Only if you live in Southern California would be good for single tank.Here in TN the weather can be fickle.Hot one day,and next morning frosty.Most VO damage is from cold starting,so even a small diesel tank will give you protection on starting,and purging.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I went the GreaseCar route only due to cost...by the time I got done w/a similar Frybrid setup it would've co$t about 800.00 more. Livin' in Rochester NY doesn't make the ol' oil flow too well. I added a 26 plate FPHE, displacing my windshield washer resevoir to the passenger side of the car. But it works like a champ and I gained +40 degrees (when it was about 10 degrees outside my oil was 165+) I also opted for the controller...I'm gettin too old to remember things. :-)

Challenges: Getting the *=+#%ing fuel/heater hose placed above the rear axle. No/very little clearance, but they gotta stay out of the way...

Rectangular tank, wanted to keep the spare in it's home and who uses the trunk that much. I also reckoned (unscientific guess) that the weight of the full tank in the wheel well would be better placed nearly over the rear axle. NO traction loss this winter - 4 snow tires help that too!

Only item I added bwyond this was some pipe insulation and insulation around the FPHE to prevent some heat loss.

First winter w/the conversion and haven't had a hitch...well, guess winters not over yet, best not to say that too loudly.

Good Luck!

Hah! I moved the squirts too. Only so far I just moved em to the garage! Lemme know if you plan to swing by BFO.

The W123 is a rugged engine and will run on the hint of an oily rag but the real difference in conversion designs is tolerance to oil with fat in it and long term engine life.

A properly designed 2 tank conversion with well dewatered oil will PROLONG the life of your engine. Many conversions don't heat the oil well enough and while the engine seams to run well, you are reducing the life of the engine.

Even in the South, unless you remove the fat from the oil or use oil that doesn't have fat in it from the particular food cooked in it, you will need a heated pickup in the tank for reliable operation. Heated pickup and fuel lines will also eliminate any need to blend in diesel, etc. in the veggie tank.

My conversion is very similar to the Frybrid 3 valve, two tank design and will safely and reliably run on even Lard at any temperature that it will start on diesel.

I could build a 2 tank conversion with parts from the hardware store for under a hundred bucks and it would run well but over time I would be killing my engine and I would also be limited in ambient operating temperatures and oil type.

From my past experience, I know that my engine will last longer than it would if I ran it on Diesel only.

And of course, no mater what the conversion is, the oil must be well dewatered.

__________________
Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

Amen to fats.I cold filter,best oil was done below freezing.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I prefer to keep the fats. Higher cetane, higher energy density and less to dispose of. Heated upflow settling gets me fuel with under 200ppm water.

__________________
Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

Well, I do usually have a bit of diesel mixed in. I ran my previous car (until it got wrecked) for four years on a two tank with various fat content in the WVO, which tends to be high down here. I never really worried about it, and I never had an issue with fuel flow, which I assume is your point. If you've never lived in south Louisiana, its hard to appreciate just how easy the fat flows most of the year. Just gotta use common sense with fuel management during cool weather. No, a heated pickup is not necessary.

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1983 CD
1958 Studebaker Packard (being resuscitated)

Ron, thank you for your comments.

What components do you use for your two tank system? I guess mainly the heated fuel pickup and heated filter are the parts I need to still source if I am going to DIY. Id rather get a Frybrid system and not experiment (I leave the experimentation that for my biodiesel production)- I am hoping I could get one within three months.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I have done a few MBs on WVO-mine my sons and wifes + some friends. If you have the funds for the first time I would get a Frybrid. Comes complete and dispite what you hear I have had great support from Chris at frybrid-even when I only bought a valve from him.

If you wish DIY send me a PM and I will send you a BOM(Bill of Material) with prices and sources.

I had my nice custom tanks made by a local boat builder. (see photo)They had fill/return/coolant heat coils/vents/drains and even a fuel sender. $300

Filter is key-keep out the water and debri and keep that WVO HOT!

Attached Thumbnails

       

marybeth,

that is a great DIY.

Id love to get the BOM for that so I can see how much it costs you vs. frybrid. how much did the custom tank run you?


dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

has anybody thought of using soda blocks from fountains? they are large blocks of aluminum that sits in the bottom of ice dispenser... has multiple 10mm lines going through it... thinking you could use something like that under a fuel tank to heat it... aluminum block, stainless lines... just thinking here...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Pic or vendor?

Hi dd,

My heated pickup is similar to a HotFox but I built it to replace the fuel screen on the bottom ot the stock tank. Tube-in-Hose using aluminum fuel lines and fittings on the ends that I fabricated from brass T's and Swageloc tubing fittings. Heated fuel filter similar to the frybrid but designed for the smaller MB fuel filter rather than the larger VW filter that Frybrid uses ( I filter and dewater my oil VERY well). FPHE and high quality SS valves similar to Frybrid valves. I have access to a lathe and mill so I fabricate most of my own parts. When I started with used cooking oil about 30 years ago, there were no kits.

__________________
Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

Ron,

Thank you for the description. I don't think there are too many who can say they have been running WVO for 30 years - thats pretty cool.

So there is no problem running WVO in the steel stock tank? Do you have a smallish tank for diesel in the back? Maybe a plastic one?

Do you have a description of your filtering/dewatering technique anywhere on the web?

dd

__________________
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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

The custom WVO tank was $10 a gallon (28ish gallons x $10=$280+tax =$300)

I am always hesitant about WVO in a steel tank due to polymerization (chicken skin) build up that is the chemical reaction of steel/WVO/Oxygen

Here are some extreme examples :

http://www.frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13218