NYC

I made it to NYC with no problems. Picked up my very pissed off friend Dharma (the cat) along the way. Still need an electrics person before NH or I will have to get over my chicken shitedness and finish the wiring myself.

Ima Chickenshit

I got the deep cycle batteries connected together and I think I understand where to connect the cables to the Battery Isolator (prevents you from depleting the batteries that Start the Bus when working off a battery bank) ... BUT, I'm chicken to hook up the alternator to the isolator. Screwing it up could fry everything...

I'll be looking for a RV electrics mechanic between Austin & New Hampshire .. or anyone with experience with this type of electrical hook up. If that's you or your friend; get in touch.

3 Deep W/ Signage

I got 3 giant deep cycle marine batteries in the bus now, to power equipment. Tommorow I'll connect them up. The signage for the front/back & sides have been ordered and are being sent to me InRoute to New Hampshire.

I Burned Vegetables Today!

The bus has been running great since the new fuel pump.. But NOT At ALL on Vegetable Oil.

When the last fuel pump blew up the mechanics and I agreed to just by pass the veggie fuel lines so skinnychef and I could get to New Orleans on time. I neglected to film or eyeball the fuel selection valve hosing before they dismantled it.

So, I thought I might have hosed the diesel in and the common out .. backwards; when I hosed it after installing the new fuel pump. I called GreaseCar to determine if the bus would run properly on diesel if they were hosed backwards.. they said it would.

Today I flipped the hoses for diesel in and the common out on the valve and
THE VEGGIE SYSTEM RAN PERFECTLY. Problems. Solved. Damnit!

The most important lesson I've learned in the last couple months of bio/diesel mechanic school is to eliminate the simplest possibilities first.

Not so Fast There Slick

The heat issue is NOT the problem with the running the bus on veggie oil. The fuel lines have been insulated and the veggie temp on the relatively short test drive yesterday was quickly up to 160. The bus responded no differently than before... about a minute after switching to veg the engine had slowed to the point of threatening to stop. Switching back to diesel is an almost instant fix.

This NOT
a pump problem,
a heat problem,
a filter problem...

I drained some rather dark (glycerin looking shit) out of the bottom of my veggie filter yesterday...? I suppose my veg line is clogged or there a layer of unburnable stuff in there... but the filter housing was full of great looking Veggie Oil/BioDiesel blend.

Sooo, I've still got about 90 gallons of fuel in my tank that i can't seem to use...

Up an Running

I'm back in Austin, playing catch up.
The FASS pump is working great now. My friend's @ NOBI fixed it. Gordon and I had the pump sharing a relay with some other shit and it needed a dedicated relay and a secondary power source to work properly.

It runs great now; except I'm not getting enough heat to run on veg now that it's colder out and the new pump required adding about 5 feet of fuel line right before it hits the engine. I was only been able to run veg for a minute or 2 at a time on my way from NOLA to Austin. I watched them install a Veg Therm inline fuel heater on another guys bus 2 days ago. If insulating the 5 additional feet of exposed fuel line doesn't keep the temperature up; then I'll probably need one of them too.

Back in NOLA

I risked it on the old pump to drive back to New Orleans. I'm parked on the door step of New Orleans Bio Diesel Initiative until they've got time to reroute the fuel lines and add an additional filter an fuel selector switch. And, yeah, I'll have yet another editing project on my plate when I finally do get back to Austin, NOBI.

My 500 dollar Fuel Pump Doesn't Suck

... But it's suppose to. There in lies the rub.

Sorry about yesterdays vague cry for help.. I'm pretty much at my wits end with the bus, because it has cost me so much time and money in the last 2 months that it is now threatening to derail the project. I cannot handle another break down without breaking down myself as was demonstrated on Sunday when I thought everything was working great and headed off down the road to Austin... I got a whole 1/4 mile before slowing to a stop. When I tried to start it back up it wouldn't.. because I was freaking out so much that I'd left it in Drive instead of putting it in neutral. (it only starts in neutral).. Gordon came out with the Bio Liberty tractor to tow me off the road (that's when I realized it was still in drive).

