Our dear David is once again diving into science! He’s derusting the world’s rustiest axle, plucked from a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited, in a trash can using electrolysis. Specifically, he’s immersing the axle in a solution of water and washing soda and using rebar rods connected to a positive battery post (which has a Battery Tender connected to it) to provide the current that will freshen the surface of the rusty housing. It’s a process he’s done before, but this is a whole new level of rust removal.
Mercedes is also fond of car experiments. She told me about one when someone in the Smart community, a fella named Larry Wu, finally, definitively determined the fuel tank capacity of the Smart Fortwo. Fuel tank capacity was a silly and frequently annoying debate, so Larry Wu decided to put an end to the bickering. He dropped the tank, filled it with water, then weighed it. Funny enough, the bickering persists today to prove the car used a 10 gallons tank and not an 8.7-gallon tank.
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And of course, we all love our favorite Russians over at Garage 54, who treat poor Ladas like lab rats and have sacrificed countless cars in the name of serious science. Sometimes they are so focused on if they can, they forget to ask if they should, just like real scientists!
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So what about you? What have you done to your car in the name of furthering the knowledge of mankind?
