Converting my Mercedes 300D to veggie oil

Hey, I'm in the process of converting a 1980 Mercedes 300D to waste veggie oil. I'm documenting it at http://www.windrift.us/dreamerbiofuels/our first WVO.htm
dont know what that %20 nonsense is in the address, ill have to fix that.

 

Well this is pretty interesting ... I have an old Merc diesel myself and recently paid $2.63 per gallon in Bellevue, Washington.

I love the diesel engine, especially as you can put 300k miles on it and its fine. Furthermore, Mercedes transmissions, unlike other cars, don't need a transmission rebuild at a wimpy 150k miles.

Just recently I heard that the singer Willie Nelson converted a fairly recent Mercedes to veggie oil.

I suppose my question is what do you think the effect will be on engine wear and tear using veggie oil?

 

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As far as wear and tear, it's minimal if any depending on how well you filter and dewater your oil. If you arent vigilant enough in the filtering process, you run the risk of damaging your injectors. There is also a degree of coking that happens with the injectors, but biodiesel has corrosive properties, so if one uses biodiesel for start-up and shut-down (biodiesel or dinodiesel needs to be used for start-up and shutdown anyway) you have that problem licked.
this link www.frybrid.com/docs.htm contains some good research papers regarding biofuel use.

 

I heard about willie nelson starting a biodiesel company, but not about his svo conversion. as far as new vehicles, german cars, vw and merc specifically are the best, american vehicles thye worst, or so im told. more to willie, but where i split hairs with commercial biodiesel producers is that like shaggie, i am into this tech because i can use a waste product. monsanto loves the idea of using new soy oil for biodiesel, see..i could elaborate, but i rant that story so often...

 

my website has some good links, and a lot of people with a lot of knowhow hang out at the biodiesel.infopop.cc forum (the WVO/SVo part of it, anyway)
I love answering questions though, and will look up anything i cant answer.
As for old merc diesels, there is an abundance of info available on converting them, they are so tolerant of thicker fuels, and are just awesome engines. im so in love with the two i own.

 

Raven the only issue I have with the old Mercedes (pre 1983) 240D's and 300D's is they are prone to rust a bit (especially under the doors). They also are a bugger to start under 30 degrees, although I realize that can be a compression problem that is reasonably easy to fix I'm told.
My Mercedes mechanic told me in his opinion the 240D and 300D serious were the best cars Mercedes ever made.

Anyway my car will be 30 next year. She has been garaged all her life and although she has a LOT of miles on her she still drives like a dream.

I would be up for a veggie conversion in part because I am more or less a vegetarian anyway.
But it could certainly be a component to a better gasoline-free society. After all, people who live 100 years from now are going to wonder what we were ever thinking to pollute our air and soil with fossil fuels and their by-products.

 

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Pre-filtering is essential, unless you want clogged injectors and expensive filter replacements. Pre-filtering is the most important thing if you love your car. Nothing should go into that system until it's clean and dry. then you get a regular lifespan out of your filter.
So there are sock filters available which are rated to 5 microns, which is sort of a optimum for a lot of vo users. denim works good, so does canvas, but since no one ive talked to has been able to figure out how many microns these materials are, it's best to use one of the sock filters you know are 5 micron on the bottom, then your denim or whatever above that. So whatever you filter through your questionable material gets caught by the sock filter. So those sock filters are something like $7 a piece, but you don't need to get new ones as often if you use a recycled material before them. As far as filtering is concerned, overkill is good, a lasez-faire approach is dangerous.

 

Almost done. here's an update
www.windrift.us/dreamerbiofuels/April27.htm

 

Raven please make sure to post a picture of you driving on waste veggie fuel ...