The FASS pump installed made the bus top out at 25mph. Fuel starvation. This pump is built specifically for WVO, Bio Diesel and of course diesel yet they designed it to Push more than pull (suck) even though Most Veggie conversions are configured to suck the fuel through the filters instead of push it through. ANYway, since the crappy 100 dollar pumps I've blown up along the way were able to suck it through (for a limited time); the FASS pump was expected to suck at least as well only last considerably longer. That line of thinking was far too rational for reality. I replaced the fuel filters to solved the problem (wasted money). Then we thought it was the fuel lines being too weak to handle the pressure of this monster pump and replaced them (wasted money). I was about to put the damn thing up for sale and in my anger .. reconnected the (truly piece of shit) fuel pump that brought me to Slidell .. Guess what? Everything worked great. I was back up to my normal 57mph in 1 minute flat. But this one won't pull veggie and is 45psi too low even for diesel; which makes it too scary to leave Slidell on.

So what does this mean? I think it means we have to redo the FASS pump to push through the filters which means adding another 3 port valve and small screen filter prior to the pump.. mo money, mo time, mo uncertainty... At this point I think I would have been better off just paying for fucking diesel.

Thanks to those who called. I got a mechanic to "look" at it and gave me things to try which eliminated some of the variables leading to reconnecting the old pump just see if the bus was fucked or not. He'll help with remodeling the conversion later this week...

~~~
disclosure: the pump itself was not 500, the pump, the wasted filters and wasted hose was well over 500... another week of my life... priceless.

I Need a Fucking Diesel Machanic NOW!

seriously.

call me
310-430-4405

My New Cartoon Bus

Rain delays postponed painting until yesterday. The bus is painted now. It kinda looks like a cartoon with the paper and tape still on it. As with everything the paint job took twice as long... the untaping will take twice as long and the fuel pump installation is about a week behind and will hopefully happen today. ~full size photo

Game On!

Today I'm Thankful for for resin and a small window of rainless opportunity.

It's been raining for the last 2 days and is suppose to rain over the weekend as well; SO The Bus Will be Painted TODAY.

Still have to reHose the fuel pump and wire it up before I can leave Slidell.

Almost There...

The new fuel pump is getting a custom mounting welded for it cause it's HUGE & heavy. It should be getting installed tomorrow.

I sprayed the bumpers navy blue and we'll be painting the rest off white on Wednesday.

With any luck, I'll be giving Thanks while driving ... (call me crazy) ... back to Texas. I'll be gearing up for the New Hampshire primary from there and back in the NE before New Years.

Slow Progress

The fuel pump arrived today. I think I've got someone to install it on Friday. Buffing the bus & preliminary taping & priming are complete. I ran short on money to buy paint and rent the sprayer but that's OK because it might be getting donated now. The Bio Liberty biodiesel plant in now under construction and filming has begun for a video regarding the project.

I'm catching up on work and editing part 2 of the NOmadjik Journey.

Upgrades in Progress

Today I'm ordering the macDaddy of veggie specific fuel pumps. It turns out that the 2nd pump I blew was not high enough pressure capacity for the engine load even though it had the same part number... idunno... but that's probably why it busted wide open after about 6 hours on the road. Also, the NEW Beaumont fuel pump is also not strong enough; the mechanic said it was 30psi, I need 50-80psi. So it's a good thing I STOPPED driving in Slidell. When the new one comes in I'll leave the 30psi mounted so I can rehose the system and get off the road if the new one blows. But if the new one (about $500) blows I think I be retiring the vegetables for a while.
Gordon took some Bus scrubbing photos.

Here's the rest of'um

click the slide show to download stills
We're taping the trim today after we move his RV to the septic system of the house they recently tore down... then we can crap like civilized people again. :)

Buffing the Veggie Slayer

Slidell, LA ~ Scrubbing and buffing every inch of the bus is almost complete. Tomorrow I'll do the roof and begin taping up the windows and trim. Hopefully we'll be painting the bus on Friday. I've begun editing the post Burning Man bus experience video. I'm looking into a new heavy duty fuel pump (that won't break on veggie oil) and other veggie modifications necessary to travel in COLD climates. ie.. Iowa and New Hampshire in January.

Waiting for Godot

Gordon and I rode into the lower 9th ward where he's been clearing lots to save displaced residents from being fined a 100 bucks a day for not knocking down their weeds... We went there 2 bloack from where the leeve breached to watch a play... in the street.. performed by the Classic Theatre of Harlem.. they set up about 500 seats in bleachers. A thousand or more showed up for the FREE theatre and Gumbo probably 80% white and 50% yuppie. Much like the government relief, Godot never came. It was a culturally significant event, no doubt, but it was also quite possibly the call to arms for gentrifying the 'hood. Many joke about handin' them white folks a hammer when they walked in an puttin' em to work. For many it was their first visit to the lower 9.. it was dark, so they didn't have to see anything "bad", cops lined the streets so they felt safe and after all, it's Becket..

Camping

I made it to Slidell. I've got extremely spoty cell phone coverage at the campsite. My buddy Gordon is orchestrating the construction of a bio diesel processing plant & solar farm that will eventually be selling at cost fuel to grass roots relief organizations.

