diff --git a/lib/google/api_client.rb b/lib/google/api_client.rb
index 3d2ec21d1..907170caa 100644
--- a/lib/google/api_client.rb
+++ b/lib/google/api_client.rb
@@ -12,16 +12,20 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-require 'google/api_client/version'
-
 module Google #:nodoc:
   ##
   # This class manages communication with a single API.
   class APIClient
+
     def initialize(options={})
       @options = {
         # TODO: What configuration options need to go here?
       }.merge(options)
+      unless @options[:parser]
+        require 'google/api_client/parser/json_parser'
+        # NOTE: Do not rely on this default value, as it may change
+        @options[:parser] = JSONParser.new
+      end
       unless @options[:authentication]
         require 'google/api_client/auth/oauth_1'
         # NOTE: Do not rely on this default value, as it may change
@@ -32,5 +36,13 @@ module Google #:nodoc:
         @options[:transport] = HTTPTransport
       end
     end
+    
+    ##
+    # Returns the parser used by the client.
+    def parser
+      return @options[:parser]
+    end
   end
 end
+
+require 'google/api_client/version'
diff --git a/lib/google/api_client/transport/http_transport.rb b/lib/google/api_client/transport/http_transport.rb
index 270ce52b3..912d8265b 100644
--- a/lib/google/api_client/transport/http_transport.rb
+++ b/lib/google/api_client/transport/http_transport.rb
@@ -12,60 +12,173 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-require 'google/api_client/parser/json_parser'
+require 'net/http'
+require 'net/https'
+require 'addressable/uri'
 
 module Google #:nodoc:
   class APIClient #:nodoc:
-      ##
-      # Factory for HTTP backed client requests.
+
+    ##
+    # Provides a consistent interface by which to make HTTP requests using the
+    # Net::HTTP class.
     class HTTPTransport
-
-      ##
-      # The default transport configuration values.  These may be overridden
-      # simply by passing in the same key to the constructor.
-      DEFAULTS = {
-        :parser => :json_parser
+      ALLOWED_SCHEMES = ["http", "https"]
+      METHOD_MAPPING = {
+        # RFC 2616
+        :options => Net::HTTP::Options,
+        :get => Net::HTTP::Get,
+        :head => Net::HTTP::Head,
+        :post => Net::HTTP::Post,
+        :put => Net::HTTP::Put,
+        :delete => Net::HTTP::Delete,
+        :trace => Net::HTTP::Trace,
+        # Other standards supported by Net::HTTP
+        :copy => Net::HTTP::Copy,
+        :lock => Net::HTTP::Lock,
+        :mkcol => Net::HTTP::Mkcol,
+        :move => Net::HTTP::Move,
+        :propfind => Net::HTTP::Propfind,
+        :proppatch => Net::HTTP::Proppatch,
+        :unlock => Net::HTTP::Unlock
       }
 
       ##
-      # The default implementations of various parsers.  These may be overriden
-      # simply by passing the same key to the constructor.
-      PARSERS = {
-        :json_parser => JSONParser.new
-      }
-
-      ##
-      # Creates a new HTTP request factory.
       #
-      # @param [Hash] options
-      # @return [Google::APIClient::Discovery] The HTTP request factory.
       def initialize(options={})
-        @options = DEFAULTS.clone
-        @options.merge!(options)
+        # A mapping from authorities to Net::HTTP objects.
+        @connection_pool = options[:connection_pool] || {}
+        if options[:cert_store]
+          @cert_store = options[:cert_store]
+        else
+          @cert_store = OpenSSL::X509::Store.new
+          @cert_store.set_default_paths
+        end
+      end
+      
+      attr_reader :connection_pool
+      attr_reader :cert_store
 
