Gas-Electric propulsion system for 3.5 ton conversion van

[debit.servus]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Potentially, but the fabrication required to do so would almost certainly exceed the value of the van.

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That sounds about right.

This makes me wonder if you've ever seen a freight train accelerate.

I'm a railfan, so I know.

My Insight weighs in at about 1850lbs, and has a 9kw electric motor in addition to the gasoline engine. Even in a vehicle this light, 9kw is not very much power.

Not very much power. it's like a Geo Metro pulling a 2000 pound trailer. Imagine first gear, 0-60 in 15 minutes, and top speed of 10 MPH on a 6% grade.

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I'm getting the idea that you have no idea how much most of these things cost. You're coming in and saying, "I know that X is too expensive, so I'd rather do Y", when Y is almost certainly more expensive.

How would you plan to drive the wheels with your electric drive-train idea, anyway? There is going to be some serious fabrication involved, and anything that requires fabrication is going to cost more than off-the-shelf bolt-on components.

This is why I came here, to ask experienced ecomodders the cost effectiveness of a gas-electric propulsion system, and the eMPG of such a thing.

An EMP won't necessarily destroy all electronics, either. EMP generate charge differentials over an area, and so long conductors (e.g. power lines) and anything connected to them are what would be most likely damaged, and a simple fuse can probably protect anything connected to these. The smaller the conductor, the less it would be affected by an EMP, and the (very robust) computers in our (already quite shielded) cars are very small indeed. Pocket calculators and wrist watches would almost certainly be completely unaffected, regardless of how big said EMP is.

The EMP will happen. An EMP happened in the 1800s, and life went on because the only electric technology around was the telegraph. When that same EMP happens in our era it will kill 90% of everybody in the first world countries. The people most dependent on electricity, modern medicine, communication and conveinences are going to be the worst off when those become non-operational.

Originally Posted by Hersbird

In all seriousness, this is a great electronic distributor with built in ignition for the 318. You probably need a different coil as well but this thing is a vast improvement over the factory setup. I actually converted my 68 with points, condenser, ballast resistor to this and it ran great. Much hotter spark and simplified wiring. For the price you could actually buy and extra for the EMP and keep it in a Faraday bag in the trunk, then you have it as a spare part either way. The other problem with your van is all the alternator voltage is run through the harness to a ammeter in the dash (at least I think they still had that in 86). The bulkhead connector on the firewall is prone to failure.
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The problem with keeping a spare is that only protects if there is just one EMP. Replace the part and the aftershock EMP(s) happen one is screwed. It's like replacing a fuse, good for one surge and that's it; a circuit breaker can be reset thousands of times no new component nessessary. It's like designing a building with the intial earthquake in mind but no thought to any aftershocks.

The best solution is the 'circuit breaker' soution, faraday the entire engine bay so no matter how many EMPs happen the electronics still work. This can work with todays cars as well.

Update: I now have a 2001 FORD E350 van with 7.3L electronic fuel injected DIESEL engine, with 18 MPG!! This is going to replace the DODGE van, need to dismantle the living space inside the DODGE and sell the DODGE.

Anybody want a 1986 DODGE B250 "Mechanics Special" van with an extended bubble-top body and 5.2L engine in the San Jose, CA area?

[oil pan 4]

NASA says that another "Carrington Event" or something at least bad enough to destroy the power grid has a 14% chance of happening again in the next 10 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_storms

But its not believed that solar event will damage small isolated stand alone systems such as internal combustion vehicle drive systems. Internal combustion vehicles should still work, aside from the radio and GPS.

[Ecky]

Congrats on the new van, I'm sure it will serve you well. Diesel is really the way to go.

[user removed]

If that calamity ever happens, the most valuable commodity on earth will be ammunition.

regards
mech

[freebeard]

The EMP will happen.

"I feels ya bro."

With the savings from your diesel power, you'll want to prep your living space. The optimal space for environmental control is a hemisphere with an oculus at the zenith, with the same proportion as the eye's retina to it's diameter (& coincidentally the Pantheon in Rome). Structure should be living wood, worked by pleaching.


http://inhabitat.com/100-mile-house-competition-challenges-architects-to-build-a-home-using-only-local-materials/100-mile-challenge-willow-pleaching/

Wind to compressed air, flywheel shaft driven power tools, electricity on demand from air stored in 55-gallon drums buried under a concrete slab. Passive solar.

Fencing (horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong) by Hawthorne brambles.

[oil pan 4]

I actually have a small EMP generating device that jams electronics far wore than any solar storm.
I was thinking about testing on my car but I just spent over $1000 fixing that piece of German "engineering". Then realized I could just put it next to the road and plug it in with an extension cord and see how many cars break down.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I actually have a small EMP generating device that jams electronics far wore than any solar storm.

What kind of device is that?

[oil pan 4]

An LC based 3,500v High frequency starter and arc stabilizer.
It throws off EMI interference everywhere between 2 to 4MHz to a few hundred MHz and reeks havoc with unshielded electronics and has more warnings than I have ever seen on any product sold on the consumer market.

[debit.servus]

How can I faraday the 2001 FORD with it's computers, OBD and electronic fuel injection so those electronics won't fry when the inevitable EMP happens? Also, what critical and subcritical electronics-related special-to-the-FORD spare parts should I acquire and how many multiples to put in that EMP shielded spare parts box?

And yes I know if I am going to live through the post EMP world I will need to be self-reliant and off the grid; with the means and skill to defend my stuff from marauders. The skills and tools to grow my own food, collect my own clean water, build and maintain my own shelter, handle injuries and medical problems, fix my own machines, and defend my own land. More important than keeping a computer controlled van on the road in a world with no fuel supply chain. I say if I am going to live through because; if I do not have boy love now in the good times, what is the point to live through the bad times without love????

Even if no EMP happens, I still have spare FORD electronics parts if/when some electronic piece decides to die when I am 50 miles out of Inuvik and the spare part is on a 2 weeks backorder at a warehouse in Texas.

Any takers for the 1986 DODGE B250 "Mechanics Special" extended bubble-top van? This is a great rig for the mechanically inclined looking for a small mobile cave to live in (I say "small mobile cave" because when I first got it, going around town & behind the wheel in the cab I would think about the rear space behind me and thought "I'm driving a cave!")
Here is a page that tells all on the DODGE: 1986 Dodge B-250 extended bubble-top van for an unconventional guy

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

That HEUI system is a PITA. If you could eventually also keep a fully-mechanical setup to eventually replace it after the EMP it would be a good move. Anyway, what's the transmission fitted to your van? Check if you can find a non-electronic valve body for it too.