Her name is "Black Betty" ...

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

Introducing Black Betty ...

I drive, and now live in since March, a Black 1999 MT-45 Freightliner Step Van which has a factory dedicated, Compressed Natural Gas, Cummins, 5.9 liter Engine. The drive train is equipped with an automatic four speed Allison transmission. The Step Van body is all aluminum and for quick stopping (the kind that can throw you through the windshield) the Step Van was built with four HUGE disk brakes.

"She" has been known by a variety of names include "The Brick", "The Toaster" as well as "Black Betty". I prefer to call her "Betty" for short. Just like a woman Betty can moody. On a good day she's a super sweet ride and on a bad day ... well.

Betty was originally commissioned as a D.C. swat van.

After only about 12,000 original miles the then current Fleet Mechanic gave up and threw in the towel on Betty and her nearly two dozen or so sisters and brothers. Except for Betty all the others remained intact. Betty however had her two fuel tanks removed and stowed away in her cargo area. Other parts were removed and either lost or salvaged. Betty must have sat in a warehouse for about 10 years along with the entire decommission fleet.

Now moving 10 years into the future ... (the year is 2009)

(more to come on this post, as I have time I will bring the story to the present and what I am planning for modifications as well as looking for advice)

 

[highdesertranger]

com'on you are just teasing us let's see some pics. highdesertranger

 

[RollinWOT]

Ok, now I'm jealous. Get some pics so we can lust over it. Cheers!

 

[rvpopeye]

You already have a theme song.
O-Oh Black Betty , Sham A Lam................

Sounds like a great base for a van dweller !

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

These pictures were taken on the day I first met Betty in person as she sat awaiting her new (soon to be) owner.

Here are a few pictures in no particular order ...

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

And a few more pictures ... again in no particular order.



As you can see one of the two CNG fuel tanks shown looks like a bomb or a torpedo ... haha

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

Even came with all the original paperwork ...



(what I didn't know at the time, nor did I have any previous CNG vehicle mechanical experience ... Is exactly WHY the previous Owner and their Fleet mechanic abandoned and mothballed the entire fleet in some government warehouse ...)

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

These kinds of factory dedicated CNG, all aluminum Step Vans go for about 10k to 15k more than their Diesel cousins ... (coming in new at around 75k to 95k on average)

Can anyone GUESS what the final price was for Betty after seeing the pictures posted and knowing that she had around 12k miles on her at the time that she was found? (the rest of the fleet, all running and drivable, were already sold by the time I got there) ...

 

[Patrick46]

Hmmmmmm........do I really wanna know???

I may end up crying myself to sleep...again!!

 

[johnny b]

Being a lifetime resident inside the beltway, I'd have to guess you got it pretty durn cheap. In the time frame you're referencing I'd say somebody in the DC govt read something about CNG power and fewer emissions, put in an order for the fleet, BEFORE doing any real research, and then----DAAMN, didn't work out like we thought!

And since the only 'capitalist' thoughts in DC are on the streets......some city council bureaucrat mothballed the fleet, let em sit in a warehouse for 10 years before they got sold at a huge loss to the taxpayers.   I'll guess a thousand bucks or less.  Am I Close?

Are you going to leave it as CNG, or put in a diesel or gasoline motor?

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

Being a lifetime resident inside the beltway, I'd have to guess you got it pretty durn cheap. In the time frame you're referencing I'd say somebody in the DC govt read something about CNG power and fewer emissions, put in an order for the fleet, BEFORE doing any real research, and then----DAAMN, didn't work out like we thought!

And since the only 'capitalist' thoughts in DC are on the streets......some city council bureaucrat mothballed the fleet, let em sit in a warehouse for 10 years before they got sold at a huge loss to the taxpayers.   I'll guess a thousand bucks or less.  Am I Close?

Are you going to leave it as CNG, or put in a diesel or gasoline motor?

I had to become a CNG expert (the odometer now stands at 75,553 miles) ...

The interesting thing about CNG (which is about 93% methane in which the methane molecule CH4 has one carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms) is that CNG combustion results in Co2 (Carbon Dioxide, the fizz in your soft drink) and H2o (water of course). The exhaust system is all stainless steel. The engine oil remains the original color until you change it (as no carbon is getting into the oil). And of course it doesn't smoke. (not sure if it ever will ... we will have to see on that over time)

The dealer bought the fleet at about 1,600 to 1,850 each, reselling the running ones at 16k to about 24k to other dealers. The salvage value "IF" you can sell everything (engine, transmission, CNG tanks, Cut up and scrap the aluminum is about 6k to 8k).

