1979 VW Dasher Diesel - w00t!

[Dalez0r]

Just won a 79 Dasher Diesel as the title says.. $200!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=280328279339

Gunna install new shocks/struts on all 4 corners and drive it the 2000 miles back to oklahoma... Then convert it to WVO operation!

[theholycow]

I bet you'll get great FE. It certainly will be quite a project getting it into reasonable condition and converting for WVO!

Where will you put the heated WVO tank and such?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Where will you put the heated WVO tank and such?

How about where the radio used to be??? LOL Sure does look like a project, but the price is right. Have fun!

-Jay

[Jetta90GL]

Wow 2000 miles for the first test drive. lol I would for sure also change out the fuel filter just in case. Also bring a set of nice jumper cables for when the old diesel gets cranky.

[Dalez0r]

Yeah... seeing many videos of old VW diesels that had been sitting for many years firing right up were kinda inspiring though. That, and I'll have some time to check the wheel bearings and brakes before I hit the road. And change the oil...

At least it's got a new clutch! Too bad its only a 4 speed though. Prolly wont hurt too much in town, but the highway... I'm not gunna be going real fast. =\

I think I'ma also put on a tach using this trick:

http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/Cheap...er/index.shtml

I dont like the idea of driving through mountains for my first time in a car I've never driven before, without at least a tach! And brakes I checked myself...


$16 shipped!

Price and RPM is right

[Dalez0r]

Originally Posted by theholycow

I bet you'll get great FE. It certainly will be quite a project getting it into reasonable condition and converting for WVO!

I hope so! I read it'll do ~50mpg, although we'll see what it gets on the freeway... I may find myself driving 55mph due to RPM the whole way, if that...

Where will you put the heated WVO tank and such?

I'm thinking I'll add a 5 gallon diesel tank in the back, then at least partially insulate the main fuel tank and heat it with coolant (heat exchanger) I'll try to get a heat exchanger of sufficient thermal throughput as to heat up oil as fast as the injector pump pulls it in, in one pass, once the coolant is hot. At least I'm not feeding this thing THAT much oil, 48hp can only drink so much... But this way, I'd have ~14 gallons of oil capacity, enough for a lengthy trip, or at least infrequent refueling at home.

I plan on getting a centrifuge to clean my oil before use. They're good to ~.5 microns, and can remove water. Lye and settling then centrifuging can remove free fatty acids while normalizing the PH, if required for the particular source of oil. And you can make soap with the byproducts!

To save some cash, I read one can use old power steering pumps to pump the oil, just need a rough filter on the inlet. I'm pretty sure I got one laying around that'll do....

Then I just need a lil trailer with a couple 55 gallon barrels, a pump, and the centrifuge mounted on it... and a hitch on my VW!

[theholycow]

Your highway RPM might not be too bad. A 4 speed is likely to have overdrive, and a 5 speed doesn't guarantee low RPM (my 2008 VW 5 speed runs 3000rpm at 70mph, and I hear that some Hondas run 3000rpm at 55mph!). When they add speeds they seem to just put them closer together rather than raising the high gear. Plus, diesels tend to get geared higher anyway.

I've always envisioned my WVO project as a diesel pickup with completely automated on-board processing. I would pour in whatever junk oil I had, in any condition, and it would go through a Rube Goldberg device until it came out as clean fuel and was heated. It would would have a huge tank and all run on waste oil so even if it used a lot of energy, it would be free anyway. The heater for the oil maybe could be a small waste oil heater and run on the garbage that gets removed from the oil during the cleaning process.

Why would you use lye with WVO? I thought lye was only necessary when making biodiesel.

You'll need a strong, lightweight trailer to tow behind that lightweight little car. A car dolly might do the job. I once saw a pickup towing a pallet of bricks on some sort of pallet dolly, but it must have been custom made because I was never able to find record of such a product.

[R.I.D.E.]

Pressure test the fuel injectors to make sure they are opening at the highest recommended pressure. We found that Mercedes injectors just needed the spring replaced to bump the opening pressure from 1500 PSI to 1800 PSI, which was factory specs for new ones.

It makes a big difference in mileage as well as the black smoke is greatly reduced.

You can also make sure they are not leaking. The pressure testers are a simple pump with a handle and a pressure guage.

regards
gary

[Dalez0r]

I've always envisioned my WVO project as a diesel pickup with completely automated on-board processing.

Ahh, the Holy Grail of WVO. A pickup seems doable, you'd need a dirty oil tank to pump it into initially. Then if the oil is really acidic, due to Free Fatty Acids, you use some lye to turn them into glycerin and soapstock. You dont want the FFA's going into your injection pump unless you have one that's made for an acidic fuel. Unless you have really good oil with few FFA's. Now, if your setup is stationary the glycerin and soapstock and any water would settle, but you're going to need a centrifuge to remove it in a moving tank. Not only that, but you need one that is solids-discharging, not solids-containing like all the portable ones on the market are. Either that, or you're going to be emptying ALOT of soapstock (20% for some bad oils!) out of the centrifuge!

So you'll need to build a centrifuge for this application... Let me know how that goes, I want one too!

Once you've centrifuged it enough, you could move it into a tank where it's ready for use (through the centrifuge one more time). I wouldn't want to mix my dirty oil and fresh oil...

A car dolly might do the job.

A car dolly sounds a bit wide, but something so low does sound nice...

We found that Mercedes injectors just needed the spring replaced to bump the opening pressure from 1500 PSI to 1800 PSI, which was factory specs for new ones.

Good idea, I think the VW is similar. I may try to upgrade/replace with the 1.6L turbo injectors, they have an even higher pressure, but still in range of what the injector pump can handle.

[Jetta90GL]

I have a Greasecar WVO system in my Jetta. It works really well, but I think a lot of the parts could be bought from other sources cheaper. I think the heated fuel line and filter really help heat up the oil on its last trip to the IP. Unfortunately last fall I just about ran through my first 15 gallons of WVO and I blew a water pump hose and over heated, which blew my head gasket (maybe cracked head?). So that project is on hold till its warm outside.

For my WVO filtering system I'm going to set up a couple ACME juicers, converted to centrifuges. I was going to set up a trailer with barrels too, but for now I will probably just use my truck.

I cobbled my collection pump together with an old 14.4 Dewalt drill, my old burned up starter planetary gears, and a harbor freight hand crank chemical resistant pump. I've been waiting for warmer days to try it out, I don't think it would like cold thick oil.