This project started as a reaction to driving a 2006 Audi S4 340 horsepower V-8, day in and day out, and suddenly getting struck by the environmental responsibility bug. In LA, we spend a lot of time in the car and it is very important to make that time as enjoyable as possible, especially coming from the comfort of the luxury car market. We wanted to find out what the story was in terms of finding a car that could be converted to straight vegetable oil, actually converting it, collecting the oil, and determining if we could end up with something that not only could we live with, but something that we wanted to live with. The purpose of these pages is to convey what we learned at each step in addition to passing on a few hints on how to do it better than we did.
Before we start, I want to say that, this is a great project to do yourself and if you take your time, you will end up with a car that will wean you off of foreign oil and your global warming machines with a smile on your face.
That being said there are a few things that you need to know about Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) and Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) cars before you start.
1) You must start with a diesel engine.
2) Depending on the conversion kit you choose, some newer diesel vehicles may not work.
3) There are 1 tank and 2 tank systems that each have their pluses and minuses.
4) The biggest challenge in our opinion is the on going collection of the waste vegetable oil after the novelty wears off.
Step one is to find the car and the kit that matches your wants and needs. There are several different systems in the market but for the purpose of this project we will focus on the car and system we chose and why.
What Car Should You Get?
We decided to go with a 1977 to 1984 Mercedes diesel car for a variety of reasons:
1) 1977 to 1984 Diesel Mercedes are some of the most sturdy and reliable cars ever made.
2) They can fit in a tight budget. Ours was $2850 for the base car.
3) They look awesome. Style was very important to the project.
4) They hold the record for most miles ever driven on a single passenger car engine with over 2 million miles.
5) There are a lot of them around because Regan alone swung a deal and imported over 200,000 of these cars to promote commerce so they are widely available still and affordable.
6) Many of them are Turbo Charged and diesel engines without turbos are a small sin.
7) They have a lot of different models from a 2 door coupe to a 4 door pseudo limo.
8 ) They actually have an incredibly smooth ride.
The other potential car we looked at was an International Scout which are also awesome but not nearly as available or reliable.
What Conversion Kit Should You Get?
After reading a lot about all of the available kits, we decided to go with the single tank Lovecraft Biofuels kit. (See sidebar for other conversion systems.) For us, there were a couple of huge points that pushed us into going for a single tank system.
1) We like trunk space. (Dual tank systems have the second tank installed in the trunk of the car.)
2) We live in Southern California (weather is warm all the time). In cold climates, dual tank systems can be better because the second tank heats off of the engine temperature, so the motor will not clog with the more viscose vegetable oil. The unfortunate part is that you must run off normal diesel or biodiesel for the first 5 minutes of your drive or so.
3) Running on Petroleum Diesel for the first 5 minutes to warm the SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) tank seemed lame because many of our trips are short. (You need to heat the SVO to change the viscosity)
4) Being able to run on any mixture of SVO, WVO, Biodiesel or Diesel in a single tank is a huge plus for long trips.
5) Price of the kit is only $460.00 out the door where dual tank kits can be $1500 or more.
6) The Lovecraft kit can be installed in under 4 hours and will work on any diesel engine.
7) The guys at Lovecraft are simply awesome.
So, after weeks and weeks of looking around the Los Angeles area for a base car that wouldn’t fall apart before we even got to the SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) conversion, we finally came upon this 1981 300SD Turbo Diesel Mercedes with 330,000 Miles on it that was in absolutely great shape.
See the Barefaced Mobile’s Specs.
See our Buyer’s Guide.
In our car search, we tried local mechanics in Venice, Ebay Motors, Autotrader, the Recycler and just about every other publication out there and everything was either expensive, not in my area or a piece of junk.
We finally came upon Craig’s List which is by far the best place to find these kinds of cars. We were actually quite impressed with the number of options around the LA area.
Click Here for Current Diesel Mercedes' on Craig's List L.A.
Pre-Conversion Tips:
1) The fuel tank on the SD is mounted higher than the standard D series cars thus allowing gravity to help the vegetable oil flow through the system. This is better for the conversion as vegetable oil is more viscose (thicker) than standard petroleum diesel fuel so it can take more power to pump the fuel from the tank to the engine.
2) The particular flaw with converting the 300SD is that it is the luxury model so everything is electric, thus making it more susceptible to breaking. Power windows, door locks, sunroof, seats, mirrors and an automatic transmission are all luxurious when they are new, however they are a little quirky after 27 years of use. (The automatic transmissions are actually very reliable, but when they go, it can be expensive)
3) Have the valves purged and cleaned. Not Necessary but it will give you more power if you care about that!
4) These motors are long lasting to say the least, so, anything under 400K miles is good to go as long as the car isn't falling apart.
5) Go for the Turbo. It's worth it.
6) Make sure you take the time to sit in the back seat. Its a luxury few remember to enjoy when buying a Regan Era Mercedes. It will also help you make sure you check out all of the upholstery.
8) Spend the money to have the oil changed and filters changed to make sure the car is running smoothly before you do the conversion. You could skip changing the fuel filter as you will be replacing it shortly. Also check the hoses to make sure they are in good condition. They are easy and cheap to change if you do it before they break.
Conversion Kit Details
Lovecraft Biofuels makes a single tank SVO/WVO conversion kit. See below:
The basic components of the kit are a heated, high flow filter, heat exchanger, and booster pump. That is it. It comes with 16 pages of instructions and it can be installed in approximately 4 hours. The pros do it in like 2 but they have done it 1800 or so times.
The kit can take any mixture of SVO/WVO/Biodiesel or Diesel. Essentially, the system heats the fuel to the appropriate viscosity so it can be used by the motor. The first 600 miles or two tanks of fuel should be driven on SVO before using filtered WVO to make sure the system is working properly. What is great about the conversion is that is it remarkably straight forward, easy and cheap!
Super Important Note: Don’t Use Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated Oil in your car! Its bad for your body and bad for your car. Hydrogenation is used to extend the shelf life of the oil however it will clog your engine and your arteries. There is actually legislation working to ban hydrogenated oil in certain major cities. Whoop! LA, NYC and Chi-town!
You don’t need to convert your engine to use Biodiesel as Biodiesel can be run through a standard diesel engine as it has an equivalent viscosity to petrol diesel. See our post on this.
If you are in LA… go see the guys at Lovecraft, I really can’t say enough about them.
For our explanation of SVO Carbon Footprints Click Here - Coming Soon
See the DIY Installation Slideshow - (Coming Soon)
