Jim's Veggie Car

2005-10-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an overall view of the engine compartment. I have painted the conversion components red to highlight them. After the weather cooled down I insulated them with reflectix insulation to help maintain the heat and to help the changeover times.More of a front view showing where the system tee's into the heater hoses. Notice the ball valves in the center so that I can isolate the WVO system in case of a catastrophic leak.
A close up of the main heat exchanger with the filters. The body of the HX is a Sporlan filter shell from a large air conditioning chiller. It originally contained ceramic cartridges. The coolant comes in the bottom of it directly from the cars cylinder head and exits out the rear into the HIH pipe to the rear tank. Notice the WVO filter nestled into the HX. I bored a hole through the shell and brazed in a copper pipe that the filter slides into with a tight fit. After the WVO leaves the filter it goes into a 20 ft length of 1/4 inch copper coiled into the HX shell before it gets to the 3 port valve. You can see to the right of the valve a water temp sensor that goes to a guage on the dash and tells me the coolant temp as it enters the HX. Directly below that is the return solenoid that is presently having another one added to it so I can loop the fuel or send diesel back down the WVO line when I purge to shut down.
A close up shot of the ball valve that goes to the HX. It is now insulated along with the rest of the lines to maintain a higher system temp.
A cheap inline filter that is directly before the IP. I use this as much as a sight glass as anything. it lets me see if there is air in the system and it has a replaceable element.
A shot of the tank/filter plumbing in the trunk. It consists mostly of plumb pex tubing and fittings from a local plumbing supply house. The connectors crimp on and I found a lot cheaper tool to do the job than the $150.00 one they wanted to sell me. Notice the 2 venting valves left of center. They help to get the air out of the system. I also installed brass shut offs in the fuel lines to help in changing filters. The coil of copper on the filter is mostly to keep it from getting solid as the HIH and front HX do most of the heating of the WVO. It is now insulated along with the other lines. There is a PVC bushing in the floor that it all comes through.
A close up of the plumbing. Notice the 2 ball valves in the center that are partially closed. They go to my 2 tank HX's. In the summer once the tank is heated I can shut off the coolant and use the return WVO to maintain enough heat. Otherwise it would heat up the rear of the car and it does smell like somethings cooking back there ;^). You can also see the detail that went into making it all come together. I am presently a refrigeration mechanic and have done plumbing for years so I made it so I only had to do it once.
Overall view of the trunk area. It's all painted up nice now with a rubber mat and insulation. The tank is a 55 gallon barrel cut down to 7 inches which is about 10 gallons and it fits pretty well into the tire well. The bottom of the well is insulated with 1" pink board and the sides of the tank are wrapped with reflectix. There is a 1/2 copper tube welded to the bottom of the whole tank and a 3/8 copper coil similar to the one on the filter that is located around my fuel pickup and return lines. It allows the car to have a quicker switchover because it can liquify the fuel in a small area allowing the oil to flow and it also serves as a baffle. The supply line is 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the tank bottom and the return just sprays into the coiled area next to the supply.
The lid open ready to receive some grease. I welded 1/2 square tubing to the lid to go down inside a similar tubing configuration on the tank top. It makes a baffle that so far(4 months) has not leaked any fuel. You can see the 2 knobs that screw down to hold the lid in place laying by the opening. The whole conversion cost about $600.00 with $350.00 of that being the plumbing parts and $250.00 of that from NAPA. I saved a lot by making all of the parts but it took about 3 months of steady effort. It was a lot more work getting the car itself fixed up because it had sat in a field for a few years and was quite worn out. I picked up 2 gas engine parts cars for $50.00 and that helped a lot. I drive it daily and my wife and I have taken it on many weekend long trips. It's great to have $10.00 worth of diesel last for a couple of weeks.

Jim B.

Jim's Veggie Car