Wood Gas! Wood Gasification Powers this Truck
(Page 3 of 6)
May/June 1981
By Mother Earth News editors
The next step was to drill 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" holes in the plate, to match the carb's primary and secondary throttle bores, then weld the newly fashioned piece of hardware onto the uncovered end of the tubular steel chamber. (Our researchers also made a second flange, identical to the first one except for the fact that its corner holes were straightdrilled rather than threaded, and then they relocated the formerly manifold-mounted PCV vacuum fitting to the box, to eliminate any possibility of its interfering with the new hardware.)
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At this point, the throttle body was removed from the rest of the carburetor (just at the bottom of the float bowl and about 3/4" below the venturis) with a hacksaw, its "cut" surface was filed flat, and four of its internal passageways — the idle screw feed, both idle transfer holes, and the distributor vacuum port — were permanently sealed with small ball bearings (lead shot could have been used instead) and silicone.
The rest of the procedure involved threading the four 5/16" X 1-3/4" studs into place, sliding the throttle body over them (shafts upward), slipping 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" flanged sanitary elbows through the appropriate openings in the second unthreaded mounting plate, applying some silicone sealant at the flanged terminus of each pipe, and securing the entire assembly with some lock washers and nuts. The unit was then mounted on the manifold — with the gasoline carburetor on top — after 2"-longer carb-mounting studs and gaskets were installed.
In this configuration, with the wood gas supply hose connected to the 1-1/2" fitting and the smaller elbow leading to the air filter chamber, the engine can be made to operate in several modes. Furthermore, switching from one to another is as simple as pulling the cable that governs an uncomplicated but unique selective linkage assembly.
Our system is based on an in-line series of three 3/8" clevises and a modified door hinge, which all pivot on a single 3/8" X 6" bolt that's fastened to an existing mounting hole in the manifold. By referring to the accompanying color photograph, you can see that the extreme left (silver) clevis controls the forward (wood gas) throttle plate, the central (red) fastener governs the movement of the rear (fresh air) valve, and the far right (black) U-clasp puts the gasoline carburetor's accelerator rod in motion.
The broad blue arm in the middle of the assembly functions as a master control, and is connected to the truck's "gas" pedal. This component is merely half of a 3-1/2" door hinge with two "feet" welded to its flat end (to allow it to pivot), and a two-sided yoke-made from a pair of 4-1/2" strap hinges-welded to the opposite, curved edge. A sliding, taper-ended pin-measuring 1/4" X 2-3/4" and controlled by a sleeved cable terminating at the dashboardrests in the loops of the door hinge . . . and, as it moves laterally, this simple arrangement regulates the operation of either the gasoline or the wood gas (or both) throttle. (In addition, a slotted bracket attached to each producer gas clevis allows both the fuel and air "damper" travel within the Pinto carb throttle body to be adjusted, to achieve the best combustion ratio.)
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