 

[johnny b]

Where do you fill the tanks?
Is it viable for cross country travel?

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

Where do you fill the tanks?
Is it viable for cross country travel?

There is a fuel nipple on the side with a gauge that goes from 0 to 10,000 p.s.i.

I can look for a picture of it or take another picture tomorrow (not going outside at the moment as I am horizontal in the stealth mode ... lol).

When full the tank reads 3,600 p.s.i. with each G.G.E. weighing in at 5.660 lbs.

I currently fill at any "Clean Energy" Fuel Station. https://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/

And one of the station finders map ... http://www.cnglngstations.com/

Another option is to go with L.N.G. (Liquified Natural Gas) as the fuel is much denser and you can carry more is a smaller space.

What is liquefied natural gas?

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas in its liquid form. When natural gas is cooled to minus 259 degrees Fahrenheit (-161 degrees Celsius), it becomes a clear, colorless, odorless liquid. LNG is neither corrosive nor toxic.

I have considered building a "fuel trailer" for extended travel. I am fairly sure to travel safely cross country I would need a range of at least 500 miles. Right now I have 22 G.G.E ( gas gallon equivalent ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_gallon_equivalent ) and I get around 10 miles or so per G.G.E.

THIS is what I have always wanted to build ...

"FARM GAS DENNIS" ... he has his own NG well and his own CNG compressor lol

Right now in the field if you owned a natural gas well the going rate to get paid is only about 33 cents per G.G.E.

In many places if you make a contract with an alternate supplier you can buy uncompressed NG for about 50 cents per G.G.E.

So if you subtract all the road taxes and such and compress your own fuel maybe somewhere from 60 cents per G.G.E. to $1.00 per G.G.E. you would pay that would be stable for maybe 50 years at least maybe more.

My alternate idea would be to build a trailer with a compressor like Dennis has along with extra fuel tanks

Only thing is I am not sure how long it would take with the compressor running and hooking in to some uncompressed NG where you don't own or lease the location. (Pardon me ma'am ... would you like to do a work trade for some of that natural gas going into your stove?) LOL

What I haven't done yet in my planned modifications to Betty is to tap into the onboard NG for heating, cooking and possibly refrigeration and air conditioning. There are propane refrigerators that do not use a compressor to cool with. There are other processes that are also heat pumps but I have yet to find any small non compressor air conditioners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_refrigerator

So you see ... solar panels on top combined with N.G. on board might give you the comforts of a "normal" land based residence ...

Last but not least ... fuel cell technology is either here or just around the corner (depending on how you look at it) which also uses ... NATURAL GAS ... so there are a bunch of different options to outfit up ... either here or coming up.

http://fuelcellstore.com/fuel-cell-facts

T.I.M.

 

[Numpty]

Good find

Here in the land down under most of our city public transport buses run on Compressed Natural Gas.

 

[Numpty]

Good find

Here in the land down under most of our city public transport buses run on Compressed Natural Gas.

Oh and the garbage trucks too, shame they can't just run off the Methane from the garbage.
But that might need a flux capacitor.

 

[rvpopeye]

Gee ,T.I.M.
You probably should be careful if parking next to any of us , I think a lot of us want your van..................

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

Gee ,T.I.M.
You probably should be careful if parking next to any of us , I think a lot of us want your van..................

Not going to be able to see me @ night (I just need a daytime cloak now) ... wait ... people mistake me for a UPS delivery all the time and there are tons of those driving around.

 

[rvpopeye]

I kind of thought it looked like UPS ,,,,,,,ooooooooo , paint it brown and that would be MAJOR stealth !

 

[T.he I.nvisible M.an]

I like the black actually ...

The paranoid types think that the "Feds" are watching them (or pulling up and about to raid them).

And I am pretty sure the cops that see me go by aren't sure exactly what the deal is ... (might be one of their own).
How about pulling over a Step Van loaded full of cops on their way to some swat mission or under cover raid. That might not look too good at the daily debriefing lol.

Needless to say, in the past 6 years, not only do I not get pulled over during the day but I haven't had any tickets while driving Betty ... EVER. 

T.I.M.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I kind of thought it looked like UPS ,,,,,,,ooooooooo , paint it brown and that would be MAJOR stealth !

Actually, I'm going to disagree with that.  REAL UPS trucks are always parked at the terminal overnight.  A "UPS" truck that is parked on a street, or in some commercial parking lot overnight is liable to attract police interest, they will probably wonder if the UPS truck was stolen and then abandoned there . . .

Regards
John