I hate to ask similar questions over and over, but hopefully this post will answer some questions for me and others. The wife (PITA) won't let me filter WVO at the house, let alone make bio, so I gotta go SVO ($1.25 a gal) I would like to know who's converted a 7.3 to run WVO, and what you used to do it. I have a 100 gal tank, and plan on using a hotfox to a vormax to a vegitherm, and then to the heads, but I'm taking any and all suggestions!!

While I do appreciate the effort others who now sell conversions have gone through, I just can't see spending $2700 for some parts I could gather for 1/4 to 1/3 the cost.

My biggest question is how did you hook up your fuel lines, and what size are the fuel ports in the heads (I think #4?)

Thanks for the help in helping your fellow members out!

 

Mongo75,
I can't help you with your question, but I for one am very interested to see how you proceed. I just picked up an old NA 7.3 and am considering going the WVO route at this point. I don't have the space or support (read: maybe my wife is your wife's sister?) to brew the BD at home. I plan on running BD in the main tanks at some point, but I'm going to have to get into some sort of co-op first. Around here there's only one BD pump, it's a long ways from the house and B100 is $.60/gallon higher than dino diesel. I can buy it in jugs closer to home so plan on buying B100 and mixing it myself in the tanks to B5-10 instead of buying DieselKleen for lube.

So seeing as how you can't filter at home, you're just going to buy pre-filtered, de-watered VO from a retail/wholesale source? That seems a little iffy unless the outfit is specifically filtering for fuel use.

Anyway, keep us posted with pics/write-ups.
Mike

 

I'm just getting started on my journey to conversion - but, I know for a fact that you can get a Racor 2 micron filter with a 12v 200w heater built in for about $190.

My initial fuel circuit will have 2) 3 way & 1) on/off solenoid valves with a timed purge cycle, alarm, 2) needle valves to act as flow restrictors, & pretty lights. I am thinking of doing the prototype work on my nephews truck - just kidding.

I am also prototyping an all aluminum retrofit tank heat exchanger-fuel pickup-temp gauge-oil level gauge-cleanout-5 micron reusable filter-plus storage for stuff product that should reduce the cost of an equivalent fuel tank by at least $250. But, you will have to do the retrofit yourself (drill holes above the oil level & bolt in). This may be of absolutely no use to you but I enjoyed crowing a bit.
So, yeah, the bits & pieces needed to put together a DIY conversion probably wont top the $1K mark - I'm hopin' . . . . .

 

Mongo- I only wish I had my stuff marked up 400%. If so, then I wouldn't be worried about how to pay my mortgage every month. Seems to be a huge misconception that All we do is buy junk, throw a massive markup on it, and kick it out the door. Never mind the 2.5 years of R&D, Custom made parts, 2 year warranty, and all the work being done. Besides spending again alomost 2 years sourcing the correct parts, doing all the research to find out what works and what doesn't. Not to sound arrogant, but i was the first one to do the complete second stand alone fuel system straight to the heads on the PSD, and wound up in business due to lots of people wanting one. Do some research on the source of Vegistroke. Now, getting off my Soapbox a bit, I started the same way and for the same reasons. I didn't want to pay for what was already out there. Thought I could do it cheaper and better. I was only half right. Better yes, cheaper no.

You will find the pump to be your single highest failure item, and should invest in a good pump. I have gone through many Aeromotives, and Mallory's, and stock pumps. As of right now there is only one with a warranty for use with WVO, and that is the Fass. Make sure you use a good Fire Resistant bio compatible hose such as the Parker 820FR series for on the motor. The rest of it can be a little cheaper. If you do traditional HIH, you will need to use special compression fittings, and the right kind of Aluminum tube, or it WILL leak, or the aluminum will become brittle and crack. For the PSD, HOH is quite sufficient so long as you do not have long exposed lengths of fuel line. The HotFox is OK as a tank heater, and industructible. If you live in a very cold climate i would recomend Line-X or insulation for the tank. If you go straight to the heads, the ports are 1/8NPT, but you will need check valves on the OEM fuel lines to prevent backfeed. There are stock ones, but they do not function as true check valves, and will allow backflow. Also, you will either need your WVO pressure at least 25 psi higher than the diesel pressure to fully overcome any diesel usage, or a means of shutting off the Diesel Pump. I use a pressure switch for this purpose to automate things. Make sure the engine is at least 160 before switching to ensure minimal coking. Colder temps than that and you will have gradual coking issues. Each fuel rail holds about 1.5 ounces of fuel, and each injector just under over an 1/8ounce. The motor uses about 1oz/minute at an idle. If you have a means of flusing the fuel rails, you can purge at an idle in about a minute. If not, then it will take closer to 5 minutes at an idle to purge. 1/4" lines are more than enough to feed each 1/8 port as well. Hopefully that helps you out a bit.

 

re: FN74,

My two cents -
Personally I have been involved in product R&D, prototyping, and ultimately production - IT IS WORK! Not just plain old drag your butt out of bed work but waking up at 0200 with your brain in overdrive, tearing your hair out, drinking Maalox like water work! Not to mention the financial risks! Personally, I LOVE it! But, in the end, selling hard parts for a living aint gonna get you to the big house on the hill. If you arent a very clever DYI guy, go with a kit that has a good rep -

 

Where do you buy SVO for $1.25 a gallon?

 

Jason, thanks for the info. I sent you an email this morning (you'll know who by my avatar). Believe me, I do applaud and appreciate your hard work and R&D, as most of us just don't have the time or resources to further our "cause" if you wanna call it that. I'm waiting for your response in the hopes I can throw some business your way, 'cause you can't beat that FN74!

