LUVTruck.com

I want to start working on my '82 LUV. Diesel is getting outragiously expensive (and I work in an oil refinery!!) and I want to convert my truck. I don't want to get a commercially made system ($$$), I want to home-build mine. How did you do yours? I'm a fabricator, so fabricating parts is not an issue. Are there any sites out there that shows you step by step or has diagrams as to how this mod is done? What kind of time frame am I looking at as far as installation? This is my daily driver (130 miles a day) Monday through Thursday.

Student awaiting direction....

Patrick

All I can say is surf these commercial made sites and learn what you can from them. Some of them have forums and a lot of people chat in them. Some have made their own systems.
http://www.frybrid.com

http://www.greascar.com
www Thats all I can think of now. I had about 8 of them in my favorites on my other computer and it went down. The frybrid forum is pretty good.

Go here.. http://www.We-PC.com and buy the greasy does it book. It is very helpful. I am looking to convert my F250 but have yet to do it. I just keep learning all I can for now.

Have you considered using biodiesel instead? For the cost of a nice (frybrid) system you can put together a system to convert WVO to biodiesel. The reason I like this route better is that you can then use the biodiesel in almost any diesel vehicle you own. With WVO you have to convert each vehicle.

If you do go the WVO route, I've heard good things about the frybrid system.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

I haven't considered the biodiesel route. I don't have the shop space that I think I'll need to do this. What does doing this entail? Cost? Procedure?

I've been looking at this for a couple of years, but diesel vehicles in the NW have continued to climb in price and value retention...

One of the innovators in this concept is Josh Tickell, his book helped to launch a lot of interest in this fuel. It's a great place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/Fryer-Fuel-Tank-V ... 0970722702

Try this site for a practical primer:
http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel ... efault.htm

Here is an interesting local site, with a kit that runs <$350:
http://www.kenneke.com/veggie.html

Here is a pretty good display of the components needed.
http://www.greasecar.com/kit_detail.cfm?prodID=23

You can buy the pieces from several sites online. Pollack valves are the recommended choice for fuel switching and come up on ebay fairly often. Lots of low buck folks just use a marine/boat fuel tank for the filtered WVO.

Oregon State University is commonly referred to as 'Moo U', as it is predominantly an agriculture school, there are dozens of college kids there perfecting and using SVO to run their vehicles. There are also several in the Eugene area at the U of O. Lots of 'farmer kids' have figured this out too, especially in the midwest.

My personal issue with cooking my own biodiesel is the requirement for lye. There are lots of recipes and plans available online. I have small children and would prefer not to have raw lye on my property until they are older. Lye can blind you very quickly.

Searches on Google for SVO, WVO and biofuel will return numerous results. There is a site member here who is putting a '70's LUV body on an '81(?) diesel chassis, he may have some input on this too. You'll need to retrofit your fuel lines with Viton hose, and building a complete system with the minimal components will probably run around $200-500. Depends on if you want new or used parts.

From all of the reading I've done, I think what I've noticed is this: Keep it simple. There are lots of ways to do this, but basically a diesel will run on veggie oil regardless. The key is to heat the fuel properly, deliver it to the injector pump and PURGE the pump before shutdown. How you do that is up to you. Just my observation..

Good luck, let us know if you build a system...

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"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

After googling biodiesel, I don't think it would be a good idea for me. I have a very adventurous 5 year old daughter and 2 sons who love to experiment. I don't like the idea of having the chemicals around the house like that.
From what I've seen so far, the WVO system sounds more ideal for me. I can fabricate my own tank, bracketry and fittings. My wife and I own a seafood and poboy market, so the oil is easily obtainable.

I understand the hesitation in dealing with chemicals.

I honestly think that you won't get a 'good' WVO system for less than $1000 when you are done but I'm sure there is money to be saved by purchasing used components. I learned a lot from the FryBrid website. The cheapest competitor to them is greasecar at $800 and it lacks some of the things in the frybrid system.

The one thing that I really like about frybrid is the physics that they include in their design. As stated by nukeday, it is very important to get the WVO up to temperature before injecting it and to do that reliably, the frybrid system looks really good.

Either route you go, please keep us posted. Having a source for your own WVO is perfect. No scrounging required.

Good luck,
Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

Thanks for the input guys. Hopefully within the next month I can start on the fabrication of the tank. I'll try to start a tech thread on it and update as I go.

