One of the project vehicles.

[Thumpin455]

This particular blog might go for a few months with nothing in it, at least until the snow is gone and I can work outside. As I make progress, I will shoot photos and post information. I am on a very tight budget, as this isn't the only project I have going, so it will be done inexpensively and when time and funds permit, just like everything else I do.

It's a 79 Pontiac Trans Am that I traded for some parts, it has rust I need to repair, but is in otherwise good shape. As I go through the rejuvenation of this 30 year old car, I will post photos and videos of the process. It will keep the carburetor and the stock fuel system, except I will add an electric fuel pump. The plan is to build a demonstrator of sorts, a car I can make videos in and write articles based on the use of home brewed small scale ethanol. It will also be a way to show people first hand the benefits of alcohol as a fuel, as well as how simple it can be to make the change.

I am a gear head, so I tend to think in terms of more power than 99% of the population ever even consider, to be almost enough. Therefore I am building a high compression (13:1) cast iron 7.4L (455) Pontiac engine for it, and it will use mostly stock parts, such as heads, block, crank, intake, and carburetor. It should still make between 450 and 500 hp with well over 500 ftlbs of torque available just above idle all the way to 5000 rpm. Pontiac engines are fun like that. That will allow me to run a highway gear ratio of 2.41 and still have more than enough grunt to move the car to "ludicrous speed" so to speak. The gear ratio will allow me to keep the low tech 3 speed automatic rather than installing an overdrive that wont quite handle the power output, and still enjoy low rpm on the highway.

The goals for this particular car are:
1. 20 + mpg on ethanol.
2. 12 second 1/4 mile time, or at least a 4 second 0-60 with a vehicle/driver weight of at least 3400lbs.
3. Keeping the cost under $2000 for the entire project.
4. Safe and reliable summer transportation.
5. Utilize as many non-aftermarket parts as possible to keep costs low and make it easier for others to duplicate it.
6. Be presentable enough that it wont look like the mule that it actually is.

I have a GTO running ethanol right now, but it needs too much work and it is one of my favorite cars, so I want to do a quality rebuild on it. That might take a couple years, and I needed a car I can do this spring and get some real world data. It was cheaper to buy this car than to drive 850 miles to my parents farm where I have a few others stored.

The ethanol will be made from cattails and spoiled produce from the local grocers. So far I have a couple tons waiting for warmer weather. All of that will either go into the still, or the biogas plant. I am also building an 8" still from scratch, but I found a few 250 gallon tanks. So now that I have the boilers and some storage located, I can concentrate on some pipe for the still. If need be I will simply buy some sheet and 'roll my own' pipe for the column, or perhaps salvage some sheet metal. Creative scrounging is a must when you are limited on income. One thing about me is I will not pay someone else to do a job I can do myself, and that is a big part of why I am making my own fuel. The still will get its own blog, this one is for the car, well one of the cars.

Currently its in a snow bank, waiting patiently for the roads to be decent enough for me to pull the trailer over there and pick it up.

[Thumpin455]

Used the wrong HTML.. oops.

[Thumpin455]

I fixed the rust on the body, and a bit in the rear frame rails/floor with steel from an old Suburban. Right now I am waiting for the paint to cure enough to wet sand then buff it so it shines nice. Might as well have it look decent right? Then on to the mechanical parts. This car is a budget built beater, and since I am severely short on cash I will simply use what I have laying around to get it going.

Since the car has the hard stuff done, and I have other items of the project built and ready to go, its time to take another step. Since the biogas plant will take a bit of money I dont have, mainly some fittings for the water storage tanks I plan to use, it is still waiting. So a rocket stove will probably get built this week so I can boil water and mash in some barrels and make fuel from the mountain of potatoes and more cattails. With funds being tight like they are, making fuel so the better half can get to her job 30 miles away would really help. That is the whole point of rebuilding this old Trans Am, cheap transportation that can be used as a test bed for ethanol.

