Veggie Conversion

Patience currently can run on biodiesel or regular diesel. The Baltimore Biodiesel Cooperative is 1.5mi from my house, I registered with them & will pay "non-member" rates which are $0.75 more per gallon. If I paid $100 for a one-year membership, I'd pay regular price, which is currently $3.25 for B99.9, which is 99.9% biodiesel, 0.1% regular diesel.

My friend Will recommended some guys to do my veggie conversion: vegpower.com, who used to be used in Ithaca, and now they are mainly in Northern NJ, outside of NYC.

I gave them the specs on Patience & requested a conversion quote before I bought her. Gregg Wicken  at vegpower spoke to Emily (who then still owned Patience) & he spoke to me, confirmed that the van could be converted & he was working on the quote. I got the quote the following Tuesday, 3/16. The quote is $3,461.62 & I will describe in my own terms. In short: It is a fancy conversion with bells, whistles, safeguards.

My Understanding of How Veggie Conversion Works:

Your standard diesel tank remains. A second tank, for veggie oil (in this case, 15-gal) is put inside the car. A new fuel "hole" is added to the car's exterior, to pump into. You start driving on diesel, which warms up the veggie tank: The veggie oil kind gels/gunkifies in cool weather, and you do NOT want that going through your engine. Think of after you fry bacon, you sit & eat breakfast, and then you go back to the pan and the grease has hardened. But if you were to turn the pan on, it would liquify. Ok? Well, my veggie tank will have heating coils in it. When I start driving on diesel & the coils heat up the veggie oil. In a few minutes, the temperature of the veggie oil is high enough for me to press a button on the dashboard to switch to veggie oil. I'll have a temp gauge for the veggie oil tank on the dashboard, which tells me when I can switch over. Before I stop driving, I'll need to switch back over to diesel/biodiesel, so that the diesel/biodiesel fluid can flush out all the veggie oil from the engine, etc. -- you don't want that veggie oil sitting around & getting gunky when you turn the car off. 

Wait, What Do I Mean By "veggie oil"?

I'd be using waste veggie oil (WVO), which would be oil already used by restaurants in their fryers. When restaurants empty their fryers of this veggie oil, it usually goes in a dumpster out back, which may be owned by & emptied by a removal/disposal company. The restaurant probably has a contract with a company who they pay to take this grease away. This company might own the dumpster out back, and the company charges based on how much oil they remove from the dumpster. So, if you are taking from this dumpster, you are stealing from the removal company & they are not happy. The restaurant may tell you that you can take the oil from the dumpster, but once the oil goes in that dumpster, it really doesn't belong to the restaurant anymore, so the restaurant doesn't have legal authority to tell you to take it. So, you can ask the restaurant to give you the oil after they empty it from their fryer, instead of putting it in the dumpster. You taking their oil saves them money. (Removal usually costs them money.)

Or, perhaps the restaurant owns the dumpster, and can legally give you permission.

Or, perhaps the restaurant actually sells their oil, for cheap, to, say, a biodiesel manufacturer. (Because this oil can be processed into biodiesel). In which case, they might not want to give me their oil. But, maybe they will, just this once, if I am nice. ;)

So, it takes some talking & visiting many restaurants to fill up. I can get free fuel, but the cost is time & inconvenience. It will be a challenge. Benefits: recycling, not supporting douchebag oil companies, foreign oil independence, decreased exhaust emissions: no sulfur dioxide or sulfate emissions (those are the major contributors to acid rain), carbon monoxide emissions decreased by 40-60%, carcinogens decreased by 90%, hydrocarbons decreased by 50%, soot decreased by 50%. (Citation Reference)

I could go into the supermarket & get any kind of veggie oil & put it in the van, but this is expensive & not a recycled product.

Pumping & Filtering

My conversion comes with a super-awesome filtration pump system (the RoadTote) that allows me to pump (6gal per minute, powered by the car battery) straight from dumpsters, with the peace of mind that the quality of the oil isn't going to screw up the van. Any oil coming out of the dispensing handle will be properly suited for fuel. (Filtered to 3 microns.) The initial filter in the pump/RoadTote is a wand that is washable/cleanable, then the other filter needs to be changed every 100-300gal, and they are $17. I can also pump into spare containers.

