits the discussion and Matt restated his concerns. From what I can see, this does not feel like a foolhardy pursuit.
As we explore new ground, not every decision everyone makes is going to be a correct one. Some of those choices are going to result in time and money and supplies which do not immediately reap beneficial results. Hopefully, the losses are small and far outweighed by the gains and that we will each have the insight to recognize errors early and the graciousness to alert others in the community.
But the long and short of it is that we need to continue to explore and innovate or our ability to drive on wood is going to go the way of the dinosaur.