They just tore done the house he's been staying in, so he's in an RV, we're still cooking and craping outdoors though (not in the same place). We got wifi and electric. I plan to once again catch on work and then we're going to paint the bus and rehose the fuel pump... maybe I'll get another one to keep in my pocket...

Get the Skinny on the road trip to NOLA.

Over Pass Texas

The bus has 2 brand new batteries thanks to DG & BMcG. The old batteries were testing as Bad/Weak/Replace; when fully charged. so we thought that might be the "alarm" issue. Also, since the "alarm: would not repeat it's performance for the guy who could fix it... I've been instructed to disconnect the battery if it happens again. Problem Solved?

The Skinny Chef and I headed off to New Orleans for the O27 weekend.

We broke down again on the way, in Beaumont, TX. The New fuel pump bought in Junction had cracked wide open ...

Getting AAA to tow it again only took an hour and a half of arguing instead of 4. However, at 4am, after 2 hours of trying to fix it and an hour and a half of arguing; they said they couldn't get it towed until 9am. Since we were precariously perched on an off ramp over pass with semi's whizzing past a foot away as the bus bounced and swayed a foot from the rail and 40 feet up... they also suggested that I call the cops and they could get it towed quicker and then I could petition AAA for reimbursement... we waited until 9am.

The tow guy showed up about 9am and said they had just called him 20 minutes ago. They had told me at 7:30 am that the truck would be there in 45 minutes. He also said the real reason nobody wants to tow me isn't because of the bus but because the tow companies have as much trouble getting AAA to pay them as I do getting them to agree to honor my card.

So he towed us to his "buddies" place. They found the cracked fuel pump and replaced it but we decided to bypassed the veggie system completely (for the time being) because I was running on veggie when it blew.

I'd spent almost all available funds on veggie oil and diesel when we left Austin. So she payed the repair bill 200 bucks. I scrapped enough together to diesel us into New Orleans and sent her home yesterday with a check she can cash tomorrow...

Solo, bus in New Orleans, I need to get 40 more miles down the road to Slidell to get the bus painted but I don't have enough $ or diesel to get there without risking "running low" again; UNTIL LATER TODAY.

Look for a NO27 video on MBN.

How Do You Turn Off The Alarm?

I went in to settle up with the repair shop yesterday. After the pleasant surprise of a smaller than expected bill; the guy say's .. "oh yeah, and the oil change guys couldn't figure out how to turn off your alarm and had to disconnect the batteries."

"I don't have an alarm"

"Well, when they started it up the horn started honking and all the lights came on and they couldn't get it to stop..."

"That's part of the problem..."

"oh... you sure you don't have an alarm?"

"It didn't come with one.. and I sure didn't put one in..."

... so the bus ain't done yet.

This "alarm" type behavior seemingly happens at random. It did not happen at the previous day working on it. We started it up on the lot after the discussion and.. repeatedly no alarm. They'll be looking at it Monday, seems like a short, but the mechanic said that the horn COULD NOT do that without an alarm device...

RV Classism, Shysters & Experts

I found a lovely International truck repair place to take the Bus, unfortunately their tow company didn't accept AAA. So I called the AAA # and they said they'd have someone out to get it in an hour or so. ... "this is easy" ...

Then came the tow company, questions, stalling, questions and finally they sent someone to determine what kind of truck they'd need. The first guy who came out to check if my bus was an RV; illegally entered the bus in my absence, rummaged around a bit and reported back that it was "unlivable" and that it was a "semi-truck" even though when he left he had agreed that it was an RV and they'd be back with a bigger truck. 10 minutes later, his tow company called, claiming to be AAA, denied the tow and asked if they should send someone over to tow me on MY Dime.

After the ensuing 4 hour argument with numerous REAL AAA representatives from multiple states, I was able to convince them that since the bus is TITLED as an RV; that some asshole redneck fuckwad's personal opinion of my RV was irrelevant. They signed off on the tow and said they'd send someone.

Minutes later the Shyster tow company called, again claiming to be AAA and wanted to know if they should send the driver and how would i like to pay... they got an ear full.

Eventually Jeff from Ohio showed up. Good Guy from Good Guys towing. he'd driven an hour to get to me (minutes from downtown Austin) because no one else would accept the tow. He says that's Normal, that most of his tows are RVs and/or buses because no one else wants them.

I spent today at the truck repair place. I was afraid that they would try to shuffle me outa there when they found out about the veggie oil.. but they didn't bat an eyelid. My savior Fernando took some interest in the workings of it and was satisfied that veggie was not the problem at hand.

The short answer... there was still a bunch of debris in the fuel lines (from running out? from running crappy oil?) and it had blocked the fuel from reaching the engine. Being an expert INTERNATIONAL mechanic he was able to immediately point out yet another fuel filter that no one else had know about. It had large chunks of black .. stuff all over it. Then we pressurized the fuel tank opened up the fuel line and shot diesel out like a garden hose for a while. hooked it back up and ..Ta da!! it started right up. They're going to do the oil change tomorrow. :)

24 Hours to Move the Bus

...OR BE IMPOUNDED.
I vandal stuck an orange sticker on my bus, claiming to be the police, threatening to impound the bus if not moved by 9:30 am tomorrow.

I'm on a mission...

Bus? What Bus?

I've been ignoring the bus completely. Working for $ to fix it, editing for Lloyd & Josh and enjoying a bit of unexpected "normalcy".

