Thanks very much for the feedback. Because I live near West palm Beach Florida, it is nearly impossible to drive a car comfortably without AC most of the year. With this in mind, I have to choose a car or van that has a powerful AC unit. I suppose one other option could be to get a Vanagon and then add one of the RV air conditioner units to it ( and an inverter to power it), so I may think along these lines as well. I drive a Honda Insight myself now, and my wife has an old Crown Victoria Station Wagon from like 1986---it is in very good condition, and the other option I have with this car is to attempt to convert it to diesel--and then run as biodiesel. This means first finding the right diesel engine to match to this particular car, and then finding the right mechanics to do the conversion. I'm not sure which will be a bigger challenge;-)
The ELSBETT engine sounds appealing, but I have no idea how hard it would be to match one to my station wagon, how hard it would be to find a mechanic comfortable with this relatively unknown engine ( in these parts), and I really have no sense of what this thing would cost from the web page ( cost of engine, shipping fees, cost of mating transmission to it, etc). Anybody have any answers for this ? :-) Thanks, Dan Volker > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 10:32 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Biofuel] How to choose a Biodiesel car or van??? > > > Try to find a diesel VW Vanagon. They are sturdy, very roomy, > get about 25-30 MPG and they absolutely LOVE biodiesel. They > are easy to fix and parts are still inexpensive. They will > u-turn in a lane and a half and were the FIRST VW van to > REALLY have brakes AND a good ride. VERY EASY to convert into > a pop top camper which makes them even way cooler. The rear > hatch is a BEAUTIFUL blank pallet for your bumper stickers > too. WE have the beater and a diesel Westy camper. LOVE 'em. > NOW............... > > > They are SLOW and evoke many middle finger salutes here in > YUPPPIE land. They will hit 70 on the freeway, but are very > happy at 55 and most don't have AC. I keep a coke can in the > beater that holds the vent wing open to blow air on me. > The camper is nice.....the vent window stays open by itself. > > Check ebay for Vanny diesels. They turn up from time to time. > RUST is not nearly the problem that the older Volksys had, > but watch the camper models and check them for rust behind > the camper stuff. If you can find a Vanny diesel with a blown > engine, grab it. There are SCADS of rusted diesel Wabbits out > there with great cheap donor enginers. Swapping an engine in > a Vanny is EASY. > > As for other diesels out there, the Sprinter is BIG and roomy > and will run just fine on bio (but the "water in fuel" light > stays on), but it is kinda junky. I bought a 2003 and we sold > it 8 months later. They could never fix the AC and it had > scads of electrical problems that the dealer was nevber able > to fix. GREAT engine tied to a crappy van. Can't recommend > any Benz, Volvo opr BMW cars of late as the quality is so bad. > > Benz diesels up to about 86 are very good. They last a long > time and love bio. > > VW diesels are good, but not the later ones. Let me explain. > VW cars were always cheap to buy, made cheap, parts were > cheap and they were easy to fix. > Now, they are getting expensive, parts are EXPENSIVE, they > are still cheaply built, they still break a lot and they are > no longer easy to fix. BUT, BUT, BUT, they ARE the only game > in town for a diesel car that gets good milage. We have an 81 > Wabbit diesel that gets 55 mpg on bio and a 99 Golf that gets about > 50+ on Bio. I had to put a clutch in the 99 and the clutch kit was > 50+ $750!!!! A > clutch for a Vanny is $80. > > Chrysler is putting a 2.5 diesel in the Jeep Liberty, but > they will only sell it to you as an upmarket EXPENSIVE > version to get the diesel. That company is now owned by Benz, > so that puts up a red flag to me. > > Wish the other makes would bring their diesels > here..........man a diesel Honde El;ement would be cool. > > So, I ramble. Check out the Vanigon diesels and the PRE 2004 > VW Jetta Wagon . > BTW, we have a multi bike rack that fits on the back of the > Vanny. Cool device, but it DOES cover up some of the stickers.... > > Take care and GOOD LUCK > > Kitch in Scottsdale > > ------------------------------------------------- > FastQ Communications > Providing Innovative Internet Solutions Since 1993 > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
