I put an engine in my rod that runs on pixies and fairies...in a pinch I can use ground up unicorn horn.
My grandfather (he built an A with a Merc V8 back in the 40's) swears that steam engine and electric cars were popular with the older ladies because they were quieter and the power was much smoother. Could be fun. And really friggin different. I've got a picture around somewhere of a "Beardsley Electric Brougham" from the state fair last year. It look like an electric model A (Factory) Original sticker price $3000. Ouch. Jason
I was going to run my caddy on CNG, Propane, or E-85 but I hadn't even considered ditching the internal combustion engine altogether. I have a buddy that is thinking about electric but batteries are what hold us back at this juncture. You could spend a small fortune to get batteries with any respectable range. I think I could live with an electric rod that got 100 miles on a charge but could you still call it a "Hot Rod"....wouldn't you have to call it a "Hot Armature" or "Hot Coil" considering the fact that it no longer has any rods? just sayin'....
i put a Stanley Steemer engine in a `30 model A Ford roadster, burnt kerosene, had `40 ford brakes , vega steering , 4-bar front , aldan coil over shocks rear..it was in Street Rodder some time in the 80's if your interested
I built an electric trike for my niece. A single 12v. battery would go about 6 miles on a charge, but it destroyed the battery in a few weeks. Needed a deep cycle one, I guess.
A fella named Leonard Williams built a 32 Ford Roadster with a Gas Turbine motor. It's now in the Harold LeMay collection and there has been pic's of it on the HAMB before. It is white with yellow flames. If memory serves me correctly it was built in 1953.
I have a friend that has a 29 "A" roadster with a license that reads 48 volts that is set up with an electric motor. He used to cruise car shows and swap meets, we used to pull up to the beer stands and ask for curb service. It hit 31 MPH at the Antique Nationals a few years back.
lighter cars are breaking 100 mile range with over the counter batteries and 70 mph cruise right now. It costs between $6000 and $10000 for a complete setup with charger, controler and motor. Batteries on top of that. They run between 96 and 240 volts. We need to face facts. Biofuels and greasel will never be viable on a scale to replace gasoline. Electricity already has a wide acceptance and existing distribution network. The only thing missing is roadside recharging. I can already imagine parking spaces with charging ports at work, the mall, etc. Now how do we fill up on a road trip?
If I remember right (which gets harder and harder as the years pass...) back in the 'early '80's (?) someone built a deuce roadster that was powered by the motor from a Hughes helicopter. Nicely detailed, made the rounds of some shows, etc. Anyone else remember this, or am I suffering from CRS?
At the "OLD TIMERS" Drag Race at Bremerton Raceway in the late 80's there was, I believe, a 32 Ford High Boy with a turbine engine from a helicopter. Huge exhaust tubing, and was street driven. There's also a T-Bucket in California setup the same way. There was an article years ago in "POPULAR MECHANICS" magazine about an import 4 wheel drive truck, home built, "hybrid". One axle was driven by the stock engine/transmission; the other by an electric motor connected to an alternator driven by a lawn mower engine.
Having grown up around different types of farm implements, I've gone so far as to do a half-ass design using a small lawnmower motor to power a hydraulic pump to run a hydraulic motor. They'll spin fast enough, and throttle is controlled through a normal hydraulic valve. The lawnmower engine would spin at a given pace, and they consume little fuel at a given load. Problem with this setup is that I don't know what kinds of actual speed to expect out of it until I build it. Might be worthwhile to build it and see what happens.
and exactly what will power the generating plants that provide the electricity? good thoughts and warm and fuzzy feelings? or coal , oil or nuclear? wind generators will never give us all the electricity we need... the power to recharge the batteries will have to come from somewhere sorry to rain on parade,not trying to offend you.....it just pisses me off when i hear about "non-polluting" electric cars minnesota has a ban on new nuclear power plants . enviromentalists have stopped the building of new coal powered generating plant and a new power line from north dakato...where do they want us to get power?
That car is in the smith collection at speedway motors in lincoln neb, it was sponcered by coors beer.
Yep, electric cars just foist the pollution on up the wire to somewhere else. Might be an advantage for California's smog problem, until where-ever the power is made gets just as bad.
You're not offending me at all. I'm no tree hugger. I think the current generation of gasoline engines is cleaner than we ever believed and might get cleaner still. That's not the issue. The reason we are talking about this so much these days is that we are starting to see the beginning of the end for petroleum based fules. They will decline from here until ultimately replaced by something else. I don't personally believe bio-fuels are viable because the energy investment to produce them is very nearly as much as they produce. Our food chain is showing strain now and we haven't replaced even 5% of petroleum use yet. Electricity is widely accepted and people will ease up on the coal and oil fire production of electricity when they realize how much more can be done with it. Nuclear is real, even if we don't yet know what to do with the byproducts. Wind is real. I've flown over the UK and parts of Europe that are very commited to it. Will wind be the end game? Not likely. You can bet we haven't seen but a fraction of the potential of solar power yet, though. Again, the distribution system is already there. Hybrids are improving every year. When someone finds a way to repower electric vehicles on a road trip very quickly, petroleum will be done. I like playing with the concepts because it's fun and I learn from it. I would love to do a turbine engine, but they are just too thirsty. I wouold love to hear more about your steamer. I saw Jay leno running one of his kerosene steamer once and it was way cool. What can you tell us? Maybe a small nuclear reactor and a steam engine would be fun.
The irony is most of France's power comes from nuclear plants. France! Those enlightened Europeans the libs all look up to! It just goes to prove that clean power isn't really their agenda. The problem is the environmentalists want us to live like the Amish or something. I won't knock the Amish, but I like my indoor plumbing, especially in January in New York. I also like my electric lights, my electric computer, etc etc etc. Most of the alternative plants posted here still use internal combustion. The only ones that I see that don't, are the electric ones. Other than electricity and combustion, how else can you generate the energy to rotate your wheels? I don't think we can set up a nuclear reactor to run a car, even Doc Brown couldn't manage that in Back To The Future (Mr. Fusion was just hooked up to the time curcuits). Seriously though, maybe you could set one up to run a car, but imagine the traffic accidents - little mushroom clouds everywhere. If you can figure out how to do it so you eliminate that problem, you'd either be a millionaire, or the oil companies would introduce you to Jimmy Hoffa. I see now they're working on a power plant run on wood, there was a bit in my paper showing a guy with a vehicle converted to use that. It would go about one mile on a pound of wood, and was cheaper to run on than gas by about 1/3. But again, it burned the wood to generate power. I don't see it taking the world by storm, but it would be great for tractors and farm trucks and things.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/nimb...ryZ26437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Here ya go.. nimbus 105 shaft output
F1 will have flywheel braking energy recovery next year so it will probably come to production cars in a few years. http://gas2.org/2008/04/22/formula-1-racing-to-go-hybrid-from-2009-2013/
I know this is NOT a hot rod, but interesting just the same http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EXPE...ryZ26437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Ford Nucleon, powered by an on board nuclear reactor. 5000 mile range, and a rechargable "core". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon
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