Many people filter the oil themself: they test the oil's quality before deciding they want to pump it (you want it to be nonhydrogenated, no/low animal fat content, no/barely any water, not overused), then they pump it & & perhaps first let it sit in a drum to allow for a simple gravity settle (over 2days minimally to 2wks ideally), then ciphoning from the top of THAT drum into a neighboring drum, passing the oil through a "sock" filter (often a 5 micron filter) before it enters the next drum. Then, perhaps "sock-filtering" it again through another 5-micrn filter. After that, it still may be crappy & screw your car up. 

Dashboard:

The dashboard will get:

-fuel gauge for the veggie tank, to know when its time to fill 'er up.

-filter gauge for the veggie tank, know when its time to change the fuel filter (different from the pump filters.)
-temp gauge for the veggie oil tank, so I know when the veggie oil is heated enough to start using as fuel.
-a button to switch between diesel/biodiesel & veggie oil

These are some basics.

I am dropping the van off & discussing the conversion on the morning of Sunday, May 23rd.

2nd Mechanic: Desmond's, Parkville, MD

Eventually, there came a day where Patience wouldn't start. Also, a couple of times while pulling away, there was a squealing sound, associated with the belts I imagined. I still hadn't gotten the water pump belt done like Dr. Dave told me. Or the coolant flush. Tsk tsk tsk!!

I decided to bring Patience to Desmond's, as recommended by my friend Jason who is a mechanic. Desmond's was also listed favorably on some of the websites of Vanagon mechanics I listed previously. They're expensive but great, so I hear & read. It took a week & a half to get an "appointment". I dropped her off for a 4/7 "appointment", and am picking her up this evening on 4/23. We talked about the work being in the range of $1,000 & the final pricetag was $1,140.

Work done on her by Desmond's:

(image from Wikipedia)

-My mechanic at Desmond's (Doug) thinks my starting problem is me not starting the van correctly. *blush* I hadn't been waiting for glow plugs to warm up. Unlike in a in a gasoline-engine car, the doesn't simply turn the key to the "start" position & have the engine immediately start. Instead, driver turns the key to the "on" position; the glowplug relay switches the glowplugs on, and a light on the instrument cluster illuminates. I've read & been told this is "warming up" the van. I thought "warming up" the van was letting it run idly for a few minutes before taking off. I thought this glow plug procedure was only for cold weather. Not so! Anyway, this is good news for me, because it means it is not Patience's fault.

-The valve cover gasket was leaking onto the water pump belt & timing belt. The valve cover gasket was replaced, and the belts replaced.

-The head gasket is leaking a little, it is okay, not environmentally friendly. The head gasket was done not too long ago, and he believes it is a good job, and if he tried to torque the head gaskets, it could ruin them all together requiring a full replacement. He recommended it stay as is, because it is okay, as long as it isn't leaking onto the belts.

-The filler neck is also leaking. The filler neck on Patience is not the van's original filler neck (must have been changed at some time), and they do not make the originals anymore & they are hard to find online. The leak isn't bad, but good to fix. He consulted with Desmond about how to handle this (bending/welding..) & their plan was to do some welding to seal the leak.

1st Mechanic: VW Joe, Severna Park, MD

STARTING PROBLEMS,

BATTERY TERMINAL REPLACEMENT,

ODOMETER FIXED

I didn't write things down, but about a few days later, she wouldn't start without a jump from the jump-starter. I started her a few times with the jump-starter. I decided to bring her to VW Joe, Severna Park, MD. I found him on TheSamba.com, here. Other websites where I shopped for Vanagon mechanics are here: 1 2 or 3. Patience started for him fine, three days in a row. He really didn't try to diagnose the problem since the problem wasn't presenting itself, as a lot of time can be wasted in trying to do so. He did mention the sketchy wiring that Dr. Dave in Asheville had showed me, and offered to replace the terminal for $80. I said sure. I also asked him to fix the odometer, and he said $200, and I said sure. I decided to have this be the only work he does on it, because I didn't like him too much. I liked him better in person than on the phone, but he was still expensive & I still wasn't crazy about him.. Felt I didn't truly trust that he cared about Patience. That may be sensitive, but I went with my gut..