-        # first check if user passed a parser then fallback on appropriate default
-        @parser = @options[@options[:parser]] || PARSERS[@options[:parser]]
-        unless @parser
-          raise ArgumentError,
-            'Invalid :parser configuration.'
+      def build_request(method, uri, options={})
+        # No type-checking here, but OK because we check against a whitelist
+        method = method.to_s.downcase.to_sym
+        uri = Addressable::URI.parse(uri).normalize
+        if !METHOD_MAPPING.keys.include?(method)
+          raise ArgumentError, "Unsupported HTTP method: #{method}"
+        end
+        headers = {
+          "Accept" => "application/json;q=1.0, */*;q=0.5"
+        }.merge(options[:headers] || {})
+
+        # TODO(bobaman) More stuff here to handle optional parameters like
+        # form data.
+
+        body = options[:body] || ""
+        if body != ""
+          entity_body_defaults = {
+            "Content-Length" => body.size.to_s,
+            "Content-Type" => "application/json"
+          }
+          headers = entity_body_defaults.merge(headers)
+        end
+        return [method.to_s.upcase, uri.to_s, headers, [body]]
+      end
+
+      def send_request(request)
+        retried = false
+        begin
+          method, uri, headers, body_wrapper = request
+          body = ""
+          body_wrapper.each do |chunk|
+            body += chunk
+          end
+
+          uri = Addressable::URI.parse(uri).normalize
+          connection = self.connect_to(uri)
+
+          # Translate to Net::HTTP request
+          request_class = METHOD_MAPPING[method.to_s.downcase.to_sym]
+          if !request_class
+            raise ArgumentError,
+              "Unsupported HTTP method: #{method.to_s.downcase.to_sym}"
+          end          
+          net_http_request = request_class.new(uri.request_uri)
+          for key, value in headers
+            net_http_request[key] = value
+          end
+          net_http_request.body = body
+          response = connection.request(net_http_request)
+
+          response_headers = {}
+          # We want the canonical header name.
+          # Note that Net::HTTP is lossy in that it downcases header names and
+          # then capitalizes them afterwards.
+          # This results in less-than-ideal behavior for headers like 'ETag'.
+          # Not much we can do about it.
+          response.canonical_each do |header, value|
+            response_headers[header] = value
+          end
+          # We use the Rack spec to trivially abstract the response format
+          return [response.code.to_i, response_headers, [response.body]]
+        rescue Errno::EPIPE, IOError, EOFError => e
+          # If there's a problem with the connection, finish and restart
+          if !retried && connection.started?
+            retried = true
+            connection.finish
+            connection.start
+            retry
+          else
+            raise e
+          end
         end
       end
 
       ##
-      # Returns configuration of the transport.
+      # Builds a connection to the authority given in the URI using the
+      # appropriate protocol.
       #
-      # @return [Hash] The configuration options.
-      def options
-        return @options
-      end
-
-      ##
-      # Returns the parser used by the transport.
-      #
-      # @return The handle to the parser.
-      def parser
-       return @parser
+      # @param [Addressable::URI, #to_str] uri The URI to connect to.
+      def connect_to(uri)
+        uri = Addressable::URI.parse(uri).normalize
+        if !ALLOWED_SCHEMES.include?(uri.scheme)
+          raise ArgumentError, "Unsupported protocol: #{uri.scheme}"
+        end
+        connection = @connection_pool[uri.site]
+        unless connection
+          connection = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.inferred_port)
+        end
+        retried = false
+        begin
+          if uri.scheme == 'https' && !connection.started?
+            connection.use_ssl = true
+            if connection.respond_to?(:enable_post_connection_check=)
+              # Deals with a security vulnerability
+              connection.enable_post_connection_check = true
+            end
+            connection.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER
+            connection.cert_store = @cert_store
+          end
+          unless connection.started?
+            # Since we allow a connection pool to be passed in, we don't
+            # actually know this connection has been started yet.
+            connection.start
+          end
+        rescue Errno::EPIPE, IOError, EOFError => e
+          # If there's a problem with the connection, finish and restart
+          if !retried && connection.started?
+            retried = true
+            connection.finish
+            connection.start
+            retry
+          else
+            raise e
+          end
+        end
+        # Keep a reference to the connection around
+        @connection_pool[uri.site] = connection
+        return connection
       end
+      protected :connect_to
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/google/api_client/version.rb b/lib/google/api_client/version.rb
index 6b93ae8be..9efddc15c 100644
--- a/lib/google/api_client/version.rb
+++ b/lib/google/api_client/version.rb
@@ -12,17 +12,14 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# Used to prevent the class/module from being loaded more than once
-unless defined? Google::APIClient::VERSION
-  module Google #:nodoc:
-    class APIClient #:nodoc:
-      module VERSION #:nodoc:
-        MAJOR = 0
-        MINOR = 1
-        TINY  = 0
+module Google #:nodoc:
+  class APIClient #:nodoc:
+    module VERSION #:nodoc:
+      MAJOR = 0
+      MINOR = 1
+      TINY  = 0
 