I can't see spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars to modify a fuel that only has to be strained to burn just fine on warm days. I've been burning a little bit of EVERYTHING in my LUV for a couple years. I haven't spent 1 dime on fuel since about the second week of January (driving about 200 miles a week). If I were burning veg oil I'd just strain it and start it on ether on cool days.

Seriously? You're running SVO w/o a heater? Standard injection pump, etc?

Why does everyone else suggest heating at a minumum and starting on real diesel.

Isn't ether bad for your engine? How many miles on the luv total since making the switch? Just been using it since January or before that as well?

I sure would like to go that route but I'm still skeptical.

Thanks for the info,
Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

From what I've read, it needs to be preheated or over time it will sludge and soot and clog the injectors and combustion chambers from incomplete burning. I have yet to try any of this, so I don't know for sure.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

I've run very little veg oil. Mostly I run used automatic transmission fluid. Sometimes used motor oil. Sometimes Jet A jet fuel. Sometimes...diesel! lol!

I have a cheap LUV truck that I don't mind risking. As such, I test for myself. I've been starting it with a tiny shot of ether for a couple of years becasue my glow plugs are shot and my fuels are not volitile enough for cool starts (except maybe Jet A). If I run something thick ike a high concentration of motor oil I'll run something thinner next, like Jet A. If I were running veg oil I would just strain it, filter it, and run it for weeks at a time, but every so often I'd run regular diesel with a pinch of gas in it to help cut any deposits.

But that's just me. There is NO science behind it, only experience. And I have run 0 gallons of diesel in the last several months.

Oh, what's SVO? In the car world that's Special Vehicle Operations, a Ford thing.

lol. I wouldn't use a Ford acronym around here.

SVO = Straight Vegetable Oil

Eric Q.

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'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

Haha, OK.

I've scrapped the idea of building a tank. I've decided to go with a marine fuel tank. (To keep costs down) I was going to use JB weld to secure my lines to the tank, but I've read that the oil eats away at the JB weld. Can anyone confirm this?

JB weld is useless. Is there not a bunge in the tank? If not, weld one on.

I'll be using the red plastic tanks common in small outboard boats. I saw a write-up about using these, but I can't seem to find it now.

Also, is copper compatible with vegetable oil? I can get copper tubing (free) to run for my supply line from the tank to the engine bay.

I'm doing the same thing you're doing, and tho this post is a little old, maybe you'll still see it.

I'm using a 55gal drum as my tank, with a copper heat exchanger that I dreamed up myself. It's quite a contraption, but pretty darn cool.

There is much talk about copper in veg oil. it seems that the combination of heat, and exposure to air, and the contaminants not filtered out, can cause 'chicken skin' or a thin film of polymerized veg oil in the tank.

The keys here being exposure to air in the tank, and the contaminants not filtered out.

It is my opinion that if you're getting polymerized veg oil, you haven't filtered well enough. But, the only method I've found that is 'good enough' is water mist washing, and then vacuum de-watering. I am working out a barrel for mist washing, then into a water heater from there. The water heater cannot be used as the vacuum vessel, but it does make it hot enough that a partial vacuum vessel connected to the hot outlet of the water heater will allow the vapor to flash off as it is removed from the water heater into the vacuum vessel.

This is my plan. It shouldn't matter what materials are used (as long as veg oil won't melt them) if you make the oil clean enough. I will also make sure that the fuel level is never exposing much of the heat exchanger. so, I won't ever be using the full 55 gallon, probably never let it have any less than 30 gallons in it. For $5 or less, empty oil drums are great fuel tanks.

I drilled 2 holes in the rim of the bed just aft of the rear window, and two in the bed in a position not directly under the barrel, but back towards the cab just enough that the tie-downs wrap over 90 degrees around the drum. I filled it with water, heavier than oil, and it doesn't budge. Does cut into my cargo capacity tho.

I've made HIH from .75 heater hose available at Home Depot, and some .375 aluminum fuel line I got online somewhere. It terminates in T's and Delrin compression fittings. It splices into the heater core lines (in series, not parallel), not the big radiator hoses. This requires a way to connect the .625 heater core hose to the .75 heater hose. Not a big deal really.

I know the LUV diesels didn't come with lift pumps, but I'm not sure if I'll need one for the heavier fuel.

I've been planning out the whole thing for the better part of 5 years. From pickup, to filtering, to the vehicle conversion. The only thing I haven't finalized is whether or not to use a lift pump, and if so, the facet?

Big thing with WVO as a fuel, is you need to filter it and de-water it real good. You can build your own system but read, read, read all you can about it. Then find your oil sources.

Happy frying...

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75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.