Odometer: A new bit was broken, which he replaced. Then there was a gear that had been super-glued back together in a previous repair under Emily's ownership, and came apart when he was working. He glued it back together.
NEWS! May 1st: I notice the odometer is going too fast! Estimate: It moves about 10 miles for 1 actual mile. I need to bring it back to VW Joe. *sigh*. In the meantime, the odometer is catching up to its actual mileage.

Drive From Asheville, NC --> Baltimore, MD

THE DRIVE FROM ASHEVILLE, NC TO BALTIMORE

NEED JUMP START, THEN SMOOTH SAILING.

The next morning, I was up around 3:30am due to cat allergies, can't get back to sleep, and I'm facing a 12 hour drive. But its too exciting a day to be tired!

We attempt to leave around 9am, but the van won't start. (We'll find out why, here.) I try a few times. I call Emily, she thinks perhaps it needs a jump because she has had to jump it a few times because it was sitting in the cold. Or, she thinks maybe the battery cells need more distilled water -- something they had meant to check, but hadn't. Natasha didn't have jumper cables, so she drives me to a store & I buy jump-starter, which I like to have. (Previous one lost in stolen car.) On the drive back to Natasha's, we come from the other side of Beaucatcher Mountain, and she points to a Haunted Bridge, which is near her house.

Last year, I visited Asheville in October with Feivel. We woke up around dawn Saturday morning, and went to "hunt the sunrise". We drove, ending up on Beaucatcher Mountain, and we ended up on the Haunted Bridge Natasha had just pointed out. I just googled Beaucatcher Mountain to make a hyperlink, and part of the common paranormal activity of Helen's Bridge is car trouble near the bridge, or after visiting. Hmm...

The jumper wouldn't start the van, Emily called, I updated her, she said she would come jump me, and I also still owed her like $1,500.

We lit the hookah (strawberry shisha) & walked to a bridge (not the haunted one) and blew hookah smoke-filled-bubbles, which drift off forever in irridescent smokiness until they go *smokePOOF*.

Emily arrives, van is jumped, she drives us in Patience to the nearest ATM (so I wouldn't stall & kill the battery again. She was happy to give Patience one last drive), her Matthrew drives her car, I get & give her money. She says if I am ever going to sell Patience, to call her. This day, she also gave me osha root tincture she made herself for my wheezing, which was spurred by Natasha's cats, because I didn't have an inhaler. Add 1-2 drops to water, or take directly. It opens the bronchioles. I've appreciated it.

I was hoping I could get to the highway without stalling - even though the car had now been running for about half an hour, I didn't want to stall & not be able to start the car again. Pulling out of the gas station, I immediately stalled. Kylara & I immediately looked at each other. I turned the key..car starts! :) We are on our way. Patience had been filled the day before, by Emily, with B20, which is 20% biodiesel, 80% diesel (plain old diesel.)

I didn't write down how much diesel I figured we used, but I figured it cost $60 in diesel, diesel being about $3.20ish?

Including many stops, some rather leisurely, it was a 12 hour drive, which is what we were figuring, considering she is slow. The fastest she ever hit was 70mph, when having speed going into a downhill & rolling in neutral gear. She may have gone as slow as 35mph a FEW times, on a steep incline, which I didn't have proper speed going into. (I had previously only driven stick on a highway very briefly, in a tiny car.) I'm getting the hang of it & it shouldn't be normal for her to slow down to 35mph in the future. I'd say average speed of 55mph.

Picking Up Patience

PICKING UP PATIENCE:

INSPECTION & DRIVING AWAY

Next morning, 3/13: Kylara, Allison & I drop the rental car off, Emily picks us up off the side of the road in Patience, and we go to a mechanic, Dr. Dave, in Asheville, NC. I found this mechanic by posting a message to the Asheville Couchsurfing group, and he was EXCELLENT -- I will give you his info if you need a Vanagon mechanic in Asheville. Inspecting the car, test driving it, paperwork, etc. took around 4 hours? I felt very good about it. Work done on her: Dr. Dave put in a new (used) temperature gauge, as the other one burned out when Emily had Patience in Death Valley. He put on a new water pump belt because it was loose & missing teeth. He wasn't satisfied with the tension--he told me that when I get back to Baltimore, I was to get a belt 1/4in-1/2in smaller & have mechanic put it on. He said there was an oil leak - "not terrible, not good". I would want it checked out. He said he believed there was only about 110K miles on it. He changed the fuel filter (there were 2 sitting around in the car, so, "why not?") & showed me how, it is easy. He pointed out some sketchy wiring at the battery terminal that would be good to fix up. He said the coolant looked milky - had some oil in it. Needs a coolant flush. He test drove it on the highway & side roads.

