Macau

Macau is such an unique place, and as a special administrative region of China it seems even more "special" than Hong Kong. Even though Portuguese now is rarely spoken, the colonial past is still a strong presence. What does surprise me is the scarcity of diesel-powered cars, mostly because when Portugal was still the sovereign power it used to favor diesel cars more than their petrol-powered counterparts. Well, since it's basically an island, would actually make a lot of sense to have most of its fleet running on downsized diesel engines using biodiesel to be made out of some oily seaweed or out of halophyte plants such as the Salicornia genus.

Been in a trawler fishing boat with a Rootes-Lister TS3 engine

I was aknowledged about the existence of the Rootes TS3 engine with its distinctive opposed-piston, horizontal cylinders layout, just never had a chance to see one still operational. Though some old Commer trucks could still be found in Uruguay about 15 years ago, most of the ones originally fitted with a TS3 had received an engine swap and were using Mercedes-Benz OM352 engines. But at the moment it's the least important, what really matters is how efficient and comparatively compact this engine is. Quite amazing that 2-stroke Diesel became unpopular in trucks and buses while they're still successful for marine applications. Biodiesel and vegetable-based lubricant oils could overcome the high hydrocarbon emissions issue.

Searching for the best engine to repower a full-size Chevy pick-up or SUV

Many of us love the comfort and style of an American ride. Their fuel consumption, on the other hand, is unpleasant to say the least. Replacing the petrol-guzzling V8 with a Diesel engine sounds like the right way to go. But which would be the engine of choice? Is it worth to surrender the automatic for a manual transmission that accompanies most of the Diesel engines on the market?

Old-school inline-sixes like Nissan's TD42 and Toyota's 1HZ/1HD might seem the best for those who look for more smoothness than a 4-cylinder would be able to provide, plus they were also available with automatic transmissions. Somebody could claim that even the Isuzu 4JA1 has been available with automatic transmission for the Crosswind, but really, that engine would barely move an Astro van that is not a full-size at all.

If one would be willing to shift gears on their own in a Silverado, Tahoe or Suburban, looking at engines from trucks with a 7-ton GVWR or greater is the way to go as it would be likely to retain a repectable tow rating. Anything from Isuzu NPR to Mitsubishi Canter, Nissan AtlasCabstar and certain versions of the Toyota Dyna/Hino Dutro/Hino 300 and Nissan/UD Condor. As used truck imports are still allowed, if one not willing to get rid of the comfort provided by the automatic transmission can be lucky enough to get it out of a JDM truck.

Shifting gears manually doesn't bother me at all, so my engine recommendation would be Isuzu 4HF1 or 4HG1.

LPG: supplement or replacement?

One of the most controversial fuels, yet highly popular among taxi drivers, is LPG. Once in a while there are plans to convert jeepneys and other public service vehicles from Diesel to LPG, but those plans still don't catch up. The increased weight and the space requirements for the fitment of a gaseous fuel system are still the main concerns, but there are other aspects to keep in mind. While an ordinary Diesel engine with mechanical injection is likely to last nearly forever, also requiring fewer replacement parts on the long run, those petrol engines converted to LPG are going to require spark plugs and ignition coils to be replaced once in a while, not to get into the matter of the higher sensibility of a spark-ignition engine to adverse environmental conditions such as the floods and tropical storms. Okay, more up-to-date electronically-controlled Diesel engines have their flaws too, but they can still retain some of the adaptability to alternative fuels ranging from ethanol to biodiesel and going through waste frying oil that can be blended with animal fats too.

LPG is not exactly a safe fuel, not just because it can displace oxygen while switching from the liquid phase to vapour but due to the lower safety standards of LPG reservoirs compared to the ones used in vehicles fueled by CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) which can be released in a safer way in case of crash or during a fire with a lower risk of explosion. On another hand, finding a suitable replacement for LPG to be used with those precarious systems is actually harder than switching from fossil Natural Gas to biomethane (landfill gas, sewage gas, swamp gas, among other popular names). Why should we ever look at LPG as the last word in gaseous fuels disconsidering the complexity and impracticality of Hydrogen?

At its favour, gaseous fuels actually can be used as a supplement to enhance the combustion process in a Diesel engine. Be it either Natural Gas or LPG, these fuels absorb heat when a small amount is fumigated into the inlet stream of the engine as a supplemental injection, therefore expanding and displacing oxygen as much as an EGR valve does when it dumps exhaust gases back into the inlet stream. On the other hand, the gaseous fuels are not going to dump soot and other impurities back inside the engine as the recirculating exhaust gases do, and since both LPG and methane have shorter carbon chains they increase the flame spread inside the combustion chambers, providing an overall cleaner burn and it goes further by requiring a lower volume of Diesel fuel. This way, it improves the fuel saving of Diesel while the environmental impact is decreased. A petrol engine converted to LPG will require it to start on petrol until it heats up to the operating temperature and then the cooling stream is used to vaporize LPG in order to avoid a freezing of the inlet manifold, unless it uses a forklift carburettor specially designed to operate only with LPG or a liquid-phase direct injection layout similar to the latest Australian Ford Falcon Eco-LPI.

At least for a while, LPG may fare reasonably as a supplement, never as a replacement, to Diesel fuel.

more 1-cyl engines to come

Chinese copies of the Yanmar horizontal single engines are selling like hot cakes. Now gotta take a bunch of those to Mozambique.

Just finished the installation of a horizontal single engine in a Mitsubishi Lancer

It may seem crazy at first, but not that bad at all while driving. Now that everything fits, it's time to mock-up the turbocharging setup to make it fully roadworthy.

Just coming back from a week in China

Bringing 10 new horizontal single cylinder engines along. Half of them are 18hp and the other ones 22hp, suitable to retrofits into multicabs to replace the 2-stroke 550cc petrol engines.

Horizontal single-cylinder engines are there to stay

We can eventually get rid of the unpleasant looks of the kuliglig, but its essence might last longer. Retrofits of the same good old horizontal single-cylinder engine type used in the kuliglig can be performed in old cars with longitudinal engines, regardless of FWD or RWD. Chinese copies of Yanmar TF/TS or CY engines are cheap and plentiful, so why not to give'em a chance?

Why not to give vegetable oils a chance?

Cheaper to produce and requiring fewer industrial processing than biodiesel, vegetable oils are a great option to enhance the living standards in rural communities and to provide a cleaner fuel for urban transportation. Instead of relying on the economic, political and social pressure of the OPEC mafia, why not to develop an indigenous source of fuels suitable to the most distinct regional realities? And vegetable oils also perform well on older engines, actually better than regular diesel oil.