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[wombat]

I never had an inspiration for an artcar before, but this is an idea I could work with:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archiemcphee/7397696318/
Change those to pugs or wombats and that would be my kind of thing.

[pmcd9]

Ah yes, the Squirly Whirly artcar by Tre Taylor out of San Fransisco. She was up in Seattle this past weekend for the Seattle Artcar Blowout. Tre writes for Artcar Nation, by the way. She most recently wrote this story.

If you are getting artcar inspirations you should glue some pug/wombat artifiacts (I know you have a large collection) onto that pretty beetle of yours and drive it up to Baltimore and see how much fun it is to drive an artcar.  Even better, if you want to show your creative side, make some pug or wombat figures like those Achewood ones you made for me and glue that on. Awesome!

If you're not ready to commit to driving an artcar you can attach them with tape or magnets. Once you see how much fun it is you might want to have a permanent artcar.

Oh, by the way, I haven't mentioned this before, but I am strongly considering making an Achewood Artcar. There's already an XKCD artcar.

[side_show]

The inner city art program run by an old friend of mine has just unveiled its artcar created by Olaf Mooij. It's interesting because it's an audio as well as visual thing.  I'm looking forward to seeing it on the road.

[pmcd9]

That's a pretty cool car, but the video won't play for me.

[jay-ell]

Okay, I have some technical questions for Paul about Dragonfire. I am playing a zombie-themed role-playing campaign with Pedro and two other grownups and two eleven-year-olds, and my character is a seventeen-year-old girl genius with no weaponry skills but a knack for fixing things and making homemade explosives.

I did some research into the chemistry involved in blowing things up in your kitchen, and I thought it might be useful to modify our team's imaginary van (affectionately dubbed The Mystery Machine) to include a tailpipe flamethrower. No prizes for guessing where I got that idea. So my question is -- how does it work? I know you need to wire a switch to a spark plug to ignite the gas, but what are you actually burning when you light the flames?

In other news, I am probably on some kind of FBI watchlist now, because my Google search history strongly resembles that of an anarcho-terrorist now.

[pmcd9]

I don't know exactly how it works, but those tailpipe flame throwers are burning gasoline that has passed through the engine un-ignited.

That's not how Dragonfire works of course. I am burning propane in a closed system which is completely separate from the cars power plant.  Well that's not entirely true, the two systems do share a battery.

How much information do you need to trick out your imaginary van?

[jay-ell]

Hm. What would I need to reroute some of the fuel? I don't need to know exactly how to do it; I can imagine in a general way how it would work, and that's close enough. But I do need a relatively realistic chance of being able to procure the necessary materials from my current surroundings, which include a hardware store and a farm. So, maybe some rubber tubing to run the gas line and some kind of fuel injection valve to keep the flames from travelling up to the gas tank? (I know next to nothing about cars, excuse my ignorance if that sounds ridiculous.)

Which would be easier to build -- a fuel-injected tailpipe, flamethrower or a front-mounted, propane-fueled model similar to the ones you have on Dragonfire, but facing forward (the better to torch zombies with)?

[pmcd9]

They sell a kit that kills one of your sparkplugs so the gas passes through to the exhaust. That's probably the simplest solution. You could do it without the kit too if you knew what parts to buy and how to hook it up.

[wombat]

Wait, they sell a kit to make your car shoot fire?

[Arachno-capitalist]

Wait, they sell a kit to make your car shoot fire?

http://www.flamekitz.com/index.html
Evidently it is $90 and requires you to remove your catalytic converter, so there goes any chance of passing inspection. Their installation page suggests covering all wire connections with electrical tape to, you know, prevent unwanted electrical fires.

[AugustWest]

http://www.flamekitz.com/index.html
Evidently it is $90 and requires you to remove your catalytic converter, so there goes any chance of passing inspection. Their installation page suggests covering all wire connections with electrical tape to, you know, prevent unwanted electrical fires.

Safety first!

[pmcd9]

Catalytic Converters are for pussies.

[jay-ell]

Aaah, the missing piece. I get it now, thanks.

I think this will work. My character might not know exactly how to do it, but she has befriended a non-player character who could help and would certainly have the parts.

Thanks, Paul. Betty Browning is going to be the belle of the ball next Sunday, mark my words.