Once caught up, I will seek out a School Bus mechanic from the bus yard and get back on the road. Thanks to a few more donations I will be getting A FEW new batteries when the fixin' gets under way. I'm still looking forward to the 27th in New Orleans... hope I can make it.

Tried to move the Bus today

Today I tried to move the bus into my friends driveway to get it off the street so that the mailman would deliver her mail again.... It started, died, started honking and flashing even with the key off.. and won't start again.

Of course now the battery's dead again.. the interior lights and horn would not stop until the it was completely dead. ... looks like I'm stuck here for awhile, too. It's not nearly as traumatic as being stuck on the side of the road; but it is becoming far too frustrating... I just worked off the advance i got to get it fixed in Junction. I'm currently broke but fed. I don't even want to look at the damn bus... until I've made enough money to get it fixed and be broke again, again. You're lucky this isn't an audio blog. The neighbors weren't so lucky.

Anyone with a suggestion as to what the fuck happened; I'd love to hear it.

Austin, TX

Due to the hospitality of a SkinnyChef; I'm able to relax a bit and catch up on work and my backlog of editing projects. I also need to, once again, reorganize the bus. It seems that each time I get the bus lookin' good and feeling livable... disaster strikes. The running out of diesel episode was no different.

Little Mexico: Junction, Texas

Wednesday morning I awoke sitting in the back parking lot of Grand Dad's (small) Truck Stop. There was a pavilion and trees and the area was used like a community park for the 30 or so small, low income dwellings encircling the area. People passing by on their daily routines smiled & waved, some were curious and I retold the story of the day before many times. Each time when I got to the part about calling Joe.. they all said "owww, that musta cost a pretty penny". Joe had a rep. They all said he new his shit, but tended to charge out the ass and create some extra work along the way. I got off easy because he knew I didn't have any more money. Many of these people had seen me on the on ramp. They had secretly been rooting for me. (to get it running) They were thankful, as I was, that Henry had brought me over.

After I redid everything I had previously done to the bus, looking for mistakes... and cause I didn't really know what else to do. I decided it was time to try starting it. I'd been waiting because I was no longer able to recharge the batteries myself; I'd run out of gas for the generator. ...

I turned the key and ... nothing happened. nothing. no sound of any kind. the batteries were dead. The search for charged batteries found me telling yesterdays story many more times. I approached a 70's ish white farmer type with support the troops stickers all over his truck.. "united we stand".. flag hat wearin'.. I was still incognito with my freak flag tucked under the baseball hat that JEB gave me in Nawlins. I got a quick, "sorry can't help ya". The station staff suggested Gonzalo Auto across the street. I took the walk, told the story and Gonzalo helped me drag my batteries over to his shop and set them on the Professional battery charger for the afternoon and tested my battery charger's capacity... Nill, worthless, waste of gas in the generator .. the batteries were completely drained. I got to hang around with Gonzalo for awhile, waiting for the batteries to charge. He thought I might be a Military Man because of the boots & camo's and hidden hair. I assured him I wasn't and we stepped across the threshold of chit chat to real conversation. By the time the batteries were charged we had found much in common and I confessed that I had a dreadlock mohawk under my hat. He smiled acceptingly and I put the batteries back in the bus.

Now, with fresh batteries in the bus, I knew I was about to pull outa there. I quickly rechecked and filled every bus fluid I could find and turned the key. It tried. It tried a gain. It started for a second if I used the ether in the air filter (which you're not "suppose" to do) but it wouldn't run without it. ... I needed a professional opinion. I couldn't run the batteries down again trying the same thing over and over like a crazy person. Then the 70'sish patriot I'd talked to earlier pulled up and handed me 5 bucks for a cold drink and pulled away.

Business hours had come an gone so there was no "help" to get until Thursday morning. I started to relax a bit. I had food and water in the bus so I used the 5 bucks bucks for the cheapest cigs they had and a fountain drink. Puffin' on the stoop of the bus while informing my friend in Austin that I would be at least another day late and waiting for my advance money to appear in my account, a neighborhood lady began walking toward the bus holding a plastic bag in 2 hands.

"Would you like a plate of food? It's not much; just some mac an cheese and some stew." I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by the communities kindness.

As the sun went down the local kids came out (no place else to "hang out"). Everyone knew everyone and by the end of evening I knew them too. I'd already heard of many of these people from those I'd spoken to earlier in the day.

As I laid down to sleep grinning at the kindness I had been shown that day... the woman who had brought me the plate of food earlier began a multi hour screaming fest that involved kicking her kids out of the house...

Thursday morning I replaced all the fuel filters and met a couple more Little Mexico diesel mechanics. I worked with Juan for about 3 hours in the afternoon heat; joking and laughing, finding our common ground... and fixing my pinche engine. It was really nice. I paid him 10 bucks over his asking price ($160), filled up with diesel, sent word to Austin and pulled away. As I approached the on ramp, the bus died. ... I screamed NO at the top of my lungs and when the shock wore off... turned the key; it started, I revved it for several minutes... and then drove off AWAY from the sunset.

