diesel, alternative fuels: 77 mercedes benz

I like to travel, which means that when I drive I am using gasoline . . .unless I find an alternative. Many people know that the gasoline system in America is problematic. The internal combustion engine is inefficient, but it is what is highly available. I could go into rotary engines, electric trolly systems, and documentaries like Who Killed the Electric Car? but instead I will just say that I am starting my explorations with more sustainable/cheaper/overall smarter fuel sources by looking at diesels.

The story of Rudolf Diesel is fascinating, how he originally constructed the engine to run on peanut oil, experiments with engine efficiency, and his strange death. The two options for car transportation I had been looking at were EV (electric vehicle) conversion with the truck, and doing biodiesel or veggie with a car/van/bus. EV's are short range, while it seems that road-tripping on veggie oil is not uncommon (depending on your definition of common).

Back in April I ran across two possibilities: an old school bus and a 1977 Mercedes Benz Diesel. While the school bus was tempting for road-tripping and camping the car seemed to fit more readily into my every day at mooncatlife. I bought the car though it had a vacuum problem for $1500.

The vacuum problem meant that in order to shut off this car I had to pop the hood and press a tab that said "stop" that came with these older models for manual engine shut-off. After trying to do research,  and having a friend help me take a look at it I brought it in to a local diesel mechanic.

Steve Pelham in Clinton told me to stop through early on a Monday when he was less busy and he would check it out. I watched him clamp and plug vacuum lines to find out if there was a leak. A leak in the vacuum lines is a much better diagnosis than a vacuum pump that is going bad. A bad vacuum pump, it seems, could have caused damage and caused brake problems. . . .to sum things up Steve was helpful, quick, and friendly. I stopped back in to make sure the car was alright for longer trips later. I was also afraid that there was something wrong with the transmission. The car is slow to shift and it sounded like the rpms were going too high and it would shift in after I let off the gas . . . in a similar way to a manual transmission . . .anyway, Steve said it shifts like an old diesel and is working fine. Whew. I also found a forum online that made the comment that these old diesels sound like they are falling apart all of the time, but will run forever.  And of course that is what everyone is saying, "That thing will run forever".

I MacGuyver'ed a way to choke a vacuum hose from the inside of the car to shut the engine off. . .though some say I can plug the hose that runs to the locks and everything will work fine (minus locks) . . .but plugging it doesn't seem to work that way. I could invest somewhere around $500 to have a mechanic tear into it, check the lines and diaphragms in the doors, but that is not a priority to me right now because it is functional. The leak is not harming anything.

This has been my journey with making sure my cheap diesel is running well enough to consider biodiesel or Veggie conversion. It seems this car is ideal for alternative fuels (the reason I snatched it up in April though I didn't really do very much with it until now). It has been a really fun process. I will not claim to be a gearhead, but have always been a gearhead wannabe and I am enjoying what I am learning along the way. The extent of my previous experience pretty much extends to checking fluids, changing oil/filters, and changing disk brakes.  I love this retro car and am slowly learning the best way to apply steady, consistent pressure on the gas pedal for optimal transmission transitions.

bike trip to mississippi palisades

   
  Our bike trip started out as a trip to Thomson to see a cheese-making demonstration at the newly opening Heirloom Cafe. Mark and Catherine told me that the presenter would be using their raw milk, and I was specially interested because I have been wanting to do just that. Then I suggested that we bike there, then one of us suggested that we just continue on to the Palisades and camp there.  So Saturday morning Jerome and I took off on his Next bike with a trailer for sleeping bags etc. and the battered Schwinn that we found laid out for trash that Bill fixed up.

We arrived a little late and missed the cheese-making, but I appreciated the chance to visit Thomson Heirloom Solutions where they sell Heirloom seeds and solar harvesting equipment.  I listened to Nick (seed connoisseur) and Jerome talk about gardening, farming, as well as chipping in some questions here and there. Next we stopped through to visit a bike shop that we had passed, Arnold's Bikes and Embroidery. The owner, I can't remember his name right now, but I know the last name is Arnold, let us play on his recumbent bikes and even ride his own bike. It was so fun! I am in love with recumbent bikes now. He also put some grease on the bearings of the rear wheel of the Schwinn for us so that it would stop that weird grinding noise it was making intermittently.  He came out with some copper wool and said that Schwinns are known for their chrome, scrubbing the rust spots right off. Then he sent the copper wool with us and told us to shine it up while we were camping.  

[dragonfly coming out of nymph stage at the river]

We continued on the Great River Bike Trail to the Palisades, altogether around 25 miles on a hot day and then jumped into the Mississippi where we hollered and waved to people at the Palisades lookout, snacked, rested our sore butts, swam, and made hair extensions out of sea weed (is it called that in the Mississippi?). I had gotten hungry/hot grumpy but the water made me feel better. Our intention had been to camp at the Palisades but the mosquitos were horrible at night (and we were sleeping in a hammock and sleeping bag, no tent) so we left our campsite in the middle of the night to head back and find somewhere along the way to lay out our bags where there might be a breeze or less mosquitos.

[view from where I woke up]

The ride in the dark was amazing! To the left was the park with fireflies scattered throughout the trees, to the right was the river and fog. After a bit a train rode next to us, offering one of those timeless feelings. It was one of those magical times where I was reminded of what true beauty there can be in the world.  We found a stopping place off of the side of the road a couple of hours in, and hiding our bikes in the trees slept very comfortably until sunrise when we took off for home.  We ate some wild blackberries and mulberries along the trail and snapped pictures of other plants we will look up later.

Upon arriving home we were told that Zac, Tuara, and Sabastein had gathered 18 eggs the day before, so of course we devoured some and fell asleep. My body feels fantastic after that trip now that the saddle-sore feeling has faded. We have decided that next time we won't bring the trailer and we will bring the tent--strapped to a bike.  It was definitely a beautiful trail that I would love to bike again sometime.

There's nothing like nature to help me fall back in love with my life when I'm feeling burnt.