I have been busy for the past few months with other issues that have soaked up all my free time but hopefully the effort spent will be worthwhile. The last piece of that puzzle should have been put in place today, and if it works then my life should become somewhat easier and that means I can do more with my green ideas.

We painted it yellow because its the color she wanted, and we had too many red vehicles in the yard already. Green would have fit better, but I figure corn and cattails are yellow, so it fits with ethanol right? Well here it is, all redone and just waiting until I can put the parts back on it after its sanded and buffed.

[IMG]http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z278/AuCinaoaMie/Cars%20and%20trucks/Fuel/TA034.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z278/AuCinaoaMie/Cars%20and%20trucks/Fuel/TA038.jpg[/IMG]

[Thumpin455]

[Thumpin455]

Got the mule home since the snow is gone, for the most part. It runs and drives but needs some work. Until the new engine is ready for it I figure we can find out how well a tired Oldsmobile 403ci V8 will do on E85 with its 7.7:1 compression. Since its a simple carb swap for one of these to switch between gas and ethanol, I might make some back to back comparisons just to find out how much difference the fuel makes. This is a low budget car so it probably wont look pretty, but it wont cost me so much that I wont be able to afford to get everything else going. I could use the GTO but it isnt really set up for mileage, and it needs a bit of work as well while being a rather expensive project. If the GTO is going to get refurbished, it may as well be done so it lasts, thats why this car is the mule.

[Thumpin455]

Thanks John, I have always liked the early Ranchero, well up until 76 or so. I can never bring myself to use a 6 if I have a decent V8 laying around, and it will fit. Its a good thing I have a bunch of V8s then isn't it? I hope to get the 67 Cougar running this spring as well, I still need brake parts for it, and some other small things like a radiator. The plan isn't very ambitious when you consider all I have to do every day is get out of bed and eat something, the rest is mine to do whatever I prefer, when the weather is nice it is often building something or working on a car.


I priced some steel pipe this week, a 21' x 8" piece is about $320, that would provide a second piece for a methane scrubber in addition to the column. I checked on stainless, and its out of my price range at over $1000 for the same thing. I can get a 4x8 copper sheet for $550, so that is an option as well, since I could make my own 16' x 8" column from that. I have a few ideas to keep the rust at bay with steel, just need to find out how well they stand up to alcohol since heat isn't a problem under 450F. I don't need anything leeching out of a coating into the fuel causing problems. The only reason I would consider a coating is due to the still sitting idle for a few months each year, and because ethanol cleans any rust right out of it, along with most other things. I could avoid it and just go copper, but that means a bit more work and obviously more cost.

The weather is supposed to be in the 30s the next few days, that means it is warm enough to work outside and the shop wont be a bear to keep warm. Perhaps I can get the boiler work done I have been putting off due to weather and working on a friends car. If I can clean a spot in the shop to presentable status, I might take some pics of the 2" valved reflux column, I might just end up with two of those as well since I only need two more caps, and two more T junctions to build another. Two of these would allow me to make fuel all summer, and more importantly make enough to last until the next summer. If I can get a bit of help with the physical parts, I can just maybe make enough for my father in law to convert a charter boat to ethanol. Once the cattail beds are built and in operation, along with the 8" column, it will only be a matter of how often I can run it and how much wort/mash I can make, since I can run it every day if I have something to feed it. Its not like I have to be to work or something. :)

[John Monty]

Pretty cool & ambitious plan. I have a '65 Ranchero with a 170 L6 & 2 speed auto that I am resto-modding. The power plant with be a 200 L6 with a Ford Australia 250 2v head. I am going to start out with the carb but I am gathering all the items for a fuel injection conversion. I'll be running a mere 10 1/2 : 1 compression ratio so that I can use pump hi test if I decide to drive it any distance. I also have a R1200R BMW motorcycle that I am going to be running an ethanol blend in. It's already at 12:1 or so and it should like the extra octance from the ethanol.

Good luck & keep us updated!