I work w/ a guy that has a greasecar system (had it for years now) so, I've been looking pretty hard at they're system. I have read good things about frybrid (save the customer service issues).

I paid $995 for my GC kit, plus another $300 for the Co-pilot (which I recommend). I paid $800 more for a professional install. Total $2100, no problems since November other than not enough heat.

Fuel Cells from summit
 

So i was checking around and remembered summit racing from when i was building my 4x4. They have a 22 gal steel fuel cell, for $125 if i was wanting to use this, all i woud have to do is cut a hole for some sort of heating element (any suggestions) and then weld it back shut right? Seems purdy good to me.

elsbett is the only one I can recommend really. none of the other companies have cars with over 100k miles on them. they are just not around long enough.
every 'kit' on the market will eventually destroy your engine, no matter what.
only elsbett's kit won't.
830 euro delivered. comes with new injectors that you needed anyway:)

My friends, there is no substitute for a Frybrid kit. To mention the Golden Fuel system in the same breath with Frybrid is a laugh.

Frybrid is the soup Nazi. You might not like the service, but the soup is flippin great. I've done 4 conversions, all with Frybrid, none with a problem. 25K on my Suburban, 20k on two 300D's and another 6k on a 3rd 300D. If you are in CO, you must have heat.

I have a question about a Frybrid Kit. IF the air temp is around 30 degrees F then how long do you usually have to wait to flip over to SVO? In the MB 300D??

there is no data with any kit on the US market that goes beyond 75000 miles. most people, even with frybird, eventually get problems because the injectors just aren't designed for wvo, and soybean oil is not good for running in diesels. that's what a lot of people use.
If you check the TDI forum it will tell you that no one will buy your car if it has ever run with WVO. of course, those direct injected diesels die sooner than our indirect injected ones.
Elsbett is the only company that's been out there long enough to be respected. they have made their own engine as well. No other company has done so much research into the subject.
think about it, for a few dollars more you can have the mother of all kits. why bother with something inferior? or something that will give you spaghetti under your hood?

I have close to 75K on veggie on my 90 350 sdl.


I bought the cheapest 'kit' as my first kit and discovered you get what you pay for.

What you also pay for is the research and dev. behind these kits.

You have a very good (forgiving) motor so I would do my own if I were you.

Only key is to have the oil up to temp prior to ip. FPHE!
It is more important to learn the oil filtering (water) than the hardware in your car.
Dirty oil will not work with any kit out there.
Enough heat from oil tank to engine to get the oil there and a fphe for final heat should do it.

You can use coolant and/or electric heat to get the oil to the engine.

Don't waste energy heating your whole tank.



Read read and read here. It's fun and you'll see there are just too many opinions.


Don

I formatted this a bit:
Don, there may be a lot of opionions, but you are bang-on with your advice. All great points... especially about filtration being more important than anything (other than heat) in the car. I've gone over a full year without changing my veg filters. I'd rather have them plug in the garage than in the car. Mrs Notfarnow agrees.


My old 87 Jetta: ~70k kms
My old '96 Regret-a-Jetta: ~120k kms
My suzuki Samurai with VW 1.6td: ~30k kms
My dad's 83 300sd: 60k kms

Another bump for Frybrid. Also want to add, I've never had a customer support problem, and have gone back a couple times to order extra stuff. I don't know if I'm unique, but I wouldn't expect to have problems. I would be prepared to wait though. Frybrid isn't Walmart and lead times for the quality parts are long.

And whatever you put into your car, I recommend that YOU be the one to do it. It's not an exact science, more like a hobby. Things will probably go wrong, maybe on the road... so knowing exactly how your system works is a big benefit. At the very least, help someone convert your car.

The best kit is the one you build yourself, because you can get more for your money without having to pay for someone else's labor. Whatever you do, make sure you have adequate instrumentation to determine how your conversion is performing. You should be getting at the bare minimum 140°F at the IP inlet and 180°F at the injectors. This is sub-par, and you should really be after 165°F at the IP inlet and 220°F at the injectors. Do not assume anything. Take measurements, and trust your data. Also, consider upgrading your injectors to a DN 0 SD 265 nozzle with higher pop-pressure (around 150bar/2200psi) to more completely burn the fuel. As stated before, avoid HIH due to cross-contamination worries. Also, with your instrumentation, make sure you have a method of determining when the FUEL (not the coolant) is hot enough to switch over.

Lastly, as stated previously, water removal is of the UTMOST importance, filtration is a close second. Make sure you have a sound method of getting the water out or you, your wallet, and your injection components will regret it! Either heat it to 212°F+ for extended periods of time, or use some other method (Letting the oil "settle" is simply not good enough).

EDIT: Also, a timing advance of a couple degrees may be beneficial to aid in burning the WVO more efficiently.

So no HIH
 

So your saying to shy away from the Hose in Hose setup? How do i make a Hose on hose?

take one hose and lay it beside another hose. make sure they touch each other.

We professionally install greasecar kits for people. But I would get a frybrid kit or a grease car kit. Over all the grease car kit is the best bang for the buck. You will need a flat plate heat exchanger for your system.

Any kit you get will need to be a two tank system, with 2 3 port metal valves. The greasecar kit uses viton valves. And you want to purchase a kit that has HIH and at least 1 year warranty, and the computer controller is a must, easy install and it takes the place of your coolant gauge, your fuel temp gauge and your fuel gauge. So your looking at saving money on three gauges for a total cost of $300. Plus it will pay for itself faster because it will switch you over to grease sooner.

I own a 87 300sdl with a grease car kit and a flat plate heat exchanger, I had it on my 98 jetta tdi for ever until it was totaled.

If you get the greasecar kit, you might think about going to mcmaster and picking up some metal tubing to replace the pex tubing. It allows your oil to warm up faster and stay hotter longer.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions,

Doesn't greasecar use copper for the in-tank heat exchanger? And greasecar doesn't come with a final heat exchanger right before the IP. VO will polymerize more quickly if its in contact with copper or steel. Aluminum is a better choice.

I'm another frybrid fan. They use aluminum for the fuel lines, valve bodies, and heat exchangers. And they use the hose-in-hose style supply and return lines...which is better for heating the fuel than hose-on-hose. If you're careful with your installation (i.e. don't kink the aluminum fuel line when you're working with it), you'll have no problems.

I think you'll do better going to the infopop, greasecar, or frybrid forums than here.