CNG Route66 Groundbreaking Trip

CNG GTO HITS DEGA

2011-01-30T10:52:00.000-06:00

Final Assault on Navy Pier

2010-07-07T20:33:00.003-05:00

I am back in Birmingham. On the drive home yesterday and at work today I thought about what I would say about the final day of the trip. I decided instead of getting philosophical about the trip I would just lay out the challenges, decisions, and fate of the last day.

The background is as follows. This trip was not a pushover no brainer trip at all. It took months of preparation. But because we were relying on web sites for CNG filling locations that may or may not be accurate we were taking a leap of faith that all the stations would be there when we needed them. They were not. Did we build in a safty net? Yes we did. Not only did we have the 30 gallon capacity in the Chevy pickup truck to refuel the GTO, we also stashed an identical setup of tanks in the front of the trailer that matched the GTO configuration of a 9 gallon and a 7 gallon dual tank. These were intended to not be touched and were a fail safe if plan A did not work. Little did I know what was in store for these duplicate fueling tanks.

First let me divulge that the trip was not as smooth as it appeared from the fun Tweets and Facebook posts. In Gallup, New Mexico the GTO basically baked its battery. We pulled off to refuel from the CNG Hummer's 50 gallon capacity and the ignition switch would not even turn the car over. The battery was dead. Not only that, it was almost too hot to pickup out of the car. The cells were completely dry. It was a 5 year old battery, but that was not the failure point. A new battery purchase and the GTO cranked just fine. We thought we were home free. But of course thats when we discovered the CNG Fusion had a slow leaking front right tire. The only place in sight was Bozo's Garage. Yes, from the name you can tell it was an experience. But one of the best experiences I have ever had at a locally owned garage. Bozo, his nickname, had his chief mechanic take the tire off and locate the puncture. Of course it was in the sidewall. This tire had already been plugged by my good friend Mark at Goodyear in Birmingham. So now the tire could not be helped since it was in the sidewall and a new tire had to be purchased. Bozo had one "1" tire left my size. Thank goodness. I quickly agreed and while it was being mounted Bozo talked about all of the hot rods and muscle cars he had in his Route 66 museum in Gallup. We had just left the museum so the memories of purple 70 Road Runners and Gremlin X's were fresh in my mind. He took us to see a current project which was a panel van custom hot rod painted John Deere Green. It was a fantastic work in project. Bozo gave me a great deal on the tire and we asked him to look at the CNG GTO. It was Bozo who noticed that the brand new battery had acid on top. He told us immediately that the voltage regulator was overcharging. Thanks Bozo, again. When we got to Tulsa, it measured 19 volts output. That is far over the 13.6 necessary to keep the battery charged. Tom Sewell fixed that regulator for us. Thanks Tom.

So you see that the mechanical and fueling on this trip was no cakewalk. Now with that mindset in place, when we got to Tulsa OK, we thought that the long stretches of wasteland and lack of fueling stops were behind us. I relaxed and so did Mark. Mark had pulled a heroic overnight drive from Flagstaff down to Phoenix to refuel the pickup truck tanks to bridge Flagstaff. We didnt think it could get any worse. Our new friends from Salt Lake City, John and Steven Mitton, provided a crucial fillup of CNG from the CNG Beast of a Hummer in Gallup NM. Randy Oldham provided a critical transfer in Amarillo and provided access to a private Apache CNG station that the general public would not have had. With all of this going for us we relaxed. Then the panic set in. From Tulsa to St. Louis, it became apparent that we were short AGAIN. Jack Mitchell with assistance from Mark McConvilles dad got a head start on the GTO and drove the refueling truck to St Louis, refueled and headed back to meet the GTO wherever it ran out. That trick got us to St Louis.

At our breakfast meeting on July 4th the reality set in. A critical filling station in Springfield that was in operation when we made our plans was NO LONGER IN SERVICE. It was on our planned map at www.route66goatgas.com but was gone from CNGPrices.com. What happened? We found out from Tom Sewell that the station was there but not being used. Our hopes of finishing the last day of the trip were dashed. I heard Mark tell Libby that she could go ahead and get ready to turn around and head back to Birmingham. I was sitting there in a tired kind of shock thinking about what we did wrong. How could we face everyone that helped us make it that close if we failed? What can we do outside the box to save the trip? Mark has a tremendous network of friends because of this. He was on the phone constantly. It was Sunday. It was July the 4th. We had enough real life data on hand to calculate that even if we had access to a public CNG filling station that a full fullup of every tank would not make it for us. Then Mark announced that someone with Laclede Gas Company was waiting at their pumps to fill us up. That would get us tantalizing close to Chicago, but still not enough.

When the CNG pumps fillup your tank, they check the pressure and the temperature. The pumps do a calculation and fill your tanks to a "safe" level allowing for expansion. This practically means that on our 16 gallon GTO tanks, we would get about 12 gallons of usable fuel.
But Tom Shultz at Laclede made something magic happen. He called his chief CNG mechanic Lee at 7 am on Sunday July 4th and asked him to come in and help us. Thats insane. Lee agreed. And with him came the knowledge and experience that we never dreamed of. He filled every one of the 6 tanks we had on the trip to exactly capacity. He overrode the automatic calculation and if the container said it held 9 gallons, then 9 gallons it got. It was the first time these tanks had ever been filled over 70% of their rated capacity. Of course it was completely safe to fill them to 3600 psi. We had been to the factory and witnessed pressure tests of 8000 psi.

And with that stroke of genius, we had a hope of making it to Navy Pier. We made it to Pontiac IL that night on the CNG in the GTO tank and one refuel from the pickup. EVERYONE we knew discouraged us from going to Navy Pier on July 4th night because of the 2 million people watching 3 fireworks shows. We held back and woke up early Monday morning July 5th for the final assault on Chicago. It was almost ritualistic the refueling that morning. We took every scrap we had learned about CNG and put it in work. The final refueling. Thirty miles from the finish line. The GTO had lost an oil ring either on the drive up from St Louis or with the celebratory triple donut after getting slammed tanks in St Louis and was smoking heavily out of the left tailpipe only. So we poured in a bottle of Bardhal Smoke Stop. And we began the ritual of the cascade fill. If you dont know what it is, look it up. We filled the GTO off the first tank in the pickup till it whined like a really high pitched baby. We shut it down with 1500 psi. We filled off the other pickup tank and it squeeled up to 1750 psi. Then to the trailer. The 9 gallon tank that was maxed out barely squeezed in another bit to get us to 1900 psi. Finally the 7 gallon small tank to top off the ritual. It almost got us to 2000 psi. Whew, it felt good to have that to make it into Chicago.

