ROOPOD WILL COMPETE! SUPPORT TEAM ROOPOD AS WE COMPETE IN THIS EVENT!!! Please click on this link to a secure facebook/Paypal donation page where you can use your credit/debit card to contribute. ? WATKINS GLEN, NY – Drivers of alternate-fueled vehicles, hybrids, and traditional gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles will have two unique opportunities to test their mettle at the 2011 Green Grand Prix on Friday, April 15. Organizers are cranking up the challenges and excitement this year by taking the Green Grand Prix to the famed road course of Watkins Glen International. “The Green Grand Prix Committee is proud to be partnering with WGI for this exciting event geared towards efficiency and sustainability. It’s a showcase of technology that points towards a cleaner environment,” said Gillespie, Chairman of the Green Grand Prix Committee of the IMRRC. The Green Grand Prix, now in its seventh year, promotes the growth of clean and sustainable innovation in the Northeast. “As the chairperson of the Green Initiative Committee for our parent company, International Speedway Corporation, I am thrilled that we are hosting this great event,” said Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen International. “The Glen has made a strong commitment to being green with initiatives such as our extensive ...

Here are some pictures of the begining of the canopy...The hinges and gas struts are designed to clear everything that needed to be cleared when it opens, and hold it there...I might have to get the next weaker gas struts as these ones seem like they have more push then I really wanted (it pops open with too much force) it will be alot heavier with all the glass and lexan, but still I think that the are too "pushy"...It was Very Scary cutting the tubes with a hacksaw! [nggallery id=14]

Check out my nephew's race!

Hey everybody! the roopod is street legal check out the pics! check out the video [nggallery id=13]

[nggallery id=12] I am just a couple of days away from trying to get the 'pod inspected...just need a rear fender and a few reflectors...but we may have tried it on the road, and we may have gone 48.2 MPH! (slight downhill) more soon, this is just a teaser...there are so many back-posts to put in...very soon...roo

Here was the next item on the list towards roadworthiness...just a couple of simple levers right? not quite, I have three days into the design and construction of this unit.   The hardest thing to figure out was the Push-pull cable arrangement of the two shift cables...how can you get two cables in tension to push and pull on the same lever, and since the lever on the gearbox is pointing to the rear when it is in forward gear, how do you get the shifter to have the reverse action...that is probably a run on!  Anyway, it is possible, it does work and I will try to explain it...It is all about the cable "housing" if the cable is in tension and pulling, then the little tube around the cable (housing) must be pushing! and if you push on the housing, then you are pulling on the cable, so at the shifter end, on one cable, I anchor the end of the cable and push on the housing, and the other end I anchor the end of the housing  and pull the lever with the cable anchored on it: this moves  the lever on the gearbox forward when I pull back on the shift ...

Hi everyone, well it is official ROOPOD will actually drive.  I have been working like a demon on getting everything ready to drive and we are here! I will try to list some of my most critical observations:  Suspension is working great, ride height is a little low for the rough roads around here, and my driveway but I will fix that with some slightly taller shocks in the back. Brakes are doing what they should (as far as I can tell in the yard!) I may need to adjust the balance bar a bit to keep the back from locking up first...the real test will have to wait till I can get some speed up on the road. Steering seems just perfect, I seem to have got the steering geometry just right, the wheel feels lite in the hands, but not sloppy at all, center return is good and there is no play or stiction anywhere= fancy rack payed off! again we  need high speed testing. Drive-train: Engine runs fine, is just about as vibratory as I thought it would be, and maybe a little less loud seems good about not belching much black smoke when under heavy acceleration. CVT seems to be just right, enguages ...

Hi everybody, here finally is progress! YES! I have had some time to work on roopod and a lot is happening very fast! I have included a bunch of pictures of the systems that I have worked on: they include BRAKES, THROTTLE, COOLING, and the begining of electrical look for captions on the pictures for more details...also incuded is the first time that roopod rolled down a hill, and stpped at the bottom with brakes! Susan at the controls, and the first show of the year in Amherst! enjoy the pictures...more to come soon I plan to be driving around the yard by the end of the week! [nggallery id=8]

Come see the ROOPOD 0n the common in Amherst...and I promise that there is new stuff done...

Here are some more pictures of the 'pod in it's current state taken by my friend Ford Bailey it's amazing what a real photographer with a real camera can do! enjoy... [nggallery id=6]

I showed roopod at altwheels fleet day Monday and was a bit lazy with my camera (read no pictures) but I found this one on cnet...this is in front of Staples World Headquarters it was a fun event and I got to talk a lot of tech talk with all the big truck bigwigs! almost everyone was in a suit!  Bill Buchholz was there with Dirago (background in the picture) and it was fun hanging out with him,  probably the most interesting bit was a talk with the guy from Valence batteries (www.valence.com) about what it would take if I wanted to make roopod have an electric poweplant option I was surprised that he predicted that I would need only 71 kg  (156lb) of batteries to have a 100 mile range I would get rid of 150 lb of diesel engine, get that back with the batteries, and then maybe another 100lb for the elec motor etc...not near as bad as I thought...they would have to give me those batteries, though....probably about $20,000.00 worth!!!...guess that's about it for altwheels!  thanks for looking...plus here is some press they got...not much to do with roopod...but interesting none the less... http://www.necn.com/Boston/SciTech/2009/10/05/Cherry-pickers-go-from-seeing/1254775077.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10367683-54.html http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2009/10/06/alternative_energy_vehicles_on_exhibit/ http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2060103328/Alternative-fuel-fleets-showcased-at-Staples http://www.boston.com/cars/newsandreviews/overdrive/2009/10/altwheels_2009_staples_electric_truck.html

Attend altwheels festival!  roopod will be there... Come Join Us at Staples World Headquarters Fifth Annual AltWheels Fleet Day —  Monday,  October 5th, 2009  - 8:30a to 3:30p  —