Crazy Small car into a Generator / powerplant Ideas


- Forums - Register/Sign Up - Reply - Search - Statistics -

Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Crazy Small car into a Generator / powerplant Ideas

Author	Message
hbarker	# Posted: 16 Jul 2010 14:57 Reply OK,, I know we may have touched on this subject in the past , however I cant get it out of my mind.. I have 2 small cars that have been wrecked. 95 and 97 geo prisms. They both have 1.8 liter 4 bangers one has auto trans the other a 5 speed.. heres my crazy idea. slice the car up a little leaving the front end only.. Remove the A/c compressor and the power steering pump and add 2 good alt's in there place,, Its front wheel drive.. So take the tires off the rims,, run big belts off each front wheel to PTO type gen heads from harbor freight.. Crank it up and find the right gear and rev to reach proper RPM for the PTO gen heads.,, shouldnt be to hard or fast?? So wouldnt this little car run like ,for a LONG time on a tank of fuel ? Any Ideas or input welcome.. Is this over kill? I cant get it out of my mind and hate to take those cars to the scrap yard....
larry Member	# Posted: 17 Jul 2010 08:39 Reply they are Geos they belong in a junk yard. don't forget about the in tank fuel pump and the pcm because I'm sure it is fuel injected. exhaust system and catalyst need to be accounted for. sounds easy but unless you have welding skills and a expert understanding of relatively modern automobile engine management and controls it would be easier to buy a generator. on the other hand it would be fun to chop those so called cars to pieces
hbarker	# Posted: 17 Jul 2010 14:00 Reply hehehe yes it would be fun, We do have some welding skills , I think we could just relocate the fuel tank.. leave exhaust same length, but turn it up in the air ? Sounds like fun to me,, and would have the other engine for spare parts ,, Hmmmm
hbarker	# Posted: 17 Jul 2010 16:39 Reply I might add that those little 1.8 liter 4 bangers are the exact same engine thats in a toyota corolla,, its a toyota engine. those goes are junk,, but the motors are great.
Anonymous	# Posted: 20 Jul 2010 07:00 Reply And i believe there was a time you could buy a carbureted toyota 1.8. I like this idea.
larry Member	# Posted: 20 Jul 2010 19:44 Reply oh great, so it will run like crap and pollute the hell out of the air.
Rob_O	# Posted: 20 Jul 2010 22:43 Reply Your small car generator will use more fuel than a regular generator. If that's not a problem go for it.
hbarker	# Posted: 21 Jul 2010 16:34 Reply Thanks for the replies.. Would use more fuel than a reg genset... hmm Maybe how would I try and calculate how much fuel it would use?? Was looking at northern tools gen heads,, they sell 10,500 watt head that required 18 hp motors.. Ok so could easily turn 2 of those,. so,, X 2 would be 21,000 watt gen + the 3 altenators with clean 12v.. I can imagine what the fuel consumption on a gen set of that size.. heck if a honda IE 1000 consumes 1 gl in 6-7 hours,,. BUT this little car motor would barely be purring at half that rpm.. Any more replies would be great.
Rob_O	# Posted: 21 Jul 2010 19:26 Reply Quoting: hbarker Would use more fuel than a reg genset... hmm Maybe how would I try and calculate how much fuel it would use?? Just a guess here... 70 MPH on the expressway probably requires about 20 HP in that car, at 35 MPG that's 2 gallons per hour. More generators, more power, more fuel, etc...