I'll be the first to admit that I've been lurking in some threads concerning WVO and I haven't run as much as a quart of crisco through my diesel. With winter fast approaching, and the short commute I have, I'll probably do biodiesel if I do anything. Anyway, following my elegant breaking of my radiator neck, and replacing my radiator with a new aftermarket one, I got to thinking about the radiator construction. Here's my idea.....it looks pretty easy to take an old radiator and some parts from another and have a nice heat exchanger right in the top of the tank. I know it's been done using the lower tank with trans cooler when the car has a manual, but I'm thinking of cars like mine, an SD with an automatic that needs the trans cooler for the trans of course. With a little bit of modification to mounting of the shroud, overflow tube, oil cooler and vibration isolator that holds the radiator top, maybe this would be useful to someone. I took 3 tank ends off in less than 1/2 hour and I think that with some RTV and a little patience you would have a nice setup. BTW, I closed the hood with this in place and snaked my arm up so I could pass my hand across the top of the larger tank - it's OK, and will fit. Yeah, I know it's a bit warped, but if there is anywhere where warped is appreciated...............

Attached Thumbnails

         

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Looks Great!
You could make a lot of freinds making those...
I'm sure you have seen this forum, awesome folks....
(but just in case)
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x
the SVO page of many links is just fantastic.

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

Real interesting idea.......surprised nobody thought of that before.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Are you talking about replacing the top of your radiator with a bottom section, basically having two bottoms? One for trans cooling and one for WVO heating?

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1987 300TDT
1981 VW MKI Caddy 1.6 diesel, waiting on engine swap
1983 D-50 Power Ram 4x4 "Mitsubishi" 2.3 turbo diesel
assorted gas powered crap and motorcycles

RIP: 1984 300TDT, 1982 300TDT, 1984 190D 2.2, 1992 300D 2.5, 1987 300TDT, 1982 Maxima LD28, 1983 Maxima LD28, Isuzu C223 P'ups X3, 1983 Holiday Rambler 6.2 Banks turbo diesel, 1984 Winnebago LeSharo 2.1 TD, 1985 Allegro 6.5

Only problem I can see is that the period when you really need to heat the WVO is when the engine is cold, therefore no coolant flowing through the radiator yet. That's why most WVO kits and homebrew designs use electric heaters, or they tap into coolant flow from the engine block.

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'81 300TD turbo <<sold 12/05 to another diesel nut

yes, that's right.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

you're right about that. That's why the last 2 pictures are really just meant to feature the nice little heat exchanger that's inside the bottom of the radiator. Rather than making a heat exchanger (which is at least some work, I've designed and/or made several), perhaps these would work well..The outside could be wrapped in electrical heat tape and insulated. Or exhaust gases could be ducted through the ID of the heatv exchanger and be controlled with a heat riser type mechanism. This might be a great use for the EGR system. Think about it, an EGR valve is provided variable vacuum to allow exhaust gases to pass through and heat up the WVO tube. Once desired temperature is reached, the EGR could be modulated to maintain desired temperature.

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.