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This isn’t news to some of you, but it will be to those we don’t see on fb.

Jeni and I are going to be filling in this year as the SMS Carlisle organizers, so we’ll be on this site more often. That being the case, I thought y’all might have an interest in this evolving thing that’s been happening to our car.

Pip has given us the BN-2 out of his deceased Spyder. It’s cleaned up and the formerly ‘race’ Hoopty has been grudgingly turned into a GT. I have mixed feelings about that, but progress continues. 

The heater unit’s clean, in paint, wiring’s 90 percent complete and the fuel line is laid in. Tank, shutoff, filter and pump are all installed. Minor fettling to be done there, but now we’re on about installing custom ductwork under the dash.

We’ve had lots of helpful advice along the way (Danny, Gordon, Stan, Chris, et cetera), and I’m pretty comfortable saying we’ll probably have 8,000 BTUs reliably by mid-month.

Here’s some art for you ... :

A358B00D-E0AE-436E-8BFF-C4EEFB03B63C

101C68DA-DB47-475A-B411-685803EF4E8E

7992518E-7382-40FB-8732-64E4EC7CAFEC

B9905828-88E5-4BC7-9D5E-48B39D838283

BBA3490D-8332-4125-83B3-EFD9D290740F

90B111B3-3A0E-4D94-9D6B-AC8C6C34B3D3

F602C550-D164-4026-8582-E02083441ECC

More to come as January unfolds. That’s it for progress so far. In case there are folks who have no idea which car I’m talking about, it’s this little guy, here:

91D86399-16B3-4842-A98C-A64FB708D1D7

2007 JSR 2.4-L Mutt Speedster

The Hoopty

Attachments

Images (8)
  • A358B00D-E0AE-436E-8BFF-C4EEFB03B63C
  • 101C68DA-DB47-475A-B411-685803EF4E8E
  • 7992518E-7382-40FB-8732-64E4EC7CAFEC
  • B9905828-88E5-4BC7-9D5E-48B39D838283
  • BBA3490D-8332-4125-83B3-EFD9D290740F
  • 90B111B3-3A0E-4D94-9D6B-AC8C6C34B3D3
  • F602C550-D164-4026-8582-E02083441ECC
  • 91D86399-16B3-4842-A98C-A64FB708D1D7
Last edited by Cory Drake
Original Post

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Awwww......It's so CUTE!   Looks like a little fire extinguisher!

It's also slightly more accessible than mine.  Nice job with the mounting location, and I'm surprised (maybe shouldn't be) to see the rubber safety cover on the glow plug - I never had one on mine but it makes sense, even if it is just regular 12 volts.  I see an Engineering Change coming for mine.  

Let us know if you need some help with the plenum - just send a dimensioned drawing and tell us what the material is (aluminum or steel) and we'll have at it.  Cutting holes in thin-ish Aluminum is not a problem up here in the Frozen Tundra.   Keeping it warm in the shop is a little harder.

Nice work, Cory!

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
edsnova posted:

Nice metal work; I dig it! Especially the cheque pattern to match the valve covers. Question: this thing has its own tiny gas tank? Why?

I intend to use canned, ethanol-free gas, Ed. At three ounces an hour, it’ll last a while. Plus, I really don’t want to tie this to my primary fuel source. It needs to be modular.

Gordon Nichols posted:

Awwww......It's so CUTE!   Looks like a little fire extinguisher!

It's also slightly more accessible than mine.  Nice job with the mounting location, and I'm surprised (maybe shouldn't be) to see the rubber safety cover on the glow plug - I never had one on mine but it makes sense, even if it is just regular 12 volts.  I see an Engineering Change coming for mine.  

Let us know if you need some help with the plenum - just send a dimensioned drawing and tell us what the material is (aluminum or steel) and we'll have at it.  Cutting holes in thin-ish Aluminum is not a problem up here in the Frozen Tundra.   Keeping it warm in the shop is a little harder.

Nice work, Cory!

Gordon, thanks. The rubber piece came from Danny. I’ll let you know on fabrication, too. I think I may have a plan — but won’t be in the garage again for a day or two.

Al Gallo posted:

Uh.......Cory,  do you have a top ?  Your clamshell body would make that really tough.

Very clean work as usual.

Thank you, Al!

there is a top in progress. Hideous and banal, but it’s a WIP. It’ll stand off of the roll bars and use 356C latches, on a Y-shaped frame profile ... and it’s ugly so far.

Let me establish safe heat, and we’ll move on to un-f***ing that.

Last edited by Cory Drake
Al Gallo posted:

Uh.......Cory,  do you have a top ?  Your clamshell body would make that really tough.

Very clean work as usual.

Ha - was going to say maybe you should opt for the bigger VW Bus BN4 heater in the Hoopty!  It will heat the state of RI.

Image result for vw bn4 gas heater

Years ago I had a '72 VW bus - went on a ski trip to PA with friends.   No gas heater so I used a Coleman propane catalytic heater in center of bus (with a cracked open window).  All was fine til at a rest stop someone threw their down filled parka on the heater.  Drove next 2 hours with windows down due to smell of singed duck down feathers.

Gordon, the glow plug cover is a coil boot from Accel or Mallory and it's silicone.

Cory could put AN fitting T in place and simply cap it, but he's not listening to my KISS principles. Come to think of it, his fuel cell already has an extra AN bung on it.......

Anyway, these heaters really don't care what fuel they get as long as it's wet and it burns.

And yes, a BA6 could definitely heat a shop, I know of a single car garage heated with a BN-2 piped in and out of a wall in recirculate mode.

Kelly, just no on a Suby being an easier way to get heat. Did you really think that thought through? A BN-2 weighs 11 pounds. Watercooling, radiator, heater core, and associated plumbing adds a boatload more weight than a measly 11 pounds. Of course, I'll submit Cory's added complexity MAY total 20 pounds. But like he says, his IS removable.

edsnova posted:

Wait, wait...what all that smoke?

It's what happens when you start the heater in the garage without running the engine. They draw quite a bit of juice when the glowplug is on, about 15 amps. So this makes the battery voltage drop and they really like about 14 volts to start. This makes the initial ignition take longer so more fuel is dumped into the heater, the low voltage delays the start, then LOTS of smoke. Some day someone will listen to the experienced person who restored this heater and used it for 8 years........

And not to mention the fireman who is trying to kill himself with carbon monoxide in his garage.

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