If you don’t drive an EV, then you’re just like the rest of us who are looking for some relief at the pump. Even though fuel prices where I live are below the national average, they’re still a heck of a lot higher than they were, and I’m tired of it. If only I had an old squarebody Chevrolet pickup with a small-block V8 that runs on firewood.
That must have been the thought process for this fella, too. Jp Prat Projects on YouTube posted a video of his dad’s “wood gas car,” which is actually a fleetside 1983 Chevy. It runs a 350-cubic-inch engine that’s actually a bit older, built in 1972, and it hasn’t used a drop of gasoline in more than 100,000 kilometers (or 62,000 miles).
The truck actually doesn’t use liquid fuel at all, as the burning wood produces carbon monoxide that mixes with hydrogen to power the old pushrod V8. A gasifier mounted behind the cab takes between five and 10 minutes to fully ignite, at which point the engine can start, idle, and run down the road. A filter sits on the opposite side of the cab, and there’s a torch in between with a ball valve controlling flow. Really, it has quite the industrial look.
Whereas you might turn the key halfway on a normal truck to prime the fuel pump, the startup procedure here is much different. You begin with a wadded-up piece of newspaper that’s inserted at the bottom of the gasifier. From there, an electric fan sucks the flame upwards, enabling the charcoal and new wood to catch. Once the engine is started, it pulls the gas in on its own.
As far as engine modifications go, there aren’t many. He explains that they swapped in a different camshaft and an intake manifold from a 1986 Corvette with throttle body injection. Of course, there’s some unique plumbing, some of which runs to a giant cooler that’s mounted at the front of the truck. Nobody is mistaking this thing for stock, with its giant hunk of metal that’s bigger than most brush guards and the two barrels out back, but it didn’t take as much work as you might have guessed.
Efficiency-wise, they say it burns 35 to 40 kilograms of wood per 100 km, or 81 pounds for every 60 miles. You can bet a hydraulic log splitter comes in handy for them. They top off the gasifier every 43 miles or so to be safe, and if the fire is already burning, there’s no need to light the newspaper again. The small-block Chevy doesn’t require any secondary fuel to start, either, as some alternative fuel setups do.
And not that performance is the number one objective here, but the host says torque is strongest around 2,000 rpm. A 3.42 final drive helps the rig get around without ridiculously high revs, and there’s a TH700 transmission with overdrive between it and the engine. In that way, it’s a pretty typical machine.
You’d definitely have more trouble running something like this in Los Angeles. Who knows what the smog station worker would say if you rolled up with the gasifier just cranking? Wood can be considered a renewable fuel, but the particulate matter is way higher than what a gas engine emits. For that reason, it isn’t what you’d call “cleaner.” Energy density is also a nightmare in comparison to gasoline.
Nevertheless, this is an interesting example of technology that’s been around for ages. You just don’t see it that often anymore. And looking at it now in comparison to modern internal combustion, it isn’t hard to see why.
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