Ron Wrote:

"Let me know about those cheap kits for converting automobiles. I've got an ancient Celica (1979) that has a beat to hell body, but the engine is -- at 180,000 miles -- just past its break-in period (if you're familiar with that engine, you know I ain't joshin').

I called one place that sells propane conversion stuff, and they said that it was essentially impossible to do it "cheaply or easily" on anything newer than '77 or '78 due to recent regulations.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), January 01, 2000."

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Hey Ron(and anyone else interested)! Yeah, I'm familiar with Toyota engines from that period. My dad sold a 1979 Corolla with 300K+ miles on it back in the late 1980s that had never been rebuilt; ran like a top when he sold it to the very happy customer. Great cars!

You can give the good folks at Askins Propane a call.

Askins Propane 202 Commerce Robert Lee, Texas, 76945 (915) 453-2060

The lady who runs the propane side of the place(the other half is the refrigerator repair shop) has converted all of her trucks to propane herself. Really nice, and ready to show you what she can do with a wrench on an internal combustion engine. I dunno where you are, but if this isn't convenient I'm sure she could recommend someone in your area. Propane folks tend to know one another.

You can also call The Alternative Fuels Division of the Texas Railroad Commission(512-463-7305); they have a directory of all the propane dealers and related services in Texas. AFRED will have a listing nationally, as will The National Propane Gas Association(http://www.npga.org/). At the RRC in the AFD, ask for Scott. He can help steer you through the bureaucracy. Good Luck!

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Claudia wrote in response to my Propane query:

"Don,

Didn't think that YOU would be asking about gasoline. As I recall, your Travel Air never needed any.

Claudia

n CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), January 01, 2000."

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Claudia,

I never asked about gasoline; I asked about propane. In fact, I never mentioned that I needed gasoline for my Travel Air or for anything else for that matter; you didn't read my post very carefully, did you?

"The question about gasoline has been raised, and it is an excellent one. The price at the pump will be a great barometer over the coming weeks and months as to how we are all faring with the Y2K bug.

There are already price quotes on gasoline; anyone checked propane?"

Please show me where I ask any questions about gasoline in that post(or the rest of it, for that matter; the above is an excerpt); I'd really like to see it, since I didn't write it!

I'm not picking on you, Claudia, but I do want to use your post as an excellent example for what we are experiencing now. This is exactly the reason why so many folks are declaring "Victory Over The Y2K Bug" so quickly! They aren't bothering to read the scant information that they have completely. Add to this the fact that they're not even waiting for the coming bulk of it to have a better, more complete story in front of them so they can make more educated conclusions on the situation, and you truly have a sorry state of affairs. This is why I worry about humanity over the next several years. Reality is right in front of and all around them, and they just don't perceive it.

Praying for Doomers, Pollys, and everyone in between,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

Thanks, Don! I will see what I can find out from them.

PS: 300K miles is no surprise. My old neighbor sold one with 350,000 miles, no major engine work, ran like a top.

I only wish they'd made the body out of stainless steel or aluminum. It's a great car. Small sportscar form factor *outside*, incredible room *inside* (tons of leg and elbow room in front, plus you can use it like a station wagon when hauling stuff from the lumber store, etc.), handles like a racecar -- 100 MPH + sustained in the rain, while the cars in the right lane looked like they were standing still; car felt like it was glued to the road -- another time, I hit a stretch of black ice at about 65-70 MPH at night, and lost all traction -- and I mean *all* traction. To recover, I stepped on the clutch, held the wheel with my fingertips, and basically let the car aim itself into the wind. The side to side swaying (not really fishtailing) gradually subsided. My passenger was white as a ghost, but he should have known better -- he sold me the car! (he sold it at about 120,000 miles because he thought it was all used up [g]) Amazing handling, especially when you consider that it *doesn't* have an independent rear suspension (it has sort of a trailing-A with a traditional axle/differential).

I don't think I'll ever be able to part with the thing. I keep thinking that some day I'll restore it and keep it pretty (and it ain't pretty now [g]). Yeah, I know it's not a "classic", but it's the kind of car that no one will ever make again.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), January 02, 2000.

Dear Don,

My apologies. I didn't realize this was really your name. I thought it was a handle, since it is the same as one of the major characters in Richard Bach's ILLUSIONS. That character flies around in an old Travel Air plane, which, because he is a highly enlightened master, never seems to require fuel.

Fuel, btw is what I meant to type, not propane, but it was late. The second after I hit that submit button, I knew I'd made the mistake.

Again, my apologies. My post was not a serious one. It was supposed to be a light-hearted inside joke to someone I thought was a fan of Illusions, as I am. I know the difference between gasoline and propane, as I just paid the bill to fill up my tanks, AND put aside 20 extra gallons in containers)

Claudia

-- CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), January 02, 2000.

Ack! Not propane now, gasoline. I didn't meant to write "gasoline." Bottom line, I know what you meant, and now you know that I knew what you meant.

-- CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), January 02, 2000.