Bob,

I have a WVO conversion, 2 years old and love it. My car is a 83 300tdt (wagon).

I have a Lovecraftbiofuels system that was upgraded to the new permanent filter and had an an additional heater added (2 heaters)

I buy my wvo from a group in Austin TX (I live in San Antonio)that collects, filters and centrifuges for water extraction. My fuel bill was 122.00 last month commuting 60 miles daily.

I know there are many opinions on the wvo conversion, and I respect everyone's opinions. My personal experience has been positive, the "mazola benz" is a zippy and fun car to drive.

I clean out the filter monthly and run a tank of diesel or biodiesel (hard to find here in south texas) every month as recommended by other wvo drivers to tidy up the sludge at the bottom of the tank.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll love your car what ever you decide to fuel it with.

Wagongirl

Just a few quick thoughts about B100 vs. WVO.
- I haven't attempted to make B100, but a neighbor of mine has, and he even sold it for a while until he blew up his factory: burnt to the ground. Not only is he not making it anymore because of security risks, but because he says he can't make BD of the same quality as the commercially produced one. He is a local distributor now. Price: $3.40/gallon.

- Most commercial BD is made of virgin oil, so there are no ecological or political advantages really. They are ruining entire islands in the South Pacific to grow oil palms, destroying thousands of acres of rain forests and displacing populations. Sounds no better than dino oil wars, especially once it takes off in scale. Because of the destruction of rain forests, the theoretical carbon neutrality of BD is also a moot point.

- A famous MB mechanic here who is too expensive for me to go to most of the time (dealership prices), but the number one resource in the area, mixes WVO and D2 (50/50) in his 1987 300D in the summer without any modifications. Not my way to go. In fact, I was shocked. When I expressed my level of shock about this, he says: These engines are so indestructible, even if what I am doing cost the engine some of its lifespan, it doesn't matter because the whole car itself does not have even 50% of the lifespan of the engine. Interesting perspective from someone who won't even use thermostats that don't have the dealership stamp on them because he says all the other ones are crap. He also garages the car and doesn't drive it from Dec to April because he won't let any salt near it, so not exactly the attitude of someone who doesn't care about an old beater.

- I have two tank kits. Very simple, no gimmicks. I only drive long distance, so there is always a few miles on B20 at the end. I have an excellent source of WVO, no water, hardly used, no salt or sugar in their. I let it settle for 3 months approx.. Almost nothing settles out, but whatever settles out will be thrown away. Filtering is easy. Nothing clogs. I have more than 50K miles on WVO on one of my cars and 4 years. 40K miles and 3 years on the other. If anything, they run better than ever.

- Running B100 without modifications: my cars don't like it, despite all comments here to the effect that it's perfect for their engines. They blow white smoke until they are warm. This is in the summer with temps of 70F and above. With temperatures below 60F, it's much worse. The 93 300D seems to handle it better because it has the stock fuel heater.

- For some reason (not sure exactly why), Elsbett, the foremost producer of WVO kits and engine modifications, does not warranty their kit and/or modifications if the engine has been run on B100 before. (???)

__________________
1974 240D, 125K mi, B100 now, SOLD
1980 300TD, 115K mi, 4-speed stick, roll-up windows, greasecar with two tank conversion (daily driver)
1985 300D, 220K miles, greasecar with two tank conversion, SOLD
1993 300D 2.5turbo, 158K miles, green/tan, B20-B50

Yup, and it can happen with D2 as well. Given the pitiful general quality of D2 in this country (somewhat improved now with Ultra-Low-Sulfur), I don't trust what comes out of those pumps. But what can you do....

__________________
1974 240D, 125K mi, B100 now, SOLD
1980 300TD, 115K mi, 4-speed stick, roll-up windows, greasecar with two tank conversion (daily driver)
1985 300D, 220K miles, greasecar with two tank conversion, SOLD
1993 300D 2.5turbo, 158K miles, green/tan, B20-B50

Bob_98- Take the car to an alignment shop and see what they think. If the place is reputable, they'll let you know if the rust is terminal/unsafe for driving.

__________________
1983 300SD
Rusty, Loud and Proud

diesel,

good idea. im actually planning to drop it off at mb stars, a place that was mentioned here on the forum as a good mb shop.

Another set of questions for you all:

Rust treatment- looks like i'm gonna buy some naval jelly and work on the rust issue. Or POR15. i gotta do some treatment asap.

Undercoating- ive read the rust subforum here, but i've actually found better advice on the 'net. One thing i didn't find any info on is the rubbery undercoating material that's applied to the underside of our cars. And the reason is...i dont know what the name of this stuff is! does anyone have a name for it? I'm sure 3M makes it

Jacking up the front of the vehicle- the driver's side rubber mount for the jackstand is disintegrated. if i can't put the jack stand there, where do you guys recommend putting it?