Mark and I rode the last 30 miles together in the car. We got off 55 North and turned north on Lakeshore. When we passed Jackson Street we both were relieved to know that technically we had driven the whole way. But we promised Navy Pier. It was up ahead. There was no fanfare like in Arcadia OK with AP and the TV stations. Because of the last minute change and near calamity of not having fuel, we didn't have time to arrange press. Thanks to the Fourth of July hangovers, there were no fireworks spectators in sight and we rolled right into the front gate, and parked the GTO in a gated driveway 25 yards from the security guard shack. We had no permits or paperwork. We were just there. The caravan was parked and we bailed out with cameras snapping that wonderful moment of success. I have some video and so does Libby with her video camera but we have not downloaded it yet. The Birmingham news is covering us with an update on Friday July 9th. The journy of 9 planning months and 2400 un-airconditioned miles was done. We made over a hundred serious new friends on the road. We spread the word about CNG and the potential future for a better America. But the real question is, did we inspire anyone?

Friday Update

2010-07-03T08:08:00.002-05:00

Friday in Tulsa OK.

Friday started out in Tulsa with the largest press conference so far. We had a live broadcast on local Tulsa tv for two minutes. The camera crew spent three hours with us filming different aspects of the Goat Gas Project. Our camerman took a personal interest in the car and the story. It was his idea to mount a Hi Def camera on the hood of the car facing Mark. They drove the car from the site of the press conference at the historic Blue Dome filling station out to Tulsa Gas Technology offices. Just like Pops in Arcadia, Michael Wallis made an empassioned appeal to the huge group to get involved in Alternative Fuels and using Route 66 as the corodor for the testing. The whole group moved across the street to Dilly Deli and had a wonderful lunch together. Special thanks to Meredith Weber with Clean Cities Tulsa who made this whole wonderful event happen.

After replacing a broken voltage regulator and refueling the Goat at Tulsa Gas Technology, we hit Route 66 for a guided tour by local experts. We met at Rainbow Bridge for a photo shoot and hooked up with another fan who also has a Red 66 GTO. The two Goats traveled down Route 66 until we got to Four Ladies of Route 66, the home of the real Tow Mater. The owners are working so hard to keep the history of Route 66 alive and have started a Young Route 66 Association on Facebook. We followed the Route and our last stop was Gay Parita Sinclair Gas Station. We met Gary and had the best time exploring this amazing station. It is fully restored and has the most wonderful memorbilia. Gary gave us a Route 66 Pictorial and signed pictures of the station for all of us including each kid. Gary is a excellent example of the fact that Route 66 is really about the people you meet along the way.

We ended the day staying at the Rail Haven and eating at Georges Resturant next door.

Thursday Update

2010-07-02T08:07:00.005-05:00

Thursday Morning started with breakfast at the Big Texan. We were given a tour of Amarillo's art mall by Crocodile Lile, local Route 66 expert. He gave us a guided tour thru Route 66 in Amarillo in his white 64 1/2 Mustang. We had to hit the road hard to be in Oklahoma City so we could enjoy our big event at Pops. Thanks to Ronny Oldham who left home at 3 am in order to meet us in Amarillo to refill us with CNG since Amarillo doesnt have a single CNG filling station. Ronny also worked out a fill for us at a private station owned by Apache Corporation. Thanks to everyone at the Apache station that made our fillup quick and efficient. We stopped by Cactus 112 a gas rig and met the supervisor and learned about how companies drill for natural gas. This well was just on the side of Route 66 and it was awsome to think the CNG that can turn our economy around is right here abundantly in our own country.

After a wide open last hour of pushing towards Pops in Arcadia OK, we pulled into the parking to a huge crowd of people. It was the largest we had seen so far on the trip. The Associated Press had a staff there to cover the story as well as the local tv station. The interview went well and will be forwarded to Chicago for the editors to review and publish this weekend. The official program at Pops included the famous Michael Wallis as the main speaker, the mayor of Arcadia, and Mark and I were able to address the crowd and fire them up for taking action to end our dependence on foreign oil.

If you have never seen Pops, then plan a trip immediately. It is the most amazing stop on Route 66 so far. Thanks for all that the media department at Chesapeak did to make our stop at Pops the biggest and best yet.

CNG Hummer

2010-07-01T07:43:00.004-05:00

In Gallup New Mexico we were refueled by our new friends from Lancer in Salt Lake City Utah. See twitter for the pictures of this awsome CNG Hummer that drove 600 miles to meet us in Gallup to refuel the GTO. Check out www.avs-cng.com to see the web site.

Tuesday Wednesday Update

2010-07-01T06:45:00.003-05:00

Tuesday Morning

Our days are falling into a pattern of waking up, doing a great breakfast at a local Route 66 resturant, driving to a series of classic Route 66 stops, meeting so many nice people that we just cannot tear ourselves away, eating lunch? at 3 or 4 pm, refueling the GTO from the fueling truck on the side of the interstate, making our destination city by 10 or 11 eating dinner at midnight and crashing for the night. It doesnt get any more action packed than that.

Tuesday Morning we met our long time internet supporter Dave Clements and his whole Natural Drive crew. We displayed Phill and two other CNG compressors on site at the Super Walmart. Lots of trailer signing and pictures made it the perfect morning. The travel during the day led us across the Arizona and New Mexico landscape to Albuquerque. In New Mexico we were welcomed by a huge party at Kellys Brew Pub just after dark and NBC www.kob.com was there to shoot a spot about us crossing country for the 10pm news. We owe Kellys Brew Pub a huge thankyou for the tremendous hospitality, the right out front parking spots, the delicious food, and for putting our story on the TV in the resturant. We stayed at the Hiway Inn right behind the resturant.

Wednesday morning we woke up and headed down the street a block to Mannys for breakfast. We made several trips to the Clean Energy station at the Will Rogers Airport to make sure every single tank was topped off. Our first order of business was to take everyone to the top of Sandia Mountain on the tram. If you have never experienced this place you owe it to yourself to go see it. The view is amazing. It was 10,000 feet and 45 cool degrees up top. We got down and headed towards Amarillo to see so many Route 66 sights they all started to run together. The CNG Fusion developed a slow leak in the right front tire and when we left the Route 66 Museum we stopped at Bozo's Garage. They jumped right on it and found the hole which was on the sidewall. Luckily he had one tire the exact size we needed and they put it on. We had a blast looking at the hotrods that Bozo was restoring while the tire was changed. Probably the highlight of the day was in Tucumcari New Mexico at the Safari Motel. The owners rolled out the red carpet treatment for us and we met tons of new friends. The trailer signing went artistic here with our first skull by a tattoo artist from Outlaw Tattoo's shop. We got pictures of the owners 1963 Galaxy 500 with the GTO. We took tons of pictures for twitter. We rolled into the Ambassador Hotel and ate at Fridays in the hotel at 11 pm.

I am up early on Thrusday morning to get the crew to meet Crocodile Lyle? in Amarillo.

Flagstaff Update

2010-06-29T10:04:00.002-05:00

Finally after two solid days of nonstop traveling and events on Route 66 I have a moment to update my blog. It may have to be in outline form.

First let me tell you that all of our postings from the road have been primarily on Twitter. The iphones work with Twitpic the best on the road and on the fly. We have really done a good job with Twitter and it has the most current info. Go to our website for the link. Setup an account if you dont have one its really not that hard.

The Santa Monica pier sendoff was fantastic. We had experts from the pier and route 66 that allowed us to shoot video interviews. The car looked fantastic on the pier and I got to drive it off on the start of the trip. It was really exciting.