I drive the car away from the mechanic, to the foot of a VERY steep uphill which leads to the road. Kylara offers to drive up it, I say sure, might as well not have me kill the car so fast. We switch seats, and Kylara's attempts are failing. We (at least I), sit in calm, confident silence. Fail. Fail. Allison suggests we get a mechanic to get Patience up the hill. We sit in calm silence, thinking.

Me: "Can I try?"

Kylara: "Sure"

Me: "Maybe there will be some magic."

Kylara: "That would be good."

Annnnnd she goes right on up the hill on the first try!!! Glory be ours!! (The problem when Kylara was trying was that the stick wasn't actually in 1st. It can be tricky to really know what gear it is in, until you get used to it.)

We stopped to get beer (which involved reversing for my first time in Patience, more great success) and continued to Natasha & Gavin's. They live on top of Beaucatcher Mountain, and their driveway is practically vertical. We made it up with ease, glory still be ours. :) We made delicious, triumphant dinner, drank wine, talked about life & things, went to sleep early cause we were beat! (From lack of sleep previous night.)

The Beginning: Meet Patience

MEET PATIENCE

Basically, a friend once casually suggested "We should get a van & convert it to run on veggie oil." My reaction was, "YES!" I started reading about veggie oil conversions. I started emailing with friends & friends of friends who have done it for years, and still do it. I started searching Craigslist, Carmax & E-bay. I would simply query "diesel truck" or "diesel van", and look at EVERYTHING. I was liking the space in the long Chevy Suburban, or some Toyota vans. I wasn't thinking about VWs, until I saw Patience on E-bay, 5am on Tuesday, March 9th. Bidding was closing that day. For the next 8+ hours, before bidding ended, I was reading about Vanagons, the 82 Diesel Vanagon Westy and how well veggie conversions went with them. Eventually, my gut told me to go for it. I put a first bid in, and then learned about "reserve" prices. The "reserve" price is a hidden minimum that the seller will sell the vehicle for. When bidding ends, if the highest bid is lower than that hidden "reserve" price, the vehicle doesn't sell. When you make a bid, you are told whether you have met the reserve price yet. I never made it, after making around 11 bids, starting at $3,500 and ending at $8,000. "WHAT IS THE RESERVE PRICE?!?!?" I was yelling in my head all day, in my cubicle. When I still hadn't met the reserve at 8K, I messaged her to call me, because I was interested.

At work, I see an incoming call on my cell, it is a Maryland number. Her name is Emily, she is the van owner, I am surprised & happy. We agree on the phone to $8K, I tell her I feel pretty sure about this, and figure that I will go down there that weekend to get it, after looking at it.

I find the girl on couchsurfing.org, and learn that the van's name is Patience from her photo album. I've gladly kept the name.

The next day, Kylara taught me how to drive stick in Ridgely's Delight, my old Baltimore neighborhood. She was a very calm, patient, awesome teacher. At first I was okay..then, not so much...then we took a break, and I was better...then, not so much. At the end, I drove from Kylara's in Edmonson Village to Hampden, which is a 20+ min trip. I considered the day a fair success.

Friday, I withdrew as much cash as I can to pay for the car, because I don't have a bank in Maryland. Kylara withdraws her savings (she is THE BEST) & I write her a check. Allison, Kylara, Tomko & I go in a rental car to Asheville, NC get there very late, stay with Natasha & Gavin (Bonaventure friends). We had a little wine & caught up with each other, went to bed too late (4:30am?).

Meet Patience:

-Sleeps 2 people below & 2 up top in the loft. You see a picture of a hatch which you push to open up the pop-top, which creates a loft enclosed by tent canvas. There is a tent canvas zipper window up there, whcih you can open, and has screening to keep bugs out, like a tent. 

-2 burner stove (propane)

-fridge (propane)

-sink (isn't working)

-the front seats swivel to face each other & a table can come out. Or the front seats turn all the way around to face the back.

-many storage compartments

-CD player, with an i-pod/mp3 player jack

-2 room tent built for the Vanagon Westfalia, it attaches to the doorway, as shown.