Suspension- i definitely do not have the money to do all the bushings that need to be replaced as well as all the parts that need to be bought all at once. all of the shocks do not have any firmness left (i can push down on all 4 corners somewhat easily) and there is groaning/creaking from the back. i know this is subjective, but if you were to repair the front or the back first, which would you fix first and why?

in addition, there is significant tire wear on the inside. what would be the cause of this? phil gave me his opinion, but my notes from that conversaiton are buried under a mass of paper on my desk.

thanks,
bob

When I have to get under a rusted out parts car, I use a piece of wood between the jack and the car. A nice two foot long piece of 2X10 works well. And I try to put it under as much of the frame as possible.
Just be really careful, make sure it is solid before you get under it, or you may be staying under there longer than you wanted to.
I do brakes first, then the front suspension, in a car that I may be driving.
It's a safety thing for me, gotta be able to stop before you hit them, and if you dont have the time to stop in, you gotta swerve around them.

My first guess is alignment. Take it to a good alignment shop, they will usually tell you what needs replacing in the suspension if you ask.

__________________

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

I roll the front tires up on 2 2x6's nailed together with a 45 deg angle miterd in so its easier to roll up. With that xtra clearance, you can then safely jack behind oil pan on cross member in middle. Then lower onto big jack stands, leave floor jack in place as added measure. I always put a masking tape sticker on windshield that says "wheel blocks" so I dont forget and lower car without the 2x6's under front tires. Else it will hit oil pan when lowering. ask me why I do that step...

oh yeah, dont raise car with hood vertical in 8' garage. ask me how I know that too

__________________
Paul
Benz-less
I need an SDL !

124 front tires will wear at the shoulders. Might be a strut vs UCA thing. The best thing you can do is rotate frequently.

Sixto
87 300D

I'd say you should check out this forum on ideas and questions about vegetable oil.

__________________
1992 Mercedes 190D 2.5 turbo 5sp manual. EGT+boost gauges. Boost controller set to ~14.5 psi. 1 1/4 turns on full load adjustment. LPG injection. Next in the list is water injection.

hey guys,

since the first shop i visited was cincy on the information i needed, wanting a second opinion, i called around a few shops in my local area b/c mb stars was completely booked, so i found one in my town that deals only w/ mercedes, porsche, and audis. the guy sounded cool and hip to my project, so off i went.

so he lifted my car and we did a very thorough look around. as i mentioned earlier, the rust is definitely an issue. the driver's side rocker panel is gone and theres even a little hole under the floor pan which exposes the underside of the carpet i dont know why, but i found that mildly amusing. maybe i can do the flintstones thing w/ a toe. anyways, it has also spread upwards a little but not that much farther up. however as shown above in my last post, the shock tower has rust and the rust is starting to creep around the weld. of course, he recommends that hte rust be taken care of first, esp near the shock tower. thus, that is action item #1. i'm gonna rip out the underside to see how far it spread and then talk w/ him again from that point. also, he said that auto dismantlers can cut out whole portions of what you tell them to, and then you can have a body shop weld it on. since its underneath, i'm not really too concerned about looks anyways. anyone done this sort of thing? advice is greatly appreciated. the other alternative is to POR15 what is salvageable.

the other thing he mentioned that was not so good was the rusted bolts on some of the suspension parts. he recommended that if a good number of those won't come off, then i might consider buying the entire rear end. never thought about that, but it might make sense. gotta run the numbers. what's your thoughts on this?

on the other hand, he gave my engine a 8 out of 10. says the engine runs well, though the trans pump gasket has a small leak. the AC runs fine as does the electrical system. these three reasons he said would make him want to consider keeping it. oh, he says the brakes are 9 out of 10, so that addresses the concern above.

if i didn't state this from the start, i really dont have any plans to make this a forever car. its a project car for me so the thign i'd like to do is to get it to good enough condition and have it driveable for the next 4-5 years.

so if any of you who has had experience w/ rust treatment and cutting out/welding replacement panels, please chime in. i'm still reading a lot on the net for advice/tutorials, but first hand benz knowledge is preferred. also, please chime in on replacing the entire rear end idea.

and i again respectfully request that all wvo/biodiesel talk stop for now. i ain't even there yet! maybe i need to change my thread title!

thanks,
bob

You can't change the title, but you can certainly start other threads for the additional concerns if you can't find the information in a search. Sometimes reincarnating an old thread that is similar is a good choice, since your particular case may not exactly match what you find in a search.

Do you have estimates for the body work? I have to think you can get enough for your car as it sits during this biodiesel frenzy that buying a $5000 rust-free starting point makes financial sense.

Swapping the rear subframe and axles is an easy job for a shop. Rust free rear subframes abound because of the number of 300Es in wrecking yards. I suggest you keep the 2.65 diff but there is a range of diff varieties to suit your driving style.

Sixto
87 300D

sixto,

i dont have an estimate yet because i told the shop owner i needed sometime over the weekend to think about it.

he did say that he could find a rear subframe w/ linkage and install it for around $500. i need to check out for myself how much i could get one for as well. are there certain years that will work with my 87 so i can expand my search beyond 1987 (my year)? sorry, i am not well versed on the years/compatibility yet

bob

Could extend from 86-95 sedans and coupes but I'd stick to 86-88 sedans in teh absense of better information. A reputable recycler like pgauto.com can tell you for sure.

Consider replacing all the bushings before the subframe goes on the car. There goes your budget.

Sixto
87 300D

sixto,

thanks for the website. you've been a great help over the past few weeks

bob