Kaua‘i automotive students handed keys to Jeep

Kaua‘i High School automotive students will have a surprise waiting when they arrive at school Monday.

Davis Oshiro, the school’s automotive instructor, was given the keys to a 2005 diesel Jeep Liberty Friday afternoon by King Auto Center.

“The students have been working on creating a biodiesel car,” Oshiro said. “For the past several months, all they had was the frame and the T-bucket body. They keep asking when the engine is going to come.”

No strangers to creating cars, the Kaua‘i High students embarked on the ambitious project with the help of an Aloha Ike grant coordinated by the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board. In the past, automotive students from all three public high schools have been involved in building electric cars, which have competed at the state level at the Electron Marathon on O‘ahu.

With the increasing interest in biofuels, the students’ focus switched from electric to biodiesel, Oshiro said.

“We have one group working on the frame and another group working on the body,” Oshiro said. “They have come a long way from when the kit arrived. Now, they need the engine and transmission to see where the cutouts need to be made and how big those cutouts need to be.”

Jose Aguayo, King Auto Center sales manager, said the company originally agreed to donate a diesel engine so the students could work on the project. But when Chrysler found out about the students’ plans, they agreed to throw in the whole car.

Although the students’ project needs just the transmission and engine, the teens will be able to use the rest of the car for lessons on suspensions and brakes.

In addition to the King Auto Center donation, Oshiro said an auto repair shop owner has offered the use of his facility if the students needed it for paint work.

Thanks to community support, it appears the students are now ready to kick their project into high gear.