Once the tank was finished I cut an access hole in it. I then filled the tank with water and a little liquid dish washing soap to break the surface tension of the water (water has a high surface tension so sometimes it wont leak out of really small holes). That's Bailey behind the tank. When I get the my sending unit it will be mounted along with the fuel pick up in the access cover plate ... oh, and of course he tank didn't leak. The next step will be to attach "tabs" inside the lip of the tank. The aluminum I used for the tank is 0.090-inches thick ... not thick enough to tap to screw the access cover plate to. I will attach the tabs to the inside of the tank and then drill and tap through the tank and tab so I can screw the access cover plate in place.
People often ask why I work full time and then teach 3 days a week before work and 1 day after work at Cal Poly, San Luis Obipo (California Polytechnic State University). I do it because I LOVE teaching and giving back, it's fun, and the BioResourse and Agricultural Engineering Department has one of the best shops between LA and San Francisco. So one night after work we (my buddy and co-worker Matt, who can never get enough time in the shop) and I cut out and formed the tank. Then another night we (Me, Matt and my buddy Jeff who welded the tank for me) went back to the shop to finish the tank, and make the brackets for the FPHE. To keep the WVO from sloshing around in the fuel tank we added 2 baffels in the tank. Here are some pictures of the tank, and of the shop.
When I do things, I like to really do them ... a lot of WVO conversions use switches and lights to switch modes and to tell you what mode you're in. There are a few companies out there that make interactive controllers. I thought I'd take it one step further and use a touch screen to both control my system and for an indicator as to what mode I'm in. I ordered the touch screen from TVI Electronics. The brains of the controller will be a basic stamp which I got off eBay but has not yet arrived. Here was my first idea for the main menu, but I think I'm going to change it to icons instead of letters.
I considered many options for the tank. One option was to do what I did in the oder Mercedes and mount a round tank in the spare tire well. After much thought and research I decided that I would make a wedge shaped tank and mount it in the back of the trunk just behind the diesel tank. My first version was 6" across the bottom, 17" across the top, 17" tall and 37" wide. This set up would give me almost 30 gallons. However, the more I thought about it the more I thought I wanted to be able to fit two suitcases in the trunk. The first design only allowed me to fit one suitcase. The design I settled on is 6" across the bottom, 12" across the top, 17" tall and 37" wide. I'm hoping to cut out the aluminum next week and start construction.
Well I've started ordering parts. So far I've ordered the basic stamp and touch screen for the controller, the aluminum fuel line, the aluminum for the tank and the tank heater.
I'm short on time these days but once I get more time I'll post pictures of the tank mock up
I first got into WVO (waste vegetable oil) in about 2004. My primary motivation was the fact I'm a bit of a tree hugger and I want to do my part. Now that diesel is $5+/gal here in San Luis Obispo, CA it's become quite a financial benefit too. My first venture was a 1983 Mercedes 300D Turbo. I converted the car using a kit from greasecar.com. The car ran so well on WVO that I wanted to get a newer car.
I looked around and set my sights on a 1999 Mercedes E300D. The only problem was I couldn't find one in California. So on 12/6/06 I flew to North Carolina and drove home my new (used car).
I was hoping to convert the car with a kit from Frybird.com (in my opinion the best kit out there) but after over a year and a half of waiting I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I figured that if couldn't convert my car on my own that Cal Poly should come to my house and take my masters degree in mechanical engineering away from me.
Much of my plumbing information came from Jake's blog (see link at the bottom of the page)
Once the tank was finished I cut an access hole in it. I then filled the tank with water and a little liquid dish washing soap to break the surface tension of the water (water has a high surface tension so sometimes it wont leak out of really small holes). That's Bailey behind the tank. When I get the my sending unit it will be mounted along with the fuel pick up in the access cover plate ... oh, and of course he tank didn't leak. The next step will be to attach "tabs" inside the lip of the tank. The aluminum I used for the tank is 0.090-inches thick ... not thick enough to tap to screw the
access cover plate to. I will attach the tabs to the inside of the tank and then drill and tap through the tank and tab so I can screw the access cover plate in place.
