Several months ago I was floundering around, looking for some
economical means of transporting foundry coke from Alabama to Texas, so
I can build a collection of cast iron machine tools which will be full
sized versions of the circa 1890 miniatures which are sold by Papa Mike
at PM Research. Well, it seems that I picked up a flamer somewhere
along the way, so I just ducked out for awhile, and decided that I
would not post again until I had something significant to report.
Well, now I do, so here goes.

Since I was a boy, I have understood that it is possible to run a
diesel engine on vegetable oil. Of course, Mister Diesel himself was
fond of of doing so, and demonstrated this process at the World's Fair
in 1901, for the entire world to see, and to understand. Then again,
there has been of course an increasing level of interest in the subject
of biodiesel fuel, which can be used in an unmodified diesel vehicle,
which is made from vegetable oil, and which can be made at the amateur
level.

Amidst all of this understanding about diesel engines, what had somehow
completely escaped my attention, until a few months ago anyway, is that
it is possible to use _recycled_ cooking oil as a diesel fuel. This is
the item which led me to realize that I quite simply cannot afford
_not_ to convert to diesel!

Well, I now have a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel pickup parked in my
driveway, and I am getting ready to lower the engine out of the engine
well, which is an interesting little detail in itself, since I found
put that it is not necessary to lift the engine out. Thanks to the
internet, I can get all of the advice which I will ever need in order
to get this little guy working, and it is quite remarkable just how
much my new truck looks like my old one, which is a Mazda/Ranger.

Well, this is certainly a genuine metalworking project, so I thought I
might as well post about it. My other current projects are a one man
band and a homebrew radiology system ( x rays ).

Mike Mandaville
Austin, Texas

Also a forum on www.thedieselstop.com on this subject...

I remember your earlier messages - I'm the fellow Austin guy who referred
you to the industrial supply place in N.Austin as an alternative to going to
Alabama.

As for your current project, do you have a source for used cooking oil? You
do know that most places sell their used grease, right? I have a friend in
town who is attempting this with his Mercedes diesel, but he is not sure
about his source for bio-diesel fuel...

"Clif Holland" wrote: I remember the old rabbit pickups well.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I never drove one, but, just looking at them, I always thought they would
have rotten traction (front wheel drive) when heavily loaded. I would
expect this to be especially bad going up hill. Was I right?

I think most places still have to pay someone to dispose of it.
"Emmo" wrote in message
...
I remember your earlier messages - I'm the fellow Austin guy who referred
you to the industrial supply place in N.Austin as an alternative to going
to Alabama.

As for your current project, do you have a source for used cooking oil?
You do know that most places sell their used grease, right? I have a
friend in town who is attempting this with his Mercedes diesel, but he is
not sure about his source for bio-diesel fuel...

I never tried to load one, I do like to drive the speed limit, sometimes.

--

Clif Holland KA5IPF
www.avvid.com


"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Clif Holland" wrote: I remember the old rabbit pickups well.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I never drove one, but, just looking at them, I always thought they would
have rotten traction (front wheel drive) when heavily loaded. I would
expect this to be especially bad going up hill. Was I right?

Hello, Emmo,

I have no idea where I am going to get my yellow grease, as it is
called by those who buy and sell recycled cooking oil. It has been the
better part of a year though since I made the down payment on my
Rabbit, and it is likely to be that long again before I finish
rebuilding the engine. Considering how much cooking oil is recycled
each year, though, I am not at all worried that I might not be able to
find a source. Many people evidently do pay to have it hauled away,
and where it is sold, it of course goes for a rock bottom price. To a
restaurant owner, yellow grease is nothing more than waste, which is
fit only to be hauled away.

Mike Mandaville
Austin, Texas
( BioWillie's stomping ground)

All I can say is that this has not been my friend's experience. I suggest
that it might be worth a couple of phone calls to some local Austin TexMex
joints to see if they will let you have their yellow grease before you put a
lot of effort into rebuilding your motor. If you find one, please email me
and I will pass it on ...

"MikeMandaville" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, Emmo,

I have no idea where I am going to get my yellow grease, as it is
called by those who buy and sell recycled cooking oil. It has been the
better part of a year though since I made the down payment on my
Rabbit, and it is likely to be that long again before I finish
rebuilding the engine. Considering how much cooking oil is recycled
each year, though, I am not at all worried that I might not be able to
find a source. Many people evidently do pay to have it hauled away,
and where it is sold, it of course goes for a rock bottom price. To a
restaurant owner, yellow grease is nothing more than waste, which is
fit only to be hauled away.

Mike Mandaville
Austin, Texas
( BioWillie's stomping ground)

A book I used to have had plans for making an x-ray device from a reasonably
common vacuum tube. I just saw a dentists x-ray machine and the drill stand
with drills and spit sink thrown out on the street yesterday.
Karl

"MikeMandaville" wrote in message
oups.com...
Several months ago I was floundering around, looking for some
economical means of transporting foundry coke from Alabama to Texas, so
I can build a collection of cast iron machine tools which will be full
sized versions of the circa 1890 miniatures which are sold by Papa Mike
at PM Research. Well, it seems that I picked up a flamer somewhere
along the way, so I just ducked out for awhile, and decided that I
would not post again until I had something significant to report.
Well, now I do, so here goes.

Since I was a boy, I have understood that it is possible to run a
diesel engine on vegetable oil. Of course, Mister Diesel himself was
fond of of doing so, and demonstrated this process at the World's Fair
in 1901, for the entire world to see, and to understand. Then again,
there has been of course an increasing level of interest in the subject
of biodiesel fuel, which can be used in an unmodified diesel vehicle,
which is made from vegetable oil, and which can be made at the amateur
level.