~~~
Little Mexico proved a few much needed things to me. That there were good people in Bumfuck Texas, the country might still have some redeeming qualities worth "saving" and that my plans for the bus will really work. I must return to Little Mexico some day; after the "media" part of the bus is up an running. This community is a perfect place to pull out a screen and a projector and show movies in the park. These people don't have internet. They are the missing demographic in much of our organizing efforts and are thirsty, receptive and ambitious. A few days of mobile documentary screenings, internet lessons, fun and expanding their horizons would be a very rewarding way to bring people together. I'm sure there are thousands of similar communities out there and can't wait to find them.
Thanks Henry.

On Ramp, Texas

DO NOT, ever, run low on diesel fuel.

8:30 pm Monday, I made it into a gas station in a remote section of Texas, put enough in to get me to Austin and drove about 200 yards onto the on ramp to the 10 east... and the bus died.

I decided it would be best to replace my over throw the governmenet t-shirt with the more rugged appearing "Hike or Die" t-shirt, tuck the dreadlock mohawk under a baseball hat and replace my sandals with combat boots.

I must have been running on the fuel IN the lines; which allowed an air pocket to form between the Old fuel and the New fuel. In the process of trying to start it again I fried my fuel pump. So said the mobile diesel mechanic that the VERY republican looking Police Officer who stopped the next morning, referred me to said.