The fillup at Barstow went really good and we rode Route 66 all the way to the California Route 66 Museum. We had an amazing greeting party waiting for us. There were Hot Rod guys and Mrs Route 66 waiting for us there. We had a pizza party blast. We made many new friends here.

The rest of the day we traveled to Needles California and stayed at the Needles Inn. We ate at the Wagon Wheel Resturant which had a great breakfast.

We got up Monday moring and left for what turned out to be a jam packed day. We drove to Kingman and stayed at the Power House Museum for a couple of hours. We then drove to Huckberry General Store and the real Lizzy from the movie "CARS" in the garage. The next stop was the Road Kill Cafe near Williams. After Williams we drove the GTO all the way to the Grand Canyon. All of the buses in the Grand Canyon run on CNG!! But we were unsuccessful getting fillup for the GTO from this source. We got in really late almost midnight to Flagstaff.
Mark and Libby left for Phoenix to refill our refueling pickup truck and plan on being back in Flagstaff on Tuesday morning.

We refined our calculations for the CNG usage and due to the heat in the desert we are only getting 70% capacity fills. The refueling is working great for the GTO, We did a rough conservative calculation that we should be able to travel 378 miles from each filling station. What has really given us this range was the awsome work the IMPCO guys did with the tune up and the dyno work. On the highway we are getting 15 MPG or better. (not bad for 455 CI, 390 horsepower, 470 ft pounds of torque monster)

I hope it wont be this long again before I can update the trip.

REMEMBER FOLLOW US ON TWITTER.

WE ARE OUTTA HERE

2010-06-23T06:32:00.001-05:00

We are loading up the car to hit the road. See you in California!

The trip begins

2010-06-22T22:38:00.002-05:00

Its late on Tuesday night and I have been working for the last week solid getting ready for the Route66GoatGas trip. Mark left Monday with the GTO, Truck/Trailer, and Family. He will pull into LA tonight before he finishes. Me and my family are getting up early on Wednesday morning and hitting the road. Everyone is hopefully asleep and tomorrow will begin the two week saga we have been looking forward to for 9 months. I only have one thing left to say....

"Are we there yet?"

GTO Launch

2010-06-22T06:12:00.002-05:00

The GTO had a wonderful launch party at the BJCTA Max Refueling Station in downtown Birmingham. So many of our friends attended from the natural gas industry Alagasco as well as Alabama Clean Fuels. We were very happy to have a huge contingency of friends from Trussville Utilities. The coverage of our event was provided by Roy Williams with the Birmingham News as well as representatives from Fox 6 and CBS 42. As soon as these stories are available I will post links to them on our face book page and do some mail outs. Thanks to everyone new that signed up on our www.route66goatgas.com page yesterday. As word spreads that the trip has started we hope our friends and followers continue to grow.

3105 8th Avenue North

2010-06-21T06:48:00.002-05:00

Please join us today at 9 am Central time for the GTO to depart for its historic record breaking trip. The send off party will be at 3105 8th Avenue North in Downtown Birmingham. Lots of our friends will be there to see us off. Last night and this morning Fox 6 news ran a story on our departure. Search for "Fox 6 Departure" to see the video on YouTube. We hope to see Roy Williams with the Birmingham News, Mark Bentley with Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, and several of the City of Trussville leadership who helped publicize our trip.

Hope to see everyone down there.

Obama Speaks to the Nation

2010-06-15T21:10:00.002-05:00

I watched the Presidents speech tonight about the Gulf of Mexico crisis with great interest. I watched his plan for energy independence, looking for America's way out of this mess. He challenged Americans to break our dependence on foreign oil and to do it with the same vigor as the race to the moon.

If Americans want to fix our nations dependence on foreign oil the quickest, they should join our group of followers, and spread the word to all their friends and family, that we have found the solution the Presidents has asked for tonight.

We were put in the right place at the right time for this perfect storm. Nine months ago we launched our effort to build a grass roots effort to move quickly to Compressed Natural Gas.
Everyone on the television is giving lip service to this idea.

But a handful of people are actually DOING something about it. That handful of people will launch a trip across America next Monday, June 21st from Birmingham, Alabama to showcase that CNG is a practical solution to our problems, that can be used by ordinary everyday people to end the madness of foreign oil and stop forever the calamity in the Gulf of Mexico from happening again.

Join us because Now is the time to deliver.

"One approach I will not accept is inaction" President Obama

Parker Gas Guys

2010-06-08T21:28:00.003-05:00

As the trip comes flying towards us, its easy to let small items fall through the cracks. One missed item that would completely make the trip impossible to pull off is our CNG Transfer hose. The fantastic guys at Parker Fittings committed to us back at the Barbers Indy Races to build us a custom CNG Transfer Hose to refill the GTO from our large refueling tanks in the IMPCO Pickup. Because Flagstaff AZ and Amarilo TX dont have CNG refueling stations, our backup supply will be necessary to bridge the gap. The fuel is under 3600 PSI so it is impossible to transfer from tank to tank without the proper High Pressure hose. Since the fittings are a air chuck design you cannot even undo the hose while it is pressurized. So this custom hose will have a venting valve on it just like the filling hoses at the CNG stations. Monday the Parker Fitting guys will be in Birmingham, to be sure the hose works, and to plumb our refilling tanks together.
This post is a huge thank you to Parker Fittings for being our official valve and fitting company and taking such excellent care of the Route66GoatGas Project.

Barrett Jacksons June 25th and 26th

2010-06-03T19:46:00.002-05:00

To all of our friends and followers living in California, the GTO will be at the Barrett Jackson Car Auction on Thursday Friday and Saturday June 24th thru 26th. Please come by during the auction and talk to us about the trip cross country on Route 66. We will have the CNG GTO on display. We have already met tons of new friends in our efforts to make this trip and look forward to meeting you too. If you cant make the show in Orange County, then you can see our Sunday departure from the Santa Monica Pier. More details on that to follow.

Countdown to the Trip begins

2010-06-02T20:40:00.002-05:00

It time to start the countdown to the Route 66 trip. Lots of the details are finally beginning to be finalized. Today was a milestone because the official departure from Birmingham was decided. Mark your calendar for Monday June 21st at 9 am for the official send off. I know most of you may follow our send off from our web site and facebook/twitter postings. But for the lucky few of you that are close enough to Birmingham to see us off, you are all invited. We will hold our send off party, hosted by Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition www.alabamacleanfuels.org , at the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority CNG filling station located at 3105 8th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35202. The rig including Mark McConville, the CNG GTO, the CNG refueling truck and car trailer will all be there for photos and press coverage. The GTO will be hauled across country to make its first appearance at the Barrett Jackson Auction in Orange County California on Wednesday June 23, 2010. More to come on the events planned for the cross country record breaking trip soon.

