Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:56:30 -0700
Reply-To: monte merrick <montemerrick@SPEAKEASY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: monte merrick <montemerrick@SPEAKEASY.NET>
Subject: Re: Engine Conversion MPG - We don't need no stink'n TDI
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2007071723322405@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
gas here is already near to four bucks a gallon! most folks dont even
know what WVO is!
i dig my van plenty, dont get me wrong - i want to keep it on the road
and i want to give my grandson a world that still has seabirds and
forests. probably cant be done - but it sure does seem like a more
interesting question than how to go up hills in fourth gear.
i sure cant afford a diesel conversion - i cant afford a subie
conversion. i can afford my van in the rather unkempt but relieble
state it currnetly is in and when it breaks it hurts like a .... it
hurts a lot. but had i the dough for seven conversions in one year i'd
surely figure out a way to get a diesel van (shoo-ee they come without
a transmission for about 2 grand in my neck of the woods) or convert
the one i have. no WVO wont feed the world, but nothing will. it will
take a lot of approaches and a lot of failures and a lot of innovation
and it wont happen until actual people actually do it.
i mean have fun with your conversions and all - sure beats driving a
ford excursion or a hummer or a tank or an aircraft carrier - and
you're right 26 mpg is better than 20
its as good as my old beloved 1982 toyota sr5 longbed that could handle
pacific coast highway like a freaking big MG. it was a nice truck.
take care
monte
If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore
it to
him though I drown myself. - henry thoreau
On 17 Jul 2007, , at 20:22, John Reddick wrote:
> I like the idea of a veggie conversion also, except shelling out 15
> large
> to do the basic conversion. If gas goes to 5 bucks a gallon, waste
> veggie
> oil prices will skyrocket. There isn't enough to go around.
> We live in the real world, not a fantasy world. In the real world,
> TD or
> TDI conversions are so expensive, few (including me) can afford one.
> In the
> real world waste veggie oil isn't thrown away in enough quantity to
> replace
> 1% of our requirements to run the vehicles in the US. Maybe we should
> all
> band together and subsist off MickD's french fries to increase the
> supply of
> veggie oil so we can all drive cheaper!
> In the real world, my 87 Westy, as currently configured, gets 26
> real
> mpg at 65-70 mph, less going faster. My 91 GL automatic, went from
> 19-20.5
> with the same changes. A couple of recent customers who received the
> same
> package reported mileage better than I expected, for their vehicles as
> configured.
> I was pretty happy at 24 mpg. I am extremely happy at 26. When I
> travel, I normally have at least a kayak or two on the roof, so mpg
> will
> suffer. I have enough instrumentation in my shop now, to position the
> stuff
> on top to maximize the mileage.
> Once again, I say come give it a drive. I will pay for the gas.
>
> John
>
| 
