Modifying a VW for the postapokalyptic future ....

You know, 2006 is near, the nuclear war with Iran is only a few months ahead.

After that, the Earth will be a desert, radioactive and most parts uninhabitable.

So how can I modify my VW so that I can still use it in the desert world of tomorrow ? You know, some Mad Max "The Road Warrior" - style modifications with spikes and so on.

Reply to
Robin-Louis Clevis
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Just return it to stock height, buy spare parts cars and drive it.

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Reply to
Dennis Wik

First, you need to power it on hydrogen. Our best source for hydrogen is water.. Let's assume they'll be a better way than ancient electrolysis, or the chemical breakdown of propane (still a fosil fuel) to come along in the future. Fuel injection is a must and so will be a large air cleaner in the desert wasteland of the future. Glowplugs in place of sparkplugs might also be needed for longevity. You definately have to modify the oil system for full-flow with a filter.. must..

Next, move to the chassis.. Large tires that reinflate for punctures. Long travel suspension like a baja racer. Full roll cage to defend yourself.

Speaking of defending. You need a gun mount on the top. Some futuristic gun that shots microwaves or something.

Reply to
David Gravereaux

Umm.. he's looking for something near-term. I think sticking with gas and mounting some big guns to fight off ruffians is the answer here.

We're talking nuclear apocalypse here, so he'll probably want a mechanical fuel pump and points so he's not destroyed by EMP.

Reply to
Roger Ivie

Remember, if they're not installed, they will survive EMP. I know this because Tom Cruise said so in War of the Worlds.

Reply to
Michael Cecil

glowplugs!

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Reply to
David Gravereaux

You must be off your meds. Go take your prozac and you'll feel better in the morning.

T> You know, 2006 is near, the nuclear war with Iran is only a few months > ahead.

Reply to
Anthony W

I have a friend (that I haven't seen in 20 years) that is an electrical engineer. I watched "the day after" over at his place and later he was talking about keeping a transistor radio wrapped in aluminum foil in a

72 hour emergency kit. The idea was that after surviving such an event you'd need a radio to keep up with what's going on and the foil would protect the radio from the EMP. Personally, I'd just as soon be at ground zero so I wouldn't have to worry about surviving.

Even in the unlikely event Iran gets a working nuke, the only launch vehicle they have to send it anywhere is a former soviet scud missile. Unless you live less than a 1000 miles from Iran there isn't much to worry about.

Tony

Reply to
Anthony W

Reply to
Karls Vladimir Peña

Water plenty, according to that miserable movie with Kevin Costner ("Water world", I think it was). But with all that water around us, where you gonna drive your bug to?? Rust will also be a problem - wait!! It already is.. :)

Since we only have a few months more to go, I better get rolling on finishing my body off resto, huh? That'll be difficult, now that this bozo's got me scared shitless. As it is, I am typing this laying in the fetal position under my desk, sucking my thumb. Welding is gonna be a beaatch in this position! :)

Apres nous, le deluge - "weld, eat and be merry, for tomorrow some bozo said the world's gonna blow up", loosely translated that is. :)

Thanks for the laugh. Remco

Reply to
Remco

During WWII, the Germans had some very interesting wood-burning cars. Somewhere I have a picture of a VW-like car that has the whole front end built around the stove. (I'll bet it was the only air-cooled car that was warm in the winter.)

Reply to
Etoin Shurdlu

We had those too.

Some big trucks had them as well.

What is less known is that we also had cars and trucks running on sewage gases!!

The supply network was really small however, the only city that had a sewage system large enough to produce enough gases, was in Helsinki. A normal size truck would have two gas bottles stored behind the cabin, and they fed the engine through a carburator of some kind. Much like the wood burning units in some respect.

One pair of gas bottles offered an operating range of about 100km (60 miles) so they never traveled very far. At first the fill-ups were relying on your own bottle which was filled at a fill station, which were few and far between. Then later an exchange bottle system was adopted, and you could swap your empty bottles for a pre-filled pair.

I have not heard comments on what the exhaust gases smelled like. LOL. Sewer fumes... ewwwwh.

Jan

Reply to
Jan Andersson

More on alternative fuel VW's during wartime:

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Jan

Reply to
Jan Andersson

You're right -- my dad was a prisoner in a slave labor/concentration camp and right after the war (allieds were close, guards had run away, camp was unattended), he and his buddy stole one of those German woodburning cars. They loaded the thing up with Dutch prisoners and headed back - It actually got them across in the north somewhere.

it was much better than walking.

Reply to
Remco

Not when Israel just keeps bombing them to pieces. Remember 1981?

Reply to
Michael Cecil

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See if you can find a copy of my article, 'The Doom Buggy,' published in CTM in the 1980's. The subtitle was something like: 'How to build a low-cost, high-mobility rapid response vehicle from available components.'

-Bob Hoover

Reply to
veeduber

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Any chance of anyone letting the rest of us know if this article is found/located??

Thanx. Jørn Berg.

Reply to
P.J. Berg

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