Hey guys!

My name is Colin, I'm new here and was sent over from The Rev in regards to my senior project. They told me you guys might be able to help me out more than what I already learned from over there. I already drive a 190E 2.3 8vlv, so I have some MB already at the homestead. Here's what I posted on the Rev:

A few things were brought up at the Rev in terms of what vehicle would be best to do this in (a 190D, 240D, 300D, 300TD were suggestions) so what would you guys suggest?

Another thing was not using a kit and doing it myself, would you guys reccommend that to someone new to the WVO idea? I'm leaning towards the greasecar kit right now just because of simplicity, but I'm open to suggestions.

And because it seemed to be debatable on the Rev, yes I am in high school, and yes this is my HS senior year project.

Thanks guys, I look forward to being part of this forum.

"WVO cars" are (worth) a dime a dozen, anyone with some spare time can slap one together or buy a kit. A more challenging and much more rewarding senior project would be trying to get the EPA to legalize the use of WVO or SVO in on-road vehicles.

That's more like a master's thesis.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

colin,

i think your project is a great idea. i find it very cool that you are doing this. dont mind the negativity from anyone, including people on this site. keep your goals focused and i wish you all the best.

there are a lot of vendors who sell kits. one of the leading pioneers in this field is a guy named dana linscott. http://vegoilconversions.netfirms.com/ while the website still looks amateurish, his advice is not.

of course, im sure you've found www.biodiesel.infopop.cc. that is the gold standard of wvo and biodiesel information. i do like frybrid's info on wvo filtering and systems, though.

^Hey thanks for the info. Yeah I'm not letting the negative flack get to me too much, if the project is going to fail then I'll die trying to make it work. I hadn't heard about those two sites yet, so thanks for bringing them up. I'm new to all of this (obviously) so any constructive input is welcome, thanks ahead of time.

I have been running wvo for about a year now. These Mercedes are great cars, and built like tanks. I hope you enjoy your trip.

My only advice is be prepared. The biggest thing about these cars you need to remember is they are 20'some years old. Just make sure you are mechanically inclined, and have a good idea how to work on them. Take a good tool supply that includes the standard tools, fuel lines, filters, etc. I would probably also drive the car around for a few months to make sure it is stable.

Do you have any kind of route you want to take yet?

__________________
My Primary Driver - '85 300CD - 4-speed conversion, 2.47 rear, lowered, euro headlights, rebuilding (not restoring so much)

Wife's - '08 Saab Sportcombi Aero

Riding a '03 Yamaha Warrior

I designed and built my own biodiesel processor to convert WVO into fuel and then ran tests in a refrigerated trailer in different environmental conditions as well as fuel blends.

where in FL are you..


you might want to consider doing biodiesel since it is a far superior fuel.You are going to have issues getting good WVO.. Most haulers have their sources locked in. I know griffin does... frign jerks. Don't start building until you have your oil sources lined up.

^&^^ It's late here, so I'll post responses/questions later, but Im in Sarasota.

the problem though which he states in his original post, is that he will be driving cross country and processing BD will be next to impossible

The problem will be locating used oil. Someone on here used the term "late night suck and runs", which I thought was a hilarious phrase, but also what some people are doing now. What used to cost a pretty good bit of money to have hauled away is now a free service, or you can even get paid for your old used wvo.

__________________
1996 E300 D
1992 300D
1990 Ford E-350 7.3 Diesel AKA "the Deep Fryer"

What used to cost a pretty good bit of money to have hauled away is now worth money, those "suck and runners" are thieves. Unless you have an agreement with the restaurant owner and its not in a collector's container then it is theft, plain and simple.

Okay, response time!

Right now I just have a general idea of where I wan't to go (see origional post) which is how its going to stay for a while. I have a meeting with my school on the 15th that if all goes well will allow me to take the whole second semester off to make the trip. If that happens, I'll plan on visiting all 48 states. Luckily for me, I have family and friends everywhere that are all about a days worth of driving away from each other. I'll have a more detailed plan after the 15th of where I'm going.

Thats a good idea, and if I wasn't traveling as far as I am then I would probably have gone with biodiesel. But like I said, I can't carry around a chemist plant in the trunk of the car because not only would that be too much hassle, but I'm sure in this day in age that it's probably illegal too. And yes, I'm in Sarasota.

Well here's what I'm thinking... I'm taking a GPS with me, and most GPS's provide restaurant information of your destination or on the road et. Probably about an hour out I'll start making phone calls to whatever fast food or mexican restaurants (heard they have the cleanest, true?) are in the area I'll need to refuel in. If somebody says yes, then great I'll stop in there and take the oil from them. If they all say no, then I try the next town or exit ahead or behind them. Worse comes worse, I can switch over to Diesel until I find a place to give me oil. I'm not in it to make money, so I'll be taking it all for free (unless, of course, it's an offer I can't refuse =]), say thanks, and carry on my way.

Like I said, I would definitely establish an agreement with the owner or whoever is in charge at the time. I'm not a theif, nor do I plan on becoming one. I'm going to go about it in the honest, correct way.

Thanks for your time and advice guys, I really appreciate it!

another big issue now is that haulers are paying the restaurants for the grease. It used to be the other way around!


asking for grease isn't a walk in and recieve type of question, sometimes it takes a few days or weeks to score a good source. Plus you have to get a source that is devoid of water, non hydrogenated, non chunky, no animal fats... It is a hard thing to do. But once you have the oil source its like butta.

You on the other hand, want to do this while you travel... It's not going to be easy.

Years ago, when I was new to all this, a friend and I were caught red-handed grabbing oil from behind a strip mall. The cop got a big kick out of our clothes covered in oil and our mixed response to "is it worth all the trouble?" (my friend said "yes" at the same time I said "we'll see"). He let us go with a "i hope you aren't stealing that stuff"
Nowadays, I am not so sure we would get off so easily.
I have no interest in 'stealing' anything; and I have talked to restaurant owners who were plenty pissed about messes left behind from un-authorized oil collectors.

While I don't like taking the role of alarmist, FI has a good point here. Not worth the potential hassle, not the right thing to do in terms of theft, gives a black-eye to the environmentalists, and put you in the position of facing charges; not only for theft, but also the "crime" of hauling waste oil, for which you are supposed to have a license, and can get a major fine. Food for thought.

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

So wait, are you guys saying that even after I ask the owner for VO that it's theft? I said I wasn't going to take ANY oil unless it was given the OK from whoever is in charge at the time of my arrival, so it wouldn't be theft. Maybe I'm just misreading...

I have heard that they are now starting to charge for it in some places, but how much would you say it costs? If its the same a diesel, then thats just pointless. I would hope that after explaining what my project is that they wouldn't charge me for it, but then again what makes me different from anybody else, right?

But do you think that if I established contact with places for VO well before I left for my trip, would that help? I think I remember hearing that there are filters and pumps that can seperate the water out of it among other things, where can I find those? Does the onboard greasecar filter/pump do that?

Thanks for the help again guys, I appreciate it.