City of Trussville

2010-04-15T19:58:00.002-05:00

Wednesday I had lunch with Courtney Dollar the Marketing Director with the City of Trussville. Saturday, April 17th the CNG GTO will appear at Earth Day in Trussville Alabama. Currently the City of Trussville has two CNG Honda Civics with the Green Energy style wraps as well as a couple of CNG powered Crown Victorias used by the police department. I really think Courtney sees a huge future for Trussville in the CNG field. Trussville is alreay a wonderful place to live with that safe small town feeling, and with their efforts to embrace CNG they could easily take a leading position in the emerging race for Green Cities.

Thanks to Courtney for the tour of her CNG filling station that is dedicated to the city vehicles, and supported by Phoenix Energy. I am sure I will need to update everyone about Trussville's plans for CNG as they emerge.

Barbers Motorsports Indy Race

2010-04-15T19:49:00.003-05:00

Last weekend the CNG GTO was guest of Alagasco at the Barbers Indy Race. Also making appearances with the GTO was the Chesapeake CNG Chopper and two CNG powered Honda cars from the City of Birmingham. We appreciate all of the wonderful people that stopped by to hear about our Route 66 Trip. Thanks to Bob Strickland with Alagasco for inviting us and we greatly appreciate his support as we reach out to grass roots race fans to spread the message about our path to freedom from foreign oil. We met a new representative of Parker Hannifin, a high pressure hose and fittings company from Huntsville AL that wants to support our ongoing needs for fittings. He is fabricating our filler hose that we will use to connect between the refueling pickup truck and the GTO. It will be a six foot hose with a three way valve for venting. Its a key part of the puzzle missing now. The whole weekend was worth it just to establish this one relationship.

Chip Bridges CNG GTO #2 Story

2010-03-18T19:36:00.004-05:00

Keith,

Thanks for the kind words. Just remember you guys had the guts to pull it off first, and were cool enough to document it and share it.

I remember the day I saw the first video. I was adding up the list of parts for the 455 I wanted to build, (doing the engineer thing, putting all the parts into excel and making a spreadsheet out of it). I was a little bummed about having to spend an extra $800 for custom dished pistons to lower the compression ratio for 87 octane gas to run the 670 heads I had done the year before. It was still lunch so I thought, hey lets goof off on face book. Then I saw the video of your 66 via a Pickens plan post, talk about a perfect storm. Multiple carburetion with a 66 tri-power manifold and CNG how cool is that???....click......search...click.... search. I found the YouTube videos that explained all the technology, awesome! Another search yielded two public CNG stations at sky harbor airport. I drove out to the airport the next day; its only 12 miles from the house, I usually just take the GTO out for joy rides anyway, so the plan was formed.
Chip Bridges

CHIP BRIDGES CONVERTS CNG GTO #2

2010-03-18T17:08:00.005-05:00

Chip Bridges is converting his GTO to run on CNG!! He has completed the installation of the tank into the trunk and I hope to post the pictures soon. Next is to complete the underhood portion of the conversion. He is also using Dave from Carb and Turbo to put together the famous CNG TriCarb Kit. Its very rewarding for Mark and I both to see one more person join a grassroots effort to win back our freedom from foreign oil.

I told Chip just how much I appreciated what he was doing in an email and his reply was so inspiring that I wanted to post it here for everyone to read. He gave me permission.

See the next Post!!

FOX 6 NEWS BIRMINGHAM

2010-03-16T20:49:00.003-05:00

Due to a nicely done press release the Fox 6 news affiliate in Birmingham sent Jonathan Hardison to do a story on the Route66GoatGas Project. Jon did a great job and produced a two minute segment that really nails our mission and puts top quality video out there on us. Thanks to Fox 6 for the wonderful coverage. The show aired on Sunday night and our Web site spiked Monday and gently returned to normal hits by the end of the week.

I had plenty of coworkers, clients and friends call me to ask about the project and it was the first time many became aware. Another friend that caught the segment was Carl Cannova of Carls Car Clinic He called and invited us to do Carl Cannova's CAR DOCTOR SHOW on WAPI Radio on Saturday.

Here is the link to the Fox 6 story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFukrnn1xrM

Kissimmee Florida Pontiac Show

2010-02-27T21:01:00.003-06:00

I just got off the phone with Mark and got a full report on the GTO in Kissimmee Florida today at the Pontiac Show. First off the car show got rained on almost all day. He pulled the car out for display and it was already drizzling rain. Very soon after he got it out it started raining. He was not even able to pull out his new CNG GTO sign. But the best thing about it today was the people. It always makes it worth it to go on the trip when people speak up and say, " I saw your GTO at Barrett Jackson on TV!" or "Yeah, I know about your car from the internet." The recognition for this Red GTO running on Compressed Natural Gas is growing. We both hope that the car becomes the symbol for American freedom from dependence on foreign oil.
Oh, by the way the GTO won its first car show trophy.

The photo shoot was rained out today but the photographer has asked about the possibility of doing a studio shoot Monday. That is the most exciting thing since the car was featured in a story on Barrett Jackson, Speed TV. I will keep you posted on that progress.

No post is complete with the FUN. This trip is no exception. Mark said the cruise in was AWSOME. Hundreds of car fans lined the cobblestone street in Kissimmee Saturday Night and cheered all the cars in the cruise on. He said the windows were down and people were begging him to race the engine. The GTO sounds fantastic and we are pretty sure that the slight whiff of burnt natural gas was a telltale sign that this GOAT was special.

As we are allowed to say more about the photo shoot we will keep you all posted.

Major Trip Component Located!!

2010-02-14T10:43:00.002-06:00

Mark has been very busy this week following up on any and all leads to secure a refueling solution to help on the trip along Route 66. Another CNG powered pickup truck for sale was located and its an even better deal than the ebay truck. Its newer and only needs tanks. In talking with our friends at Tulsa Gas Technologies, a good solution would be to put a couple of very large tanks in the bed of the truck which would provide supply for the truck and have capacity to serve as a tanker. In addition Mark and I learned about the cool Tulsa Gas Technologies High Capacity Light Weight CNG trailer. This is a piece of work. Go look at the pictures at http://www.tulsagastech.com/trailer.htm This is the ultimate backup plan for a cross country trip.

Mark and I are beginning to plan for the CNG GTO appearance out at Barber Motorsports Park. Its a perfect venue to showcase the GTO and kick off the publicity for the cross country trip that is rapidly approaching. We have plans for many friends and supporters to join us in this fun time. I will keep you posted as more details are finalized.

Finally, Mark has the listing of all the locations along Route 66 that we hope to stop at and the days. On the web site we will setup another page of Public Appearances and get that information out to you soon so you can make plans to see us along the way!

Happy Valentines Day!!

January is over

2010-02-05T20:02:00.003-06:00

Here is an update of some of the things that have happened since Barrett Jackson. The most important thing is that Mark and the CNG GTO stopped by Chesapeake Energy and had a great time thanks to all the hospitality of the fabulous Chesapeake team. The Vice President of the company took the CNG GTO for a spin with Mark in the front seat encouraging him to step on it! Check out our web site and follow the Facebook fan page to see the video of this fun fun ride.
The synergy with Chesapeake was amazing. They did us a huge favor and referred us to the organizer of the National Pontiac meet. He contacted us and wants the GTO to be in the national show in North Carolina. It will be immediately after out recordbreaking run across Route 66 so this summer is going to be the time of our lives.

