New Guy Alert! - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

GrapeApe · 03-15-2011, 07:26 AM

Hey folks

I've been playing with HHO Gen's for a couple years while watching alternative fuel sites. I love a couple conversions. One was just to put a 4 cylinder Isuzu diesel in a ½ ton Chevy pickup in place of the 4.3 V6. The guy gets 23 mpg in stop and go & 33 mpg on the highway! Were talking 8 ft bed here. The Isuzu Turbo pumps 130 HP and RPM's comparable to the V6.

I've put hydrogen gen's on my 440 Dodge motor home and Mitsubishi Gallant with great success. I'm about to do the same with a Nissan Frontier.

My new fascination with the EV's brings me to a couple cars I want to convert. My father died last year and left me his 1968 Datsun SPL311 'Fairlady' Roadster. It has always had problems with the head. It was milled too far by a twit at a shop and Dad just ran 2 head gaskets. Worked for another 100,000 miles lol. Then the radiator leaked. So he pulled the head, rodded the radiator core, went into the hospital and died a week later of cancer. Thanks dad, I always wanted your roadster, just... not this way lol. R.I.P. Pops...

Then Mom watched some of the EV youtubes and looked at me and said "You should turn the Datsun into an EV" . . . . . . . . I think you have something there Mom

I also have a 1925 T-Bucket. I'm going to put the 365 Cadillac into the 64 Chevy Pickup and convert the T into an EV! This will become the tow car for the motor home. I am thinking that the forklift conversion would be just fine because I don't want to take it on the freeway. It will be for beer runs and scenic tours at 50mph or less in the national parks, etc. I can charge it on move or at the RV park with the "hook ups". I've already paid the fee, right?

That leaves one last EV conversion... my 1966 Regatta outboard. I want to put a volt eater on top of the outboard and toss that old 2 stroke thing into the scrap pile. No one wants to let 2 strokes on their lake anymore. I can't blame them, it was a stupid, selfish idea to exhaust into the water anyway... THAT engineer needs to be B1+@h Slapped!

Well that's a start, the rest of the driveway will come down the road.

Chet is me handle; Grape Ape's me nick.

Daox · 03-15-2011, 11:10 AM

Welcome to the site Chet. That is quite a few EV conversions you want to do there. Most of us only hope to do one.

Which are you planning to do first?

Also, as a side note HHO generators have not been proven to work on this forum. So, I wouldn't expect welcoming comments if you start suggesting their use. If you have documented and proven data from reliable testing we'd like to hear though.

GrapeApe · 03-15-2011, 07:26 PM

I enjoy tinkering with different systems on cars. I know that the HHO is a case by case basis and I am here for the EV intelligence, so I don't want to promote anything, but you said you don't discriminate here

I'll keep my HHO banter to this thread or anyone can PM me to chat about ideas. I want to exchange ideas and knowledge about the rest of the power train though

I have seen people pull their hair out with hydrogen gen's and not get very good results if any. One thing you have to do is read every snippet of information out there. On cars before 1980, they work pretty well. After 1990 they don't work because the O2 sensors and other things see the lean readings and poor on the gas, nullifying your savings. Later than 1990 you have to install other contraptions, like a MAP sensor & O2 sensor adjuster gizmo. My 1992 Mitsubishi only gained 4 mpg, from 23 to 27 (hwy), but I haven't installed the gizmo's so I cant complain. Plus it makes the emissions almost nill and that's the beauty of the HHO gen. It drops pollution to insane lows. It cools the combustion temps so NOx barely reads. It helps carbon fuel burn as if there is a cat on non-cat cars. So I'm in it for the environment, if no mileage gain.

The Dodge 440 motor home is a 1976 25' class-C with no cat. It got 9-11 before HHO, now it gets 14-15 around town and on the open road it gets 19 mpg *IF* you keep it to 50 mph and are on flat level ground, like crossing hte desert. When I go up the 14 fwy, to US 395 then up to Bishop, CA, I averaged 16-17 for the trip. The Mojave Desert is a gradual slope like all valleys, so going north on the 1% uphill I get 17½ and on the way south, it's 1% downgrade and I get 20-21, for an average peak of 19. That desert is famous for constant blowing winds. When I go south at 50 mph and there is a 20-25 mph tail wind, i have registered the max my meter will go, 29 mpg, but my foot is off the gas 60% of every mile lol so that's cheating. I'd love to put up a mast and sail and turn the motor off and see how far I can get on wind power

But I still stand by 19 peak mpg. If the car companies can say 30 hwy and reality is averaged out at 25, then I can say I get 19, but the reality is the trip will average 16

still 6 or 7 MPG better than other motor homes.

The Congress, car companies & oil companies are all going keep ripping us off until every drop of gas is out of the ground. So be it. I'm going EV and save myself money.

I love cars and do have a few. I'm not trying to be Jay Leno, but it's hard to walk up my driveway in a normal manner. I have to walk sideways to squeeze by the boat and whatever is up on the ramps, before coming to the back gate lol

I will sell off some of my projects making money to fund the toys like the T-Bucket and the boat. The first EV will be the T-Bucket so I can learn in an open environment as well as there is no other electronics, like wipers A/C, heater or radio. Lotsa room for a battery rack!