Regular work took over

I had to go put in a lot of hours, doing my regular job of helping folks with data networks.  I did however get to start the V8 a few times over the past few weeks for several folks.  That's always fun to see the expressions on their faces when they get to hear the power that motor makes.  It always removes doubters who think these things can't make power under fumes.  It seems to always be one of those seeing is believing moments for them.  I get excited too because I want to work on this stuff 24x7 until its done.  But, alas there are bills to pay.

Another good thing that I got to do today was build a ramp to allow cars to be driven into my shop.  So I think when my mother gets here in a couple of weeks with her 3/4 ton truck, I'll get to pull my race car trailer up the hill and allow the 78TA to be rolled out of it and into the shop.  Then I'll get to work on making that thing run on fumes and I'll finally have my first driver.

If I can get enough hours into my go-kart before that time comes, then I'll try to do a quick conversion on it and have it running before the Trans Am.  Here's to hoping I'll have the time to make it happen.

Take care and thanks for the support!
Coop

apologies to my 1st donators

I had a PayPal button instead of a widget initially on the site.  I found that the PayPal widget did more things, like track who's given donations, how much, etc.  shows the goal and how far along we are.  So I opted to do that, but because the money was already in prior to that widget, it didn't show it.  We do have donations though!  2 folks so far have totaled $120 USD.

And the first of that has been spent on a tap set for 1" NPT so I can make an exhaust flange for piping in hot exhaust to warm the fuel for the generator.  I had a coupon too so I'm making that money go further.  Was $48 for a 6 piece set.  I've got a the part cut and mounted on my drill press and started the holes being drilled.  I'm still searching for a way to cut the 1" hole for the exhaust to pass through.  I have drill bits for the mounting holes (where the bolts will pass through).

Will update again once I can drill that 1" hole and post up pics with it as well.

Just a quick update of where we are.

Thanks,
Coop

Our first donation!

When I put up the crowd sourcing page on the site it was in an effort to explain and show (as folks do on kickstarter.com) what we're doing , how, what its all about, because that's really what crowd funding is all about.  Explain to folks what you're trying to do, and see if they're interested in seeing that technology come to life for everyone or not.

I was thinking if a few thousand folks put up like $10 each then that would turn into some real funding to make this thing go faster than I can on my own and within my own budget.  I have volunteers but they're not here like clock work or hired employees would be.  So I posted the page and got a hit.  Ok.  It was a really big fan of mine, but they want to see it go, so they kicked in $100!

I was thinking there we go, now we have someone kicking this thing off, so for anyone else out there who would like to see 100MPG+ in their V8 rides, give us a hand.

Thanks for the support we've had so far, but now that there may be some monetary support, maybe we can move this thing a long a little bit faster.

Thanks,
Coop

More progress. . . and more success.

Working on a quick fix today to get the genny running on it's own steel tank that came with it.  I got a step drill bit and cut two holes in the top of the can.  One is so I could draw the fumes off of the top of the tank, the other is allow a bubbler type action inside of it as was done on the red gas can.

As it turned out, I had to remove the gas cap from the top of the tank to allow enough fresh air in to get a good ratio to run the motor.  This isn't ideal and will not be how I leave it in the end, but letting folks know this is one way it can be done. 

My original plan today was to recirculate exhaust back into the tank and help warm it up.  This wasn't working out so well, I hadn't realized I needed to remove the gas cap, so I went with the regular tube sitting down inside the tank like the red gas can had done.  Now that I realize that I have to run with the gas cap removed (for now) I can go back to my plan with the recirculated exhaust back into the tank and see how it goes. 

I am concerned though.  I don't think I'll do that until I cool it down more by making a pipe inside of a pipe setup like the GEET plans show.  Once I know the exhaust temp will be reduced, then I'll be more willing to give that a shot.

But without further hesitation, here's the video of the genny running in this mode.  Also under load.  I have a radio and one of the 1500 Watt heaters running off of it.

Thanks,
Coop

Been out sick

Sorry so late from the last post, but I've been having a horrible time with a bad stomach bug.  All better now and plan on making some progress with getting the shop squared away so I can start working in it.

I've got more than half of the floor painted already and moved a lot of my stuff in there from the garage so I can park the Volt in the garage again.  I'll be going out there later today or tomorrow and getting the stuff moved into the area where it is painted so that I can finish painting the floor.  It's going to be too cold for the coming week to finish the floor painting, so I'm thinking I can make more progress with the generator. 

I've still not secured the scale I was wanting to do the consumption tests with, but figured I can go ahead with re-plumbing the front of the carb so that I can re-assemble the frame and mount the original gas tank back on top of the genny.  Going this route allows me to do more in the way of warming the vapors.  As i really don't feel safe doing that with a plastic can.  :-)

So far I still have a second generator of the same make/model and with that owner's permission I'll be setting it up to run the consumption tests so I can have 2 in parallel to show the progression of the build instead of only being able to track/document the one.

Aside from that, I'll be working on the 1st vaporizer can design for the V8 this coming week.  Dimensions, etc.  I don't know when I'll get to cut it weld it etc, build that box, but that will follow the generator updates again.

as always I'll have more videos to post once I have progress enough to show something worth watching.

Take care.

Thanks,
Coop

Shop inbound!

I've got a date.  Tuesday 2-19-2013.  They're supposed to be here to stand the shop up!  W00T!  So now I've got to get my floor finished so they can have a place to put the thing.  I'm just about done though.  A good buddy came over last weekend and we almost got it knocked out.  There's only the top layer (the actual floor I'll stand on in there) left to do and it's done.

So once I have the floor done I'll post a pic of that and then again on Tuesday once the bdlg is done I'll have a pic of that too.  Progress is being made yall!

Thanks,
Coop

Still no bldg...

But I'm now on a list!  Hopefully it won't be long before I get that call that tells me the schedule.  I've also got some info to confirm about the building size for the spot I have to build on, but will accommodate more space if required.  It's just a couple of extra feet if need be.

So that's really the update for now.  There hasn't been any progress from the last videos as I haven't had any room to really work on this stuff. 

I've got a buddy who's looking into electrics.  I've got a kit of stuff I'd like to outfit an over sized go-kart with once the shop is in too.  I already have most of the parts I need to make that happen.  Well, as far as a build out the platform is concerned, I still need a controller and wiring harness.  I may also look into getting batteries like the ones in my Chevy Volt.  This guy was selling them, I don't know if he still has any or not.

So until I get a building, there may be radio silence here a bit longer.

Thanks,
Coop