So, after giving Joe the Mechanic $120 for driving 9 miles and looking at it for a 1/2 hour. I walked the 2 miles to the parts store and got another fuel pump ($100) and replaced it myself... it still didn't start. I tried bleeding the fuel lines of air to no avail. All the while charging my batteries with my new gas generator and my battery charger while parked about 2 feet off the road.

About midnight Tuesday after spending a 1/2 hour or more standing up over the engine on my front tire, screaming and cussing everything and everybody at the top of my lungs; I was about to give up for the night when a tow truck arrived. I donned my hat and prepared to be force towed by the cops.. BUT .. It was Henry an older Hispanic man who offered to tow me to a friendly gas station with lots of room the next exit east. He repeatedly said I'd be safer there... which made me think that maybe I wouldn't be. When I informed him that I didn't have any money left... he didn't care. Said it was on his way home and that if he didn't tow me NOW, the cops would be calling him in the morning to Force Tow me since I been there so long. I was a little worried (he could take me anywhere) but recognized that he was most likely right about my fate if he didn't... and so I agreed and let Henry take me for a ride.

~~~
In 27 hours on the on ramp 2 people stopped. the cop and Henry... I was passed by other "hippie school buses" which really pissed me off. I was reminded of my road trip across Canada a couple years ago when I broke down 3 times before the van died. Each time I was immediately assisted by other travelers... broke, ripped off, with no idea what to do to fix it... I cursed my country many times this day and felt a fool for wanting to "save" it.

Rest Area, Texas

I left T or C running on a 75% veggie 25% meat oil blend.... that's all there was... it worked. However I couldn't trickle enough of it into my tank IN 3 HOURS to make it to Austin.

I've ran out of veggie oil and am now waiting for money to come through so I can buy some diesel. Should be out of here by 7 tonight. I'm trying to use the day in the rest area to catch up on some internet work and maybe some editing. Conspiracy Theorists will say that I "let it happen", that I wanted to get stuck here... they might be right, I have a lot of work to do and it's hard to get these things done when you're on a visit, fix the pump, get oil, fix the bus, visit, fix the pump, get oil.... kinda schedule. I should be in Austin this late evening.

Fuck Harbor Freight

The oil intake pump that has been redesigned and/or fixed several times on this trip has crapped out on me for the last time AND the Rotary Hand Pump I ALSO got from Harbor Freight DIDN"T WORK AT ALL, not even a drop... so Fuck Harbor Freight. Everything in there is made in China anyway; even the US Flags.

I'm still in T or C, hoping to be able to get the oil we found 2 days ago and leave today. Mikey was so inspired by the veggie bus that he bought a Mercedes to convert yesterday. I'll drop him off to pick it up on the way east.

T or C

I watched the sunrise from the edge of Gila National Forest last night and made it to Truth or Consequences, NM this morning. Spent the day soaking in the hot springs and fixing a couple little things on the bus w/ Wendy & Mikey @ Green Acre Hot Springs. They are renovating a former RV Park using eco/recycled materials. Tomorrow I'm picking up some prearranged Mexican Oil with my new rotary hand pump as back up to the inconsistent electric pump/filter set up and beginning the next leg of the journey.

I must soon find time to.. make some money, edit campaign spots for Josh, edit hep c spots for Lloyd, get that oil change, lay the carpet Clay gave me in LA

Phoenix

I still need that oil change and now REALLY need more veggie oil. It seems that RV service places have insane waiting lists and usually come with a "so that's your RV, huh?" which is better than I got when I drove a van; then it was "so Where's your RV?" I'm stepping up in the world. :)

I had 2 photo shoots in LA; one in Venice and one downtown. You can see some quickly selected .. "selects" here.

Malibu

I've been off the grid in Malibu for about a week. Currently upgrading the Bus interior with the help of SYA Consulting and preparing to head east. I need veggie oil and an oil change before I leave LA. Next lay over in Pheonix. Heads up to the L Burners

Welcome to Whasup G?

Hi. I'm Gianni Lazuli... aka FluxRostrum. I live and work from a vegetable oil powered school bus. Although most of my time is spent shooting and editing video, this blog will be more or less a dailey update of Whasup in short text form.

If you're interested in where I am Right Now and How Things Are Going on the Road; then subscribe to this feed. It will be daily-ish but almost always really short.. cause I don't enjoy spending time writing very much.

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