We are happy to announce that we will be showing the GTO at Barbers Motorsport Park in March. The spring race at Talledega is another opportunity that has been extended by the Talledega Raceway Museum to show the car and meet thousands of more fans.

As you can see, so much is taking off for the effort that we are just floored. But one of the most rewarding things is the emails we are getting from our new friends who take the time to read up on our plans, get excited about the Drive to Inspire and offer to help make this dream a reality.

We are humbled by the offers of assistance and appreciate what everyone is doing to make our country free of foreign oil depencence. We have created a special place on our web site to showcase these sincere and greatly apreciated emails. We look forward to meeting all of you on Route 66 this summer. I can't wait!!

Barrett Jackson is over

2010-01-24T20:23:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note to tell everyone that Barrett Jackson Car Show is over. I just talked to Mark and he said that they have left the auction and are driving thru the snow in Flagstaff on the way to their big meeting in Oklahoma City with Chesapeake Energy.

Mark told me one of the highlights of the trip was when Speed did the special on the CNG GTO on Friday night. That spotlight on the GTO was seen by some people who then made a special trip to Barrett Jackson mainly to see the GTO. Mark said that they were Prius owners and were our kind of people. Americans who are ready to make a difference in our dependence on foreign oil by stepping out and taking action. Thanks Guys we appreciate it.

The thing that made the biggest impression on me was that out of hundreds f people that stopped by to talk, it was unanimous that everyone agreed we needed to end our dependence on foreign oil. It didn't take any explanation, they already fully understood and no explanation was necessary. Several times the guys stopping by did a more eloquent job of making the point than we could have done. This confirms to us both that there are lots of true Americans out there all with the same beliefs and convictions. Its just a matter of time before American ingenuity rises to the occasion and squashes this problem flat. I am totally relaxed and confident that it is coming.

First Day at Barrett Jackson Car Show

2010-01-19T21:37:00.003-06:00

Today was our first day at Barrett Jackson Car show and it was tons of fun. We were able to pull the GTO outside because it was a beautiful sunny day although a bit chilly and windy all the way up till 5 pm when the rain returned. Hundreds of people stopped by and looked at the CNG GTO today. Lots of people guessed that it was propane powered due to the components under the hood. This is a very knowledgeable car crowd. Most people were shocked to see the two huge 7 gallon containers in the trunk. We had some people get really excited about our trip and we passed out hundreds of cards with our website address. People were buying our Tshirts, and asking lots of questions. One guy wanted to go back and convert his daily driver because of the high octane in CNG. We had time to go inside and see all the cars for auction and watch some bid off.

Thanks to Bridgestone for the opportunity to show the GTO at the Barrett Jackson car show.

We are setup across from the Speed Channel boom camera and we already have word that the GTO was shown on the show tonight!!!

http://www.barrettjackson.com/

FLAT TIRE #1

2010-01-16T11:41:00.000-06:00

Friday morning on the road Mark and the gang noticed rubber coming off
one of the trailer tires. By the time they got off it was shredded.
The floor jack wouldn't lift the trailer and car so they went to a
truckstop. One new tire later and they are back on the road.

Final Preparation

2010-01-16T11:28:00.001-06:00

Once the trailer was ready Mark drove the CNG GTO up the ramp and very slowly into the trailer. We tied down the car to D rings in the floor of the trailer with tie down straps. Joseph put the cover over and the cabinet doors were taped shut to be sure nothing came out. Mark got the tree boxes of Route66GoatGas shirts and put them in the trailer. Tools for the road were loaded. Earlier while watching the car run, we found a loose coil wire and got that thing tightened back up. It was making a blue spark and you could see the reflection in the chrome under the hood. Everything loose in the trailer we removed or secured. Mark left heading for Memphis and was on his way.

The Trailer and Scottsdale Departure

2010-01-16T11:27:00.001-06:00

Listen to this fun! Patricks friend stored some furniture in the race trailer and wasn't available clean it out for the trip. He had to send a couple of his guys over to move the furniture out and bring the trailer up from south of town. We got the trailer around 5pm on Thursday, the night that Mark planned to leave out for the trip with the GTO. No one had seen the trailer in quite a while so it had a few problems. We parked across the street in a large parking lot and hooked the trailer to Patrick's Dodge Truck. But when we started to plug in the lights, someone noticed the wiring harness for the trailer had been cut due to the frame scraping on the ground. Me and Mark spliced the wires back while Patrick and the guys worked on wiring the 7 way plug. It was cold working out and it was getting dark. We plugged it in and nothing. We swapped some wires around and still nothing. So we got on google and found the wiring color codes for the 7 way plug for the Horton Hauler Trailer. We switched everything around per the schematic. Almost an hour later we were ready to try again. I could tell Patrick didn't want to look at the trailer while we plugged it in because he didn't have much hope. We pushed the plug in and the whole trailer light system lit up like a Christmas tree. Everybody was celebrating about getting that done so hard it brought people out of the house to see what happened. That was the last hurdle to cross before Mark could get on the road. It was an ordeal but probably just a little taste of the fun and challenges we will surely face on the road for our project.

Monday Preparations for Barrett Jackson

2010-01-11T20:35:00.004-06:00

Everything is falling into place for the trip to Barrett Jackson. I got word on the trailer and truck provided by Patrick Small this afternoon and its still on go. Mark has the business cards and he says they look sweet! The Tshirts are being printed and will be ready in time to go on the trip. Mark's dad and brother are getting into the trip and really pitching in and helping out.

If all of this wasn't good enough news, we got the official word from Talledega Superspeedway that the CNG GTO will be allowed to make a run around the track and may set the speed record for a Compressed Natural Gas powered car. (It will be the first CNG car to race on the track). That should qualify the car to go into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum.
The track management says that on race weekend there will be 10,000 people a day tour the museum. www.motorsportshalloffame.com

The only thing we are holding our breath on is the UPS delivery of our Ecopia Tires from Bridgestone!

Ready to Go

2010-01-09T10:32:00.004-06:00

Plans are being finalized this weekend to take the GTO to Barrett Jackson! Bridgestone sent our tickets for every day of the event...THANKYOU BRIDGESTONE!! Hotel reservations are made. Patrick Small is bringing the trailer on Tuesday and we will get it ready to go for the trip. Mark has busted it hard to get the Tshirts finished for the trip. Yep. They will be for sale at the event. Marks dad and brother are going on the trip so this is turning into a fantastic family event full of fun and thrilling excitement. The anticipation is killer a week away.

Huge Thanks to Mr. Patrick Small

2010-01-06T21:49:00.002-06:00

The trip to Barrett Jackson is a completely unexpected surprise for us. We only found out about this trip three weeks before the show. The biggest problem preventing us from attending was transporting the GTO to Scottsdale. One call to my brother, Patrick Small, and this problem was solved. Patrick Small, the infamous racer, motivational speaker, Porsche enthusiast, driving instructor, crosscountry Harley rider and close friend opened the door for us to use his race trailer to make this early public exposure possible.