-        STRING = [MAJOR, MINOR, TINY].join('.')
-      end
+      STRING = [MAJOR, MINOR, TINY].join('.')
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_slow_spec.rb b/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_slow_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d48c2ae4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_slow_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+# Copyright 2010 Google Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'net/http'
+require 'net/https'
+require 'google/api_client/transport/http_transport'
+
+class AlwaysFail
+  def initialize(*args)
+    raise IOError, "This would never work."
+  end
+end
+
+Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport::METHOD_MAPPING[:fail] = AlwaysFail
+
+describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'in the default configuration' do
+  before do
+    @http = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new
+  end
+
+  it 'should send a GET request' do
+    request = @http.build_request(:get, "http://www.google.com/")
+    response = @http.send_request(request)
+    status, headers, body = response
+    status.should >= 100
+    body.size.should > 0
+    headers.size.should > 0
+  end
+
+  it 'should send a GET request using SSL' do
+    request = @http.build_request(:get, "https://www.google.com/")
+    response = @http.send_request(request)
+    status, headers, body = response
+    status.should >= 100
+    body.size.should > 0
+    headers.size.should > 0
+  end
+
+  it 'should send a POST request' do
+    request = @http.build_request(
+      :post, "http://www.google.com/", :body => "A Body."
+    )
+    response = @http.send_request(request)
+    status, headers, body = response
+    status.should >= 100
+    body.size.should > 0
+    headers.size.should > 0
+  end
+
+  it 'should send a PUT request' do
+    request = @http.build_request(
+      :put, "http://www.google.com/", :body => "A Body."
+    )
+    response = @http.send_request(request)
+    status, headers, body = response
+    status.should >= 100
+    body.size.should > 0
+    headers.size.should > 0
+  end
+
+  it 'should send a DELETE request' do
+    request = @http.build_request(:delete, "http://www.google.com/")
+    response = @http.send_request(request)
+    status, headers, body = response
+    status.should >= 100
+    body.size.should > 0
+    headers.size.should > 0
+  end
+
+  it 'should fail to send a FAIL request' do
+    (lambda do
+      request = @http.build_request(:fail, "http://www.google.com/")
+      response = @http.send_request(request)
+    end).should raise_error(IOError)
+  end
+
+  it 'should fail to send a BOGUS request' do
+    (lambda do
+      response = @http.send_request(
+        ["BOGUS", "http://www.google.com/", {}, [""]]
+      )
+    end).should raise_error(ArgumentError)
+  end
+
+  it 'should fail to connect to a non-addressable URI' do
+    (lambda do
+      request = @http.build_request(:get, "bogus://www.google.com/")
+      response = @http.send_request(request)
+    end).should raise_error(ArgumentError)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_spec.rb b/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_spec.rb
index 699d1c885..e970e8196 100644
--- a/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/google/api_client/transport/http_transport_spec.rb
@@ -14,50 +14,89 @@
 
 require 'spec_helper'
 
+require 'net/http'
+require 'net/https'
 require 'google/api_client/transport/http_transport'
-require 'google/api_client/parser/json_parser'
 
-describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'with default configuration' do
+def assemble_body_string(body)
+  body_string = ""
+  body.each do |chunk|
+    body_string += chunk
+  end
+  return body_string
+end
+
+describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'in the default configuration' do
   before do
-    @transport = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new
+    @http = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new
   end
 
