last pic, #75 was my tool crib, you never have enough of the rite tools . for christmas i asked for a TIG and a cnc machine, think santa can get that in sleigh?

 

Better have some big **** reindeer this year.

 

rotary powered for sure!!!! i called santa back and told him id settle for a drill press , plasma cutter , and a englich wheel, and a free pass to standard companys terminal assortmant wharehouse, it blows me away how expenxive that stuff is when you cant kife it from work.

 

quote:Originally posted by ray green
Neatest of all was the carburator, which had been replaced with an aluminum coffee pot.



Am I reading this right?


Yes, it was a small aluminum coffee pot sitting on top of the VW engine where the carb would normally go. I asked Nathan how this could work and he told me it was a government secret, if I found out I would have to be killed. I've often wondered about it since. I figured Carl would know, since he knows everything about flow. Also I thought he might be interested because to get more weight reduction he removes his dentures and takes off his glasses before going racing.
Ray

 

You sounded dead serious when you posted it

 

waht intake kit did u use for the pipes?
civic?
lol, id like to know cause im gonna make this setup for when i do my motor swap

-greg

 

i assume it was for 2000 civic thats what the doner drives, he was happy to give it to me in the spirit of my lowbuck project, yyeeeesss all part of my sinister plan, hahahahahhahaahhahahahahaahhahah

 

 

got to give credit to guy who donated the intake , hes got aa real subtle black civic 2000 v tec blah blah, but , he bought it new , immediatley stripped ac / power steering , sparco , cage, has 30k on it now, . latest go round was forged pistons stroker crank ,extrude honed head , rods, direct fire conversion , vortech supercharger with water inter cooler , hondata custom ecm. we are still tunin it but it flat flys . yea no wing either. its as unrice as you can get

 

"you sounded dead serious when you posted it"

---Suparslinc

Well I was kidding about the Carl stuff, but I am dead serious about the coffee pot. Realize, I'm relying on a memory that is 30 years old, but Nathan's VW was one of the most unusual vehicles I've ever seen and yes, it did have a coffee pot for a carb. And I did ask him how it worked and he wouldn't tell me. At 18, the world consists mostly of things you don't understand, so I let it go. But after seeing Dankus' carb bonnet made from a Ford power steering reservoir, I got to wondering about Nathan's coffee pot carb again. Carl?

Ray

 

What kinda pot was it? Im assuming it was metal.

 

Northern Lights crossed with Skunk 1

 

chyme!!!!

 

Where would the air filter be at?

 

Ugh, you guys. I left that one open for those comments.

 

Yup Carl, it was aluminum. Damdest thing I ever saw. Somehow it sucked in all that gas and air, swirled it all around then sent it to the pistons. Nathan probably used coffee filters for the air filter, now that I think about it. Couldn't have weighed more than a pound. Did I mention his stainless exhaust with slits in it?

 

oh carl you should know its just anger management, it should be handed out !

 

Ray, I have no idea. How? sure, make a venturi, a simple feed tube with a restriction (jet) in it. Why? That eludes me. LOL Dankus.

 

That's what I was wondering, if there isn't some simple construction of a "minimalist" carb that would get the basic job done, maybe less efficiently but with the requisite weight reduction, which is what Nathan needed in order to keep his vehicle under 1000 lbs to go on the boats. Although he denied it, I also wondered if the coffee pot was covering up a conventional carb, maybe just serving as the air cleaner.

The exhaust was a stainless canister about the same size as the stock vw muffler, but instead of pipes it had two slits about 6" x 1/4". Basically the car was a dune buggy on a diet, but the use of aircraft materials (back in 1972) certainly was a good idea.

In those days, pot came in two flavors, mexican and jamaican. In Tuscon you could get an "oz" for $10, the jamaican was more expensive and for special occaisions. Nothern lights and Skunk 1 weren't invented yet, being creations of a younger generation, with profit margins rising accordingly.

But those were simpler times, before we had catalytic converters and cars created using photoshop. Cheers to all you junkyard warriors!

Ray

 

I think your suspicions about it just being an airbox and covering a stock carb are correct. The carb on a bug is tiny and light. Again, from a "why" standpoint it doesnt make sense. The stock bug airbox however is a bit weighty IIRC.

 

...Was the pot octagonal?
I think he used the top of an expresso maker. It's a very common Italian pot.

There actually is a conical protrusion cast into the inside of the top half, that if turned upsidedown and modified, could very well work as a venturi.

 

Ray what about EFI.... or is there no chance he had an earlie version he made
what about mechanicle fuel injection?

 

Sterling, no the pot was pretty much a conventional small percolator, round, made of aluminum and installed upside down. Like Carl says, it probably was just a replacement for the air box that covered the normal vw carb and Nathan was pulling my leg a bit. On the other hand, maybe it was a fuel injection system?! After all, the guy was an aircraft engineer. Nathan, you out there? (He would be about 100 now, wouldn't put it past him).

 

Hmmm.
You made me take apart my espresso maker and gave me hopes only to hit me with, "Ehhh. It probly wasn't that afterall."?!
OMG...You DREAM-DASHER!



Welll; How much would you all pay if I can make an espresso pot carb work on a seven?

 

I like the expresso idea, Sterling. The darn things are half carb already, with that thick aluminum and, as you've already noticed, those nice conical protrusions begging to be venturis. Go for it!