Thank you Patrick for your generosity. If you get a chance to send Patrick an email of appreciation for his support of the route66goatgas project please send him one!!

PSmall@processtechnology.us

Official Announcement Barrett Jackson Scottsdale

2010-01-06T21:32:00.004-06:00

Its OFFICIAL. The fully converted CNG 66 GTO will make its debut public appearance at the Barrett Jackson Scottsdale, AZ show from January 18th, 2010 to January 25th, 2010. We owe this premier appearance to our official sponsor Bridgestone Tire!! The GTO will showcase the Ecopia EP 100 tire. It is an environmentally friendly tire designed to improve rolling resistance, which may improve gas milage, without sacrificing the smooth quiet ride or reliable wet handling that you have come to expect from Bridgestone tires. Check them out at www.bridgestonetire.com

All of our followers can't wait to see if these tires burn GREEN SMOKE.

Please stop by and see Mark and Keith at the show, or watch for us on Speed Channel which will be covering the event all week!! Woooohoooo.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T20:23:00.003-06:00

Time for an update for the Route 66 Trip. Over the holidays Mark continued to work with the Route 66 Alliance to plan the trip. The trip is currently scheduled to depart from the California End of Route 66 with as large a send off as we can manage at the Santa Monica Pier. We hope by starting with a big publicity bang at the beginning we will have a larger following of grass roots people for the whole trip.

Our Bridgestone sponsor is really coming through for us. They have matched the tire size for the GTO and have a "green" eco friendly tire that will fit. This should give us better gas milage which we desperately need with the 140 range on the CNG tanks as configured now. We need all the milage we can get! Thank you Bridgestone!

Its too early to say officially, but Bridgestone is working on arrangements for the GTO to travel to a significant large event and make its first showing in middle January. This is big news if all plans come together and it actually happens. Stay tuned for the announcement. I hope we get official word the first few days of January.

Mark has selected a shirt vendor and we should have some really nice black t-shirts with the Route66GoatGas logo soon.

Thats the quick update for now.

The CNG GTO Tanks are installed!!

2009-11-26T17:13:00.002-06:00

Its been a long and busy month. We turned the GTO over to Steve at Phoenix Energy to professionally mount the tanks and video tape the whole thing so you can see how its done.
The video turned out perfect. We have it posted up now on youtube. Please click the link below and see part one. Dont forget to see part two for the final cranking and running of the GTO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GwGBoD3CVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvLi0ZU3PHA

Goat Fink in Color

2009-11-08T19:14:00.003-06:00

Check out the website http://www.route66goatgas.com/ to see Goat Fink in full color now! Just one step closer to color tshirts to promote our Route 66 trip. Mark has set up a Twitter account for our project this weekend and its located at www.twitter.com/Route66GoatGas. The status of the car is that Monday with be 3 weeks at Phoenix energy. They are waiting on a tank bracket to come in. In addition they are working on a bag to put around the tank valve as a safety feature to prevent gas from escaping into the trunk of the GTO. Work continues on the Route 66 Alliance to locate filling stations and already Twitter has yielded some contacts that may help in Arizona.

CNG Tank Installation

2009-10-27T22:08:00.002-05:00

Mark has delivered the GTO to Phoenix Energy to have the Luxfer Tanks installed safely and professionally. Steve Bouchillon will be doing the work and he has a long history of CNG work with the City of Birmingham. www.phoenixenergycorp.net The major work ahead of Steve is the fabrication of the double tank brackets, mounting to the trunk area of the car, and connecting to the plumbing going towards the front of the car. As soon as pictures are available of the tank setup we will be posting them.

As you know the tank mounting is the last part of the conversion that will allow the GTO to travel freely around town. And smoke the tires!!!

The Route 66 Alliance

2009-10-27T21:53:00.002-05:00

Jim Conkle. Google that name and you will find out that Jim is Mr. Route 66. Jim graciously agreed to meet with me and Mark. I was overwhelmed at the passion Jim has for Route 66. Jim and all of his friends have formed Route 66 Alliance a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization to coordinate the efforts nationally and internationally to preserve Route 66. Jim instantly befriended us and has all of the information that a couple of knuckleheads need to make a successful trip across the historical Route 66. Jim knows the road, the hot spots, the history, and even the brassier tree. We feel like we have made a new friend for life with Jim. He has made important introductions to some very influential people across the country and we are excited, hopeful and extremely appreciative about his trust in us and the openess with which our ideas were received. One of the ideas discussed was to open this trip up to ALL of the alternative fuels available out there. The trip would be amazing with representatives of the electric car, hydrogen car, solar car, and every other alternative fuel source you could imagine. It was so exciting I could hardly sleep thinking about all the brilliant people that could participate in our vision.

Week in California!!

2009-10-27T21:39:00.003-05:00

The CNG GTO is moving so fast I cannot even keep up with it. Last week Mark and I flew to California to move our project forward a huge step. The next step of the conversion was to go to Luxfer Gas Cylinder Manufacturing in Riverside CA to pick up our tanks. We got a full tour of the plant from John Carrigan who was awsome to spend the time with us. THANKS JOHN!! Mark returned the next morning to pickup our two brand new tanks complete with valves. The testing facility is top notch and I will give you a report about the plant when I have more time.

We also visited with Paul Mader of AFV Fleet Service and got a tour of his fleet conversion business. Paul was awsome to meet with and we went to lunch and listened to his years of knowledge in the business. Paul has taken a personal interest in our project and his expertise in so many areas is invaluable. Thanks Paul Mader. (Paul has a CNG Crown Vic that has a 400+ mile range, awsome) He gave us some really great ideas about refueling on the Route 66 trip using tube trailers.

Thats all fantastic news but there is more!! Read on the next post!

ITS OFFICIAL!!!

2009-10-08T22:03:00.002-05:00

I am extremely happy to report to everyone that the GTO is OFFICIALLY running on CNG!!!
Check the website www.route66goatgas.com and look at the video tab to see actual video of the GTO running powered by a temporary tank of CNG. Its sounds awsome. The tank filler valve issued was worked out by Mark and he got a tank full and hooked it up. After a thorough pressure test all the way to the end of the system he had the green light to crank it up. It cranked right up without any problems. The idle became more stable as the engine warmed up and the hot water began to circulate on the first stage regulator. Its just amazing to see it run and you have to keep looking at the plumbing to realize its NOT running on gasoline any more. The gasoline tank has been removed from the car completely. When you look underneath the rear all you see is that beautiful GTO differential cover. Thanks Mark and Joseph for all of your hard work!! What a dream come true!!!

GTO Crank Update

2009-10-04T21:25:00.002-05:00

This is a quick update about the efforts to crank the GTO for the first time on Saturday.
The CNG tank valve was missing a plug that was necessary to cap off an outlet properly.
So rather than take a chance on doing something potentially dangerous with off the shelf parts we waited until Mark can go Monday and get the proper fittings. Just a quick update that the video of the CNG GTO has not been filmed yet. Stay Tuned!