-  it 'should use the default json parser' do
-    @transport.parser.should be_instance_of Google::APIClient::JSONParser
+  it 'should build a valid GET request' do
+    method, uri, headers, body =
+      @http.build_request(:get, "http://www.example.com/")
+    body_string = assemble_body_string(body)
+    method.should == "GET"
+    uri.should === "http://www.example.com/"
+    headers.keys.should_not include("Content-Length")
+    body_string.should == ""
+  end
+
+  it 'should build a valid POST request' do
+    method, uri, headers, body = @http.build_request(
+      :post, "http://www.example.com/", :body => "A body."
+    )
+    body_string = assemble_body_string(body)
+    method.should == "POST"
+    uri.should === "http://www.example.com/"
+    headers["Content-Length"].should == "7"
+    body_string.should == "A body."
+  end
+
+  it 'should build a valid PUT request' do
+    method, uri, headers, body = @http.build_request(
+      :put, "http://www.example.com/", :body => "A body."
+    )
+    body_string = assemble_body_string(body)
+    method.should == "PUT"
+    uri.should === "http://www.example.com/"
+    headers["Content-Length"].should == "7"
+    body_string.should == "A body."
+  end
+
+  it 'should build a valid DELETE request' do
+    method, uri, headers, body =
+      @http.build_request(:delete, "http://www.example.com/")
+    body_string = assemble_body_string(body)
+    method.should == "DELETE"
+    uri.should === "http://www.example.com/"
+    headers.keys.should_not include("Content-Length")
+    body_string.should == ""
+  end
+
+  it 'should not build a BOGUS request' do
+    (lambda do
+      @http.build_request(:bogus, "http://www.example.com/")
+    end).should raise_error(ArgumentError)
   end
 end
 
-describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'with custom pluggable parser' do
+describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport,
+    'with a certificate store and connection pool' do
   before do
-    class FakeJsonParser
-    end
-
-    @transport = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new(:json_parser => FakeJsonParser.new)
-  end
-
-  it 'should use the custom parser' do
-    @transport.parser.should be_instance_of FakeJsonParser
-  end
-end
-
-describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'with new parser type' do
-  before do
-    class FakeNewParser
-    end
-
-    @transport = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new(
-      :parser => :new_parser,
-      :new_parser => FakeNewParser.new
+    @http = Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new(
+      :cert_store => OpenSSL::X509::Store.new,
+      :connection_pool => {
+        "http://www.example.com" => Net::HTTP.new("www.example.com", 80)
+      }
     )
   end
 
-  it 'should use new parser type' do
-    @transport.parser.should be_instance_of FakeNewParser
+  it 'should have the correct certificate store' do
+    # TODO(bobaman) Write a real test
+    @http.cert_store.should_not == nil
   end
-end
 
-describe Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport, 'with illegal parser config' do
-  it 'should raise ArgumentError' do
-    lambda { Google::APIClient::HTTPTransport.new(:parser => :fakeclass) }.should raise_exception(ArgumentError)
+  it 'should have the correct connection pool' do
+    @http.connection_pool.keys.should include("http://www.example.com")
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/google/api_client_spec.rb b/spec/google/api_client_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c7e29881
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/google/api_client_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Copyright 2010 Google Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'google/api_client'
+require 'google/api_client/version'
+require 'google/api_client/parser/json_parser'
+require 'google/api_client/auth/oauth_1'
+require 'google/api_client/transport/http_transport'
+
+
+describe Google::APIClient, 'with default configuration' do
+  before do
+    @client = Google::APIClient.new
+  end
+
+  it 'should make its version number available' do
+    ::Google::APIClient::VERSION::STRING.should be_instance_of(String)
+  end
+
+  it 'should use the default JSON parser' do
+    @client.parser.should be_instance_of(Google::APIClient::JSONParser)
+  end
+end
+
+describe Google::APIClient, 'with custom pluggable parser' do
+  before do
+    class FakeJsonParser
+    end
+
+    @client = Google::APIClient.new(:parser => FakeJsonParser.new)
+  end
+
+  it 'should use the custom parser' do
+    @client.parser.should be_instance_of(FakeJsonParser)
+  end
+end