Gas tank removed!

Finally got the gas tank strap bolts removed.. From there it was a pretty simple process of removing the tank. First step is done! Here is a picture of the tank (looks to be in great condition) and underneath with no tank! This will be fun removing all of the un-needed parts. I wish I could pile them all up when I am done and take a picture! However, I will want to get rid of them as soon as I can to keep our project neat... Next, anti-freeze drained, then off to park it at school!

Finally back to working on the Z

After a very long and busy fall semester, I am getting a chance to work on removing the gas tank and anti-freeze. I was hoping that there was only going to be a couple of gallons of gas, but unfortunately there was 7 gallons! It took awhile to drain it and store it in tanks and I am disposing of it safely. My hands, despite having latex gloves on (the gas destroyed them!), were dried up and itchy for a couple of days after handling the gasoline. The tank strap bolts are fairly frozen up so I am working on loosening those up. Looks like I may have a trade of the gas tank for an interior door panel and steering column cover. However, how do I ship a gas tank? I imagine lots of duct tape...

Cleaning out the car...

The inside of the car was pretty dusty and parts were everywhere. I had an interesting morning taking an inventory of all of the miscellaneous parts. Thank goodness the ones I had no idea what they were for were undoubtedly for the engine (won't need that anymore!). The interior of the car is in pretty good shape! The heating system and ducts were apart and will need some investigating (although it looks like I have all of the parts). Thank goodness there are replacement parts for the cracked dash (I wondered why there was an extra dash and instrument panel!). A new dash on-line was about $200! The center console is also there (and in great condition). Things just need a bit of putting back together. I will probably do that when waiting for new electric parts. Next, taking out the gas tank (don't want students playing with gasoline - what an amazing experiment waiting to happen!). I swore that I would not do incendiary devices of any kind as a teacher, although the 14 year old in me would love to!

The Cops!

Ah summer! For a teacher that is... Sorry for you folks that are not in education! Anyway, as I drank coffee with my beautiful wife, she mentions that there is a cop outside who is checking the Z. I hurriedly grab the registration and run out to see what's up. He tells me in the matter-of-fact tone that I think police have to have, "The car is being impounded", after I queried what was going. I asked why, and he tells me because the registration is out of date. OOps! I forgot to even check that! Fortunately, I explained that I just brought the car in last week and it is a donor car for a school project, he was understanding. He told me that he will come back tomorrow and the car better be off the street. Well, thanks to my nephew, we push the car (thanks Jill, for driving) up onto a patch of dirt beside our driveway (had to use the old bumper to bumper move with our van to get it all the way up). Thank goodness we caught the police, I would have hated to pay to retrieve the car from being impounded! Sharp eyes Jill!

Retrieved the donor car!

I want to thank Larry Kerr for donating the car to this effort! Also, to my buddy Mike Hayes for making the long trip to Victorville and towing the car to San Diego. The beautiful car is a 1976 Datsun 280Z. We found a big black widow hiding among the spare tires, but lucky for us that we grabbed a couple of the tires! On our way back to San Diego, the Z blew out a tire when we were almost home! We debated getting a trailer vs a tow dolly, and we went with the tow dolly. The one tire did look like it was dried out, well, it was. A quick call to AAA and we luckily had those two extra spare tires. Whew! Picked the best one and off we went back to San Diego! Right now it is parked in the front of my house awaiting to be given some TLC.

In the beginning...

Like many beginnings, this project began as an idea that was born from my love of tinkering (especially on cars or other mechanical devices) and my own passion for environmental impacts of the "most dangerous weapon ever made" (see how many deaths from automobile accidents per year, decade or any other time frame - you will be shocked!), the automobile. Since I knew from fundamental laws of Physics that the internal combustion engine is very inefficient, I began to research other modes of propulsion. What about biofuels? I did some research, not much more efficient nor less polluting. Besides, using FOOD for fuel? How many people in the world are starving and we want to use corn for fuel? Especially in a terribly inefficient, polluting, internal combustion engine. What about hydrogen? Well, where does most of the hydrogen come from? From processing good old fashioned OIL. It is a byproduct. Sure there are other ways of making hydrogen, but I want that hydrogen left for fusion reactors (cheap electricity for everyone on the planet!). However, fusion is just a dream at the moment. Anyway, hydrogen fuel cell technology actually runs an electric car!
Soooo, here I go in my attempt to take a 1976 Datsun 280Z and make it into an electric car. It may take awhile based on funding and time. But I am committed and will track our progress here!