First, you may want to
visit Archive Page One, which tells all about
the first two months of this project, the acquisition of the donor car,
the repair of the engine, and all of those groady details.
Next, chronologically, is
Archive Page Two, which gives the low-down on
converting the car to a pusher, cutting it in two, adding the towing
tongue, and all of the fiddly-bits associated with getting it ready to
test.
The project grinds on
with road tests, more fabrication, problem solving, and vaporous
ponderings in Archive Page Three.
Beginnings of body work,
long distance test drives, and A whole vacation's worth of no progress
can be found in Archive Page Four.
A new month, a new archive
page, etc., etc..
The
results of today's efforts is an aluminum top cover for the rear
compartment. Although I intend for this to eventually be covered by
a vinyl tonneau cover, I'll want something that a knife can't slit
open for security reasons. For now, this fitted sheet of
previously-Crown-bus-roofing will eliminate the aerodynamic drag
that the large open area caused.
Also visible is the fuel filler cap, which
I began installing in preparation for mounting the original fuel
tank in the trunk. Yeah, I know, I said I was going to do this a
couple of months ago, but I'm getting to it now, OK? I have almost
exactly one month to try and get ready for the SolWest renewable
energy fair in John Day, OR, a round trip of 500+ miles over the
Cascade and Ochoco mountain ranges. At this point, I don't have a
chase car arranged, and I'm still not too sure about the cooling
system on this pusher. Great idea, taking it over two passes and
into the desert in July all alone, no???
Not evident in the photo is the square
metal tubing spreader the I welded in to hold the rear clip at the
proper width, or the 1.6 liter diesel core engine and automatic
transmission that I ordered and paid for at the wrecking yard
yesterday. The engine and transmission won't be ready for the John
Day trip, as the engine will need to be properly rebuilt and
installed with the AT. That ought to take me about another year...
Yesterday, one of the local wrecking yards had an
"all-you-can-carry-for-$35" sale. They did have a few
Rabbits, even some diesels, but the cars were so packed together
that it was almost impossible to get the doors open. Added to this
was the hazard of cars stacked three and four high. Sometimes I had
to climb up a tower of teetering vehicles, only to find that the
parts I wanted were on the car, but not accessible. I did manage to
get a flimsy plastic and light steel bumper (known as a "Euro
Bumper") that is perfect for the
rear of the pusher, but I didn't pay the full price for it and some
small parts. The original "5 MPH" bumper weighed a lot,
and stuck out too far. All I can say is that I'm grateful that the
wrecking yard I usually frequent is laid out like a parking lot,
with the cars well-spaced, not stacked, and the lot is fully
graveled and not a mud hole.
Today, I ordered some custom sheet metal
parts to help me join the front and rear clips, and purchased and
fabricated some angle iron to support the fuel tank. Here's
a story about getting the trailer licensed at the local State
Department of Motor Vehicles.
Onward. I try to shake off the doldrums
brought on by post-vacation depression, and set my sights on John
Day or bust.
July 7th. Here's a job I've been dreading since cutting the car in two,
dealing with the transition between the old floor metal and the new
rear clip. It's mostly done new, but involved laying on the ground
scraping thick grease and dirt off of the bottom if the floor pan,
grinding off the layer of paint, then welding custom 1" x
1" 18 gauge metal angle to stiffen the end and make a vertical
edge for the metal which will enclose the space between the front
and rear clips. None of that shows in this photo, and neither does
all of the preparation for installing the fuel tank which was done
last week. Before I can finish that, I need to remove the temporary
supports for the rear clip, which requires this fabrication, so I
must forge onward.
See those two 4 x 4's stacked up under the
rear of the trailer? Those were my pillows for the better part of
the afternoon while I used the gas welder to lay beads overhead. Of
course, the top of the floor pan has an undercoating layer of
something that burns like napalm, and it ignites with every weld
done from the bottom. In all I'm going to be pretty glad to see this
phase of the project finished as soon as possible, like tomorrow!
July 12th.
Nothing unusual about continuous interruptions, I had a bunch since
last week, and tomorrow is the first day of the Oregon Country Fair,
which I am supposed to be working. This morning, I went over
to the wrecking yard and picked up my new (used) engine and
automatic transmission. both of which you see here after
unloading at home. Although it doesn't show, this engine has a
****chrome valve cover**** Oooooh.... Began tearing the cylinder
head off so I can take it to a machine shop and have it checked out.
The wrecking yard will exchange it for another if it turns out to be
warped or defective, but I need to know that before the 30 day grace
period expires.
July 21st.
A week-plus with no updates, but a lot of work accomplished.
The head on the core engine was defective, it had a huge crack that
I didn't need a machine shop to find, so the wrecking yard gave me a
replacement, which is at the machine shop being tested and rebuilt.
Over the course of the last week, I've
finished the bulkhead at the rear of the trailer, built a proper
mounting support for the muffler, welded up a reconfigured filler
pipe and installed all of the hoses for the fuel tank, designed and
consigned a spacer for the AC generator pulley on the front of the
engine, welded up the AC generator adjustment arm, installed new
wiring and a slave relay for the towing lights, built a proper
bracket for the LPG fumigation cylinder, and a whole bunch of stuff
I can't remember right now, but yes, I was busy!
Today, I received 10 gallons of Biodiesel fuel, compliments of Ian
and Tomas of Eugene Biosource (http://home.earthkink.net/~eugenebiosource).
These fellows had a booth at Energy Park at the Oregon Country Fair
last weekend, and I approached them about buying some fuel for my
trip to SolWest next Friday. The were most gracious and accommodating,
and are allowing me to use the fuel in exchange for future
consultation or fabrication, although I still think I should at
least pay them what regular petro-diesel would have cost me for the
trip.
Anyway, here I am "washing" a
sample of the fuel using water and compressed air. This process
removes any residual methanol and lye from the reaction process.
It's really and extra-credit step in making the fuel, but I wanted
to have some involvement in the process, and it seemed like a kind
of backwards way to get hands-on experience, starting with the
finished product, then working my way up to making it from used
vegetable oil.
Speaking of hands-on, I did manage to slop
a little of the fuel on my hands while putting in the hoses and air
stones. It's great! No stink and no phobias about toxic solvents leeching
into my skin!! Thomas and Ian arrived in a VW Vanagon diesel which
was running on this same fuel, and it only emitted a slightly greasy
smell similar to candle paraffin. This bus has a newly-rebuilt
engine that has been and will only be fueled by Biodiesel.
The next week is sure to be hectic, as I
prepare to make the trip to John Day. Watch for at least another few
updates before I leave.
End of
the Month update. July 31st. In this photo,
after six days of frantic preparation, I'm as ready as I'll ever be
to leave for my trip to Eastern Oregon. A bicycle rack has been
added to the tongue of the trailer, and sheet metal cut from the old
doors has been welded to the sides of the pusher to enclose the
holes left by the old wheel arches. The details of the preparations
are now lost, but suffice it to say that I spent the last few days
before the trip working on the trailer 15 hours a day.
Now all that's left is to hit the road and
burn up some pavement. Sharkey's Big Adventure is chronicled in SolWest
2001.
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