New to Ecomodder; 1987 Econoline aero improvemnts

[freebeard]

If you were to incorporate three vertical pipes in the final design (prolly one at each end of the bumper and one at the center back) then you could have telescoping legs with swivel feet. Or even casters.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by GillyF59

It Lives!!!!! Breathing new life with the turbo!!

Forced induction can do miracles in Diesel engines.

And yes I would like to haul coolers and/or propane tanks for propane injection inside the tail.

I'm not so used to propane in automotive applications, but it's been quite common in Australia and some parts of Europe to improve the combustion process on Diesel engines. But anyway, other supplemental injection that you could also consider would be water with some added alcohol (usually methanol, but you could safely try ethanol too, including Everclear which is close to the proof of the ethanol regularly available in gas stations here in Brazil ).

Thanks for the advice on alternate fuels, we have talked about that a little bit but we really would only be able to use that on the first two tanks then we are too far from our home base.

Even though the main reasons that rendered me favorable to the usage of vegetable oils as an automotive fuel have been the reusing of waste cooking greases and the possibility to integrate non-edible oily crops with food produce (including the usage of Jatropha curcas in live-fencing for cattle pasture areas), some fresh vegetable oils are cheaper than regular Diesel while buying in bulk in Brazil (where I live) and Argentina.

On a side note I did install a 38 gallon rear fuel tank plus the factory 21 gallon front tank, fill the filler necks and I think we can carry 60 gallons of fuel. Talk about range!!

Sure it might get a great range.

[GillyF59]

Originally Posted by freebeard

If you were to incorporate three vertical pipes in the final design (prolly one at each end of the bumper and one at the center back) then you could have telescoping legs with swivel feet. Or even casters.

Sorry for the delay in reply, been a bit busy. What are three pipes for? To support the tail when not in use? I have not weighted the tail yet but I'd guess its not more then 30lbs so far.


The van turbo install is complete and bugs worked out. The van heads for Inspection and new exhaust today. Should have it back by Monday then start road tests. Less then 5 weeks until the long haul trip.

Jonathan

[SeanKahn]

This is too confusing, but I was glad to figure out what is what! Thanks!

[freebeard]

I'd been AFK. Yes.

I was thinking of legs that would retract up inside some cavity — ideally within a larger pipe or [vertical] tube, with swivel feet for uneven ground. Three legs instead of four for uneven ground. There would need to be some means of retracting them again.

[GillyF59]

Update…… Last month we use the van for a hunting trip to Montana. Heading west we averaged about 17.75mpg and with the tailwind heading home we averaged 18.75mpg. That mileage is considering an average speed of about 78 mph. Those numbers also do not include any aerodynamic tail, after some of the advice I received on this forum I went back to the drawing board to design a new tail. Not having a tail for this trip did give me a baseline for how the van operated with the addition of the turbo. So far I’m fairly pleased.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Was the van heavily loaded?

[GillyF59]

The van was loaded with four guys and their gear, a small deep freezer and coolers, two large toolboxes full of tools and a hitch rack with a five gallon diesel can. On the way back we had a bit more weight with the processed game meat in the freezer and coolers. On the way home we fueled up in Belfield ND and Hampshire IL, that’s about a 904 mile range between the two tanks. I’m fairly sure we could have got a 1000 mile range that trip but it wasn’t worth pushing the limit. I’m anxious for the redesigned tail and another long trip to see how that would do.