Amidst all of this understanding about diesel engines, what had somehow
completely escaped my attention, until a few months ago anyway, is that
it is possible to use _recycled_ cooking oil as a diesel fuel. This is
the item which led me to realize that I quite simply cannot afford
_not_ to convert to diesel!

Well, I now have a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel pickup parked in my
driveway, and I am getting ready to lower the engine out of the engine
well, which is an interesting little detail in itself, since I found
put that it is not necessary to lift the engine out. Thanks to the
internet, I can get all of the advice which I will ever need in order
to get this little guy working, and it is quite remarkable just how
much my new truck looks like my old one, which is a Mazda/Ranger.

Well, this is certainly a genuine metalworking project, so I thought I
might as well post about it. My other current projects are a one man
band and a homebrew radiology system ( x rays ).

Mike Mandaville
Austin, Texas

On 16 Mar 2006 19:52:12 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm,
"MikeMandaville" quickly quoth:

Hello, Emmo,

I have no idea where I am going to get my yellow grease, as it is
called by those who buy and sell recycled cooking oil. It has been the
better part of a year though since I made the down payment on my
Rabbit, and it is likely to be that long again before I finish
rebuilding the engine. Considering how much cooking oil is recycled
each year, though, I am not at all worried that I might not be able to
find a source. Many people evidently do pay to have it hauled away,
and where it is sold, it of course goes for a rock bottom price. To a
restaurant owner, yellow grease is nothing more than waste, which is
fit only to be hauled away.

Seeing as the cookers for the biodiesel are going for $2-3k, you very
likely won't have NEARLY as much competition as I'd suspected before
researching it. Contact all your local greasy spoons and fast "food"
restaurants. Ask them what they do with it and go from there. Offer to
haul it away for free and it's probably yours.


---
-If thy poster offends thee, *PLONK* it out.-
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

MikeMandaville wrote:
Hello, Clif,

I'm sure that you are right about the acceleration. Maybe I should
convert it into a hybrid! :-)

A diesel/electric hybrid looks like the best possible combo.

your injector pump is gonna choke when that goo solidifies inside.

Tony

"MikeMandaville" wrote in message
oups.com...
Several months ago I was floundering around, looking for some
economical means of transporting foundry coke from Alabama to Texas, so
I can build a collection of cast iron machine tools which will be full
sized versions of the circa 1890 miniatures which are sold by Papa Mike
at PM Research. Well, it seems that I picked up a flamer somewhere
along the way, so I just ducked out for awhile, and decided that I
would not post again until I had something significant to report.
Well, now I do, so here goes.

Since I was a boy, I have understood that it is possible to run a
diesel engine on vegetable oil. Of course, Mister Diesel himself was
fond of of doing so, and demonstrated this process at the World's Fair
in 1901, for the entire world to see, and to understand. Then again,
there has been of course an increasing level of interest in the subject
of biodiesel fuel, which can be used in an unmodified diesel vehicle,
which is made from vegetable oil, and which can be made at the amateur
level.

Amidst all of this understanding about diesel engines, what had somehow
completely escaped my attention, until a few months ago anyway, is that
it is possible to use _recycled_ cooking oil as a diesel fuel. This is
the item which led me to realize that I quite simply cannot afford
_not_ to convert to diesel!

Well, I now have a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel pickup parked in my
driveway, and I am getting ready to lower the engine out of the engine
well, which is an interesting little detail in itself, since I found
put that it is not necessary to lift the engine out. Thanks to the
internet, I can get all of the advice which I will ever need in order
to get this little guy working, and it is quite remarkable just how
much my new truck looks like my old one, which is a Mazda/Ranger.

Well, this is certainly a genuine metalworking project, so I thought I
might as well post about it. My other current projects are a one man
band and a homebrew radiology system ( x rays ).

Mike Mandaville
Austin, Texas

Hello, Karl,

The book to which you are referring is probably "The Scientific
American Book of Projects for The Amateur Scientist", and the x ray
article from that book is online. Here is a link to that article:

http://www.noah.org/science/x-ray/stong/

I myself plan on building an electro-mechanical "static electricity"
generator to power the tube. A typical dental x ray tube will operate
at about seventy-five thousand volts, and at about five milliamps.
This makes a Wimshurst electro-mechanical generator a good choice, and
back in the nineteenth century, this is what most amateur radiologists
were using to power their tubes.

By the way, I also plan on building the tube itself, and a mercury
vacuum pump to evacuate it. The high voltage, mercury, and x rays are
all potential health hazards, of course, and so safety will be my first
priority.

Mike Mandaville
on the trailing edge of technology

Hello, Tony,

Those who run vegetable oil thin it first, usually by preheating. I
myself plan on heating everything from the tank to the injectors. Even
if I had the several thousand dollars which it would take to have this
done for me, I would not want to wait for my injectors to come back
from Germany.

Mike Mandaville

Emmo, all I can say is that your friend sounds like the type of person
who couldn't find iron ore on a black sand beach.

Mike Mandaville

Have you found a restaurant that will give you their used grease? Once you
have, then I will agree with you. Until then, I agree with him. Myself, I
simply don't know...

"MikeMandaville" wrote in message
ups.com...
Emmo, all I can say is that your friend sounds like the type of person
who couldn't find iron ore on a black sand beach.

Mike Mandaville