Twas the Night before GTO Cranking

2009-10-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

This is an irresistable moment. On Saturday October 3rd, the CNG tank will be filled a small amount and carefully placed in the GTO trunk. The fuel line will be attached. The hand valve will be slowly opened. The lines will be checked and double checked for any leaks. The emergency cutoff valve located under the car will be opened. More checks. The hi-pressure guage on the Stage One regulator will swing up to read the tank pressure. The pressure will make it all the way to the tri-carb setup. Then that magic moment will occur when the ignition key is twisted to the crank position. Will it start? Will it run? Everything is completely hooked up. The tension is as high as it has been since the project started. Tomorrow is a huge day. I cant wait to write the next post to let you know how it turns out.

GTO Conversion

2009-09-27T19:31:00.004-05:00

Saturday was a productive day. Mark worked on the car from early morning to late evening. He fabricated two brackets to hold components for the CNG conversion. The first component was an "L" shaped bracket to hold the regulator. It worked good but may need some stiffening. The second bracket held the diaphram/manifold assembly. It worked perfectly. I showed up in time to try and help on the installation of a few items. The regulator was mounted already when I got there. I helped mount the diaphram/manifold assembly. We put the ends on the 150psi lines and connected the regulator to diaphram/manifold. It all looks just like it belongs in the car from the factory. Mark has the three carbs mounted on the intake manifold. We worked on the linkage and got the middle carb connected to the throttle linkage. Its working very well thanks to an extension piece Mark fabricated. Next project is to connect the other two carbs to the progressive linkage. This will require another piece from IMPCO which is on the way, along with a coupling nut to hook the fuel line to the regulator. Mark had plans to route heater hose to the regulator to prevent freezing during the CNG decompression phase. Sorry this is too technical.
More coming later.

GTO TriCarb - CNG Carbs

2009-09-24T21:15:00.002-05:00

So much has happened this week its hard to imagine how it can all be recapped. The major news is that the IMPCO tricarb setup has arrived. The excitement level is almost unbearable. Technically we have every single piece that we need to get the GTO running on Compressed Natural Gas, and the temptation is to rush ahead and just DO IT. But we are savoring the moment and have an equal desire to get this done right. That means a couple of planned upgrades "just to make it look good". In addition, we slowed down and made a video yesterday, and Master Editor Mark stayed up till 2 am editing the masterpiece. It really turned out well. Check out the video page of the website. www.route66goatgas.com The first night was spent identifying the parts of the kit and how it fit together. Of course a regulator nut, bracket and schematic were missing from the kit, but we felt good about realizing the parts were missing. They are on the way. The modifications we are already planning on are a much improved and professionally machined manifold to split the Natural Gas lines into three feeds for the tri carbs.
We found some polishing on the cast aluminum carb "bells" would make them shine like new chrome. We like the thoughts of using braided steel lines to the carbs instead of the rubber hoses sent with the kit. I stopped by the shop today and Mark was filming a second installment of the installation sequence which involved removing the gasoline carbs and placing the new CNG carbs for fitment. They looked sweet and you would never know the difference. I am so happy we slowed down and videoed this for everyone so you could see there is no real magic to it. We are most of all concerned with safety and have multiple experts providing us guidance and advice from years in the business. I feel sure before the weekend we will see the second video posted. Thats all for now. Thanks for reading. Drop us an email.

WHY NOT!!

2009-09-13T12:55:00.001-05:00

Why? This week Mark and I have been asking why. Why aren’t we already using CNG (compressed natural gas) After you learn all about it it’s the obvious solution.

It’s the cleanest energy available meeting the stringent 2010 EPA emissions standards already.
Natural Gas is a US product which would create jobs for us.
Any gasoline powered car can be converted to run on CNG.
It would reduce our dependence of foreign oil and save our soldiers from stabilizing the Mideast.

So we both are struggling with understanding why we didn’t go this way. The common excuses are as follows:
We have been spoiled by cheap foreign oil. So it would cost more in the short term and no one wants to spend more even though it’s best for our future.
The big oil companies have millions of dollars of capital infrastructure at risk and would not be interested in oil and gasoline industry going away.
The automakers didn’t see a demand for CNG cars. Ford did manufacture CNG autos, but stopped because it apparently wasn’t profitable during the 90’s.
The general public is waiting on the electric car. Or they expect a gasoline/electric hybrid.
There are not any CNG filling stations available.

The actual truth is:
CNG is cheaper per gallon than gasoline.
Gasoline stations are installing alternative fuel solutions for the first time now and are being rightfully encouraged by the grant conversion money and CNG fuel refunds.
Ford (Focus and Fusion) and Honda are making CNG powered new vehicles available.
Businesses are using CNG to go GREEN.

My hopes are for a grass roots demand for CNG cars and infrastructure to develop to fix our problem of foreign oil dependence. The government has done its part by putting in policy to encourage CNG filling stations thru grants and CNG subsidies. The Natural Gas Companies have the product and are finding more reserves too. We are only missing the American people who are brave enough to step up and engage this solution. We can fix our problems now! We don’t have to wait on anything. We can start the new jobs immediately with conversion, infrastructure construction and new auto manufacturing. Can I count on you?

Monster Art Goat Fink

2009-09-08T21:21:00.002-05:00

Now to the fun part. You remember that Mark commissioned an artist in New Zealand to create our mascot Goat Fink. Well today we got the artist proofs. I wont spoil the surprise but he sent four concept sketches as proofs. One of the proofs NAILED what we had envisioned. The 66 GTO is at the perfect angle to see the unique grille and the smokin CragarSS mags. The tricarb setup looks awsome protruding thru the hood. But the best part is GoatFink. He is awsome and full of personality and attitude. He has that crazy look in his eyes. All of the nuiances are there that we envisioned. The CNG tanks strapped to his back. The CNG regulator on his wrist of the hand that he is using to shift that huge shifter. The oil-derrick buster tattoo. The Route 66 tag on the front of the GTO. The whole imagery is one of tire smoking, flame belching, gear jamming fun. I cant wait to put this on a Tshirt. Its so cool, it may be the only shirt I wear for the next year until the trip is complete. Go Goat Fink.

Route 66 filling stations

2009-09-08T21:11:00.002-05:00

The one thing that has been bothering me the most is the unresolved questions about how many CNG filling facilities are along Route 66. I started a spreadsheet but it didn't satisify that need to see it on a map. Mark asked if we could have a map graphic that showed our filling stations. I got on Google maps and after just a short while I was amazed at what I could generate. I mapped the route from Chicago to Santa Monica. Mark pointed me to research he did at the Department of Energy's website that has a searchable listing of CNG stations both public and private. As I searched it became apparent that really all the way from Chicago to Amarillo Texas that there were filling stations no further than 300 miles apart. The southwest has some large gaps. Fortunately Clean Energy Company has fuel in New Mexico. And when we get to California we can get CNG to make it to the coast. So I was estatic to realize that there are only two long hauls that do not have fuel. The GTO projected range is 300 miles. I was afraid that we were going to face ten or more spots and I am so relieved. For the first time I feel like this trip can become a reality.