Bronco, there's a guy in ebay that has an auction for soy oil, says he gets 1000 gallons a month, and at the starting bid it works out to about $1.25 a gallon. Trouble is, it wouldn't be worth it to have it shipped, his company isn't too far from where I live in California.

 

WVOburner- Thanks for the props!! Beleive me I had no misconceptions about making it big, but being in business for yourself is a big bonus. All of a sudden the stuff that didn't matter when you work for someone else does matter.

Mongo- Gotcha! I should have put 2 and 2 together. I will respond to your email after a bit. Believe me, originally I didn't have the time or money to further my cause either, but when i kept breaking down, or bfreaking stuff, didn't have much choice. Then it became a matter of principle. No way the oil and the truck were going to get the better of me!!

 

Jason- I like your determination! Wite back when you can.

Dan

 

my advice is find flyboy, he runs straight WVO in his 7.3 and his system is absolutely killer w/ no problems at all, he's been doing this for a year or 2 now and has already been through the ups and downs of trying to convert he can tell you what and what not to do.

 

Time!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes if you want to do a DIY,,,,,,,,,, The word TIME, will have a hole new meaning to you.

Yes, I have successfully run over 25K on a DIY WVO system. I have a "rustfree" 93, 7.3 NA, that I bought out of the salt belt to convert and run on WVO. I am successful, and have always been, but I have made many changes to my system as shortcomings showed up. My ride now has 204K on it and I plan on driving it for 10+ more yrs.

Unless you have a great amount of FREE time, and are bored to death! I would recommend one of the Kits to convert.

For a 6.9 or 7.3 IDI NA or Turbo. I would look real close at the Grease Car Kit w/ 40 gal. heated tank for $1100.00. That is only the equivalent to 350 gal. of dino diesel. They are from Haley Mass. that is in the cold north east! I currently run their solenoid valves. they are Perfect "IMOA".

Planet Drive also has very good systems, I use some of there parts also, Good Stuff!!!

You PSD guys, Listen to Erick and FN74, """"""TIME"""""" and some one to talk to because you may not have the time to experiment. Not to mention Money

What ever system you decide to go with, Don't cut corners!!!!!!!!! you need 158*+ Vo temp when it gets to the injectors!

I have both coolant and 12v elect. I have a Artic Fox heated 100 gal. tank, run 3/8" steel fuel line inside of 3/4 heater hose. a VegPower Hothead filter with a 80 watt 12v blanket heater on the bottom of my filter also has insulation blaket around it for winter, more heated fuel line to the solenoid valve, then the lift pump to a Mega vegtherm then onto the IP just before the IP I have two tees in the line 3" before the IP one has a temp gauge the other a boost gauge, I know what my fuel temp is and also press. at the IP. I have a high limit switch and a manual switch for the Mega Vegtherm. there is another Grease Car solenoid valve at the end of the return tee, back of motor, the system will purge fro VO to diesel in 20 seconds. with a SPDT switch I sequence the valves and have no mixing of WVO and Dino, in my dino tanks. I can return diesel to the WVO tank if I want My return line is a 5/16" steel line inside 3/4" HH that also helps heat the WVO tank. in the summer I run w/ just coolant heat and easily maintain 180 at the IP. All lines are insulated with foam pipe insulation. The Lines from my tank to the filter under the hood is +- 16'. from filter to valve +- 4' . Don't forget the cost of all them Compresion fittings and hose barbs. I have a lathe and customized a lot of my fittings. TIME!!!!!!!!!!

If you return any WVO to your diesel tank/ tanks you will be putting one of the best solvents known to man in those tanks and don't be surprised when it loosens up every bit of the **** that was deposited by the dino fuel and tries to run it threw your dino filter all at once. You will end up with clean tanks and you will be changing dino filters with every tank of dino fuel until you get it all out. Go ahead ask me how I know.

IMHO the Pollack valves will not stand 160+ degree fuel for long, I have removed two six ways, and now have installed the correct way to do it, reliable, and no WVO back to the diesel tank, not that it would matter now, other than it would be cold oil in the winter.

You should know your system completely, I have never been stranded, or worried about reliability.

IMHO you don't want any WVO spills under the hood or in the cab,( I read that on this site a long time ago and have followed that advice to the letter) the stuff will always be there. I will not even get in the truck with my filtering coveralls on! I helped a stranded driver the other day, he had neatly parked his truck way off the road, something about going to fast and slippery wet snow.. He hesitated to get into my truck because it was so clean and nice. He had no Idea It was running on WVO and I didn't tell.

I heat my WVO for 48 hours min. in an open top heater, then it is filtered threw 4 different filtering devices before it goes into my truck. or the tractors. or to storage.

Long live the IDI,

Shoot often, shoot safe, shoot with new people!! Illegal aliens are just that ILLEGAL!!!!Get rid of them.... Don't ever ask me to press one!

I have no decals or signs about WVO on my truck, something about road tax.

Ken in Central NY

 

hey Ken I never did ask you, how old are you?

 

Old enough to remember Vietnam, Old enough to remember $.09 diesel fuel, Old enough to know the value of "Time" . Old enough to have flown R/C airplanes for 27 yrs. Old enough to know what and were Ellis Island is! and on and on.

 

Appologies for not understanding anacronyms like 'IMOA'. I always thought it meant 'Iterative Maximum Overlap Approximation' but I cant see how that would relate to this discussion - a little help please? Thanks

 

Google Forum Acronyms.

This was one of the sites that came up

Erick