Progress on the Tanks Update

2009-09-08T21:05:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to send an update but there are so many good things going on this past week that its really been hard to decide whats most important. The most productive advance is that Mark is working with a really motivated tank supplier now. He is full of great ideas and Mark is setting up a meeting. We have figured that we may need to work three tanks into the GTO trunk to have sufficient range to make the legs between filling stations. Two big tanks in the floor of the trunk and one smaller tank under the package tray between the wheel wells. If our calculations are correct we hope to have an approximate range of 300-325 miles. More on what that will get us later. So I will consider this the tank status update for now so everyone knows what we hope to accomplish.

Reflections on the Goal

2009-08-30T20:19:00.002-05:00

At the end of the second week I took a fresh look back at the web page and this blog. What if I were new coming to visit the site. I feel like a years worth of knowledge and work is lost in the shuffle. During the presidential election campaign T. Boone Pickens woke me up with his campaign to free us from our dependence on foreign oil. www.pickensplan.com I was so mad at the price of gas topping $4.00 a gallon, I made an internal silent pledge to never let that happen to me again. I did something immediately. I had the Summer of Honda. (Summer of 2008) I commuted to work every day on my 1971 Honda SL 100 that gets 95 MPG. It felt really great. But with the fall, the cold, and the rain my Summer of Honda slowly came to a halt. I miss riding that motorcycle bad. It was not the long term solution I needed. Mark and I talked about CNG and I think we both had dreams of immediately freeing ourselves from gasoline, and imagined filling up at home daily using a small compressor. What a liberating idea. It became a dream to chase for me. Mark did tons of research on CNG conversion kits. He ordered me a kit to convert my Land Rover Discovery II. All of this transpired over 6 months or so and when gasoline dropped it took some of the urgency for the conversion out. But the dream never died. It smoldered in the background waiting for that opportunity to return. The CNG conference held by Alabama Clean Cities Coalition reignited that dream and all of the work from a year ago is paying off now. I hope this clarifies a little of the history for my involvement and gives any readers a full picture of why we think we can do this. Its not a blip on the radar, its a year long process in the making.

First Week

2009-08-24T21:52:00.002-05:00

This past week was the first week of our CNG Route 66 Oddessy and I am amazed at the ground that was covered. The mechanical conversion of the 66 GTO leap ahead with the tank racks, the tricarb setup, serious discussions of CNG tanks and Marks daily efforts to make this dream a reality. Equally impressive progress was made with our communications tools. The web site came together in a snap, the blog is working and easy to find topics, we even had a blast with the first video posted on youtube that was Marks hilarious brainchild. Finally, even new contacts came flowing in the door on the first week. Sam Fleet in Atlanta helped out, plus a host of other new friends like David Knudson with www.national66.org and too many more to list here that have pledged support to our efforts to unite a team along Route 66 for Refueling options. I could not have imagined a more productive first week to kick things off!! Talk to you soon.

Impco Tri Carbs

2009-08-20T21:45:00.002-05:00

I spoke with Dave from Carburetion and Turbo Systems today. He says the GTO's carbs are on his bench nearing completion. When I get the first picture of the carbs, I will be sure to post. I can't wait to mount them into the GTO. I am more excited then a kid at Christmas!

You never know who you will meet at a Clean Energy Station

2009-08-20T20:24:00.004-05:00

While refueling my van at the Atlanta Clean Energy Station today, as luck would have it, I came across Sam Fleet. Sam is the Pickens Plan State Leader for Georgia. She happened to be at the station doing some public relations work. Sam was curious about The Airport Express shuttle service and its use of natural gas. I shared with her our fuel consumption amounts and the savings we can achieve using CNG in our vans. I also took the time to explain the Route 66 GTO story. I have since found out that she is one of the hardest working volunteers in the Pickens community. We sure could use more people like her. I also had the pleasure of meeting William Engwer from Ace Garage. William is currently designing a prototype single passenger CNG car named Solo. William and his team are targeting 100 mpg for Solo. If you would like more info on Ace Garage and their Solo, you can email them at

www.info@ace-garage.com

Route Mapping Progress

2009-08-20T19:13:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say that I used http://wikitravel.org/en/Route_66 and found a really nice travel itinerary as a starting point for a spreadsheet that contains all the cities along Route 66. It also contained a state mileage chart for Route 66 that gave me the miles of road in each state. The itinerary was a ten day trip. If anyone has driven the whole trip with sightseeing stops along the way please comment on an appropriate amount of time to allow in the planning stages for a trip like this. Next step is to obtain the milage to each city and cross match this with our friends providing CNG providers.

For technology fans I am using GoogleDocs docs.google.com so I can share the data online with Mark as well as access from "anywhere in the world".

Thanks Cotton

2009-08-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

Through a company called Greenfield Compression Inc, manufactures of compressors for NGV systems, I got in touch with gentleman named Cotton Crites. He was very helpful in explaining some refueling options for our GTO trip down route 66. He is sending a list of public CNG refueling stations and other possible refueling points. Cotton has also given us some suggestions on refueling the GTO where there aren't any CNG stations. Refueling may be the biggest hurdle in our route 66 journey.

"You mean to tell me!"

2009-08-19T20:59:00.004-05:00

This is the exact statement that came out of my passenger's mouth when I explained to her that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) can fuel the very same engines that gasoline does. The passenger was in near disbelief that she was riding in a van running on the same gas that she cooks with. The next question that she asked was "What are the advantages of using natural gas in a vehicle?" I explained to her that CNG is less harmful to the environment, it costs less, and most importantly, it makes the US more energy independent. Her curiosity had been sparked and she wanted to know how long this technology had been available.

I explained that CNG has been around for decades but do to infrastructure problems, it has not caught on to the general public.

CNG Tank Racks

2009-08-17T16:44:00.003-05:00

We met with James Vance at Cherokee Stamping in downtown Birmingham to have the dual tank brackets designed to fit both Airport Express Vans as well as the GTO. They will be custom designed and made of much stronger metal than your typical tank brackets. We have type two tanks with a spun fiberglass coating over the center part of the tank and the brackets will fit over the coating and have a rubber strip liner. Bolts will hold the straps around the tank. The base will have supports for the tank and welds attaching the strap. The supports will be welded to plate that will be bolted to the frame using wellnuts. The plate will be bolted directly into the frame of the vans as well as hopefully the frame underneath the trunk of the GTO. The GTO trunk has plenty of room for a couple of this size CNG tanks. No expected delivery date was established but will keep you posted.

Welcome

2009-08-16T14:53:00.002-05:00

I set this blog up to report the progress, as it happens, on an attempt to drive the first CNG powered muscle car from end to end of Route 66. The website is up and running at
www.route66goatgas.com and it will report news and goals.

This blog will contain more in depth discussion of the issues and problems we face making this fun project happen. I already know the trip is a longshot because of the lack of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) availability along the way.

I will use a resource at www.cngprices.com to locate the existing filling stations and do a spreadsheet to calculate the distances between the longest stretches of highway missing the CNG we need.

My hope is that there are just regular folks out there that may be able to help us on our adventure by reporting CNG filling stations, friendly municipalities that use CNG, and any other possibilities that we should consider in making the trip.

Fun!!!!