The day after I bought it.
Just before I left Illinois.
Now.
Total cost. <$0
Thank God for Vegetable Oil, and great deals! :D
Before and After
The day after I bought it.
Just before I left Illinois.
Now.
Total cost. <$0
Thank God for Vegetable Oil, and great deals! :D
More WVO news.
Here are a couple videos related to my Vegetable Oil hobby.
Here's a video of how I fueled my 1800 mile trip out west on 100% Waste Vegetable Oil. Ok, I did use a little less than a gallon of Diesel starting and shutting it off on my way out.
Here's the latest on my Vegetable Oil filtration setup.
Here's a video of how I fueled my 1800 mile trip out west on 100% Waste Vegetable Oil. Ok, I did use a little less than a gallon of Diesel starting and shutting it off on my way out.
Here's the latest on my Vegetable Oil filtration setup.
Idaho!
Wow, it has definitely been a long time since I updated this blog, but I got a little more time than I'm used to today so I figured I'd get'er done! :)
For those of you who don't know, I am now in Idaho mentoring with Dr. David Erb, studying music! Dr. Erb teaches at New St. Andrew's College, and Logos Christian School as well as being chief musician at Christ's Church. The school year is just starting to get going, and next week will be my first 'typical' week. The weather has been amazing! Mid-low nineties on average, relatively dry and blue skies! Great summer weather. :)
Here are some pictures from the way out, hopefully more to come as the year progresses...
Heading through Montana, totally in my element. All 28 hours and I never got sick of the sound of that thing. :)
Looking extremely healthy! :) I couldn't have asked for better.
I drove the whole 1500 miles to Moscow, ID on vegetable oil, using less than one gallon of Diesel starting it up and shutting it off.
Along the way I did roll over 222,222.2 miles! :)
I like this picture cause you can see my rig and get a taste of the scenery! :)
Ok, enough about my truck...
Somewhere in South Dakota I believe, almost Montana.
Almost through the pass! The mountain scenery was amazing in Montana! I wish I could have captured it better with my camera.
Through the pass, and the beginning of a gorgeous view on the other side.
Thank you for the welcome Idaho! This would have been at almost 11:00pm, and Idaho desperately needs new paint on their roads! My technique was find a vehicle going a decent speed, hang on their tail for dear life, and hope they know the road better than I do. lol
Last Saturday a group from the area went out hiking in the mountains near Elk River Falls. Such beautiful scenery! It was a cool day, but that didn't keep us out of the water... Over the barricade we go, and down the mountain goat paths (where we had the luxury of them)!
Hiking/sliding down the slope to the swimming hole at the middle falls. :)
At first we swam at the middle falls which you can see at the top of the picture. After spending about a half hour there, we climbed down to the bottom of the lower falls and swam/climbed up the river right to the bottom of the lower falls, where there was a neat little ledge behind the falls that could hold about six guys or so. One neat thing about being behind the falls there was that the wind from the falls was causing the air to swirl in such a way that if you threw water up in the air, it just kept going up! lol It was also neat jumping off the ledge into/through the water fall. The force of the water was incredible!
Afterward we drove up to Elk River where we got some Huckleberry Ice Cream. :) Mmmmm...
For reference, you're looking at about half the town right here. Haha...
On the way back we got stared down by Mrs. Cow... Many thanks to our trusty driver, we didn't hit it this time! :D
Oh and Idaho cows are very different than Illinois cows! This cow turned and ran up the slope to our left effortlessly! Like a deer! Haha... I couldn't believe my eyes.
Sorry this has been really choppy and fast, but I've gotta run and move some timpani's with my truck. Hopefully more to come later!
To the church and other friends back home, I miss you guys!
For those of you who don't know, I am now in Idaho mentoring with Dr. David Erb, studying music! Dr. Erb teaches at New St. Andrew's College, and Logos Christian School as well as being chief musician at Christ's Church. The school year is just starting to get going, and next week will be my first 'typical' week. The weather has been amazing! Mid-low nineties on average, relatively dry and blue skies! Great summer weather. :)
Here are some pictures from the way out, hopefully more to come as the year progresses...
Heading through Montana, totally in my element. All 28 hours and I never got sick of the sound of that thing. :)
Looking extremely healthy! :) I couldn't have asked for better.I drove the whole 1500 miles to Moscow, ID on vegetable oil, using less than one gallon of Diesel starting it up and shutting it off.
Along the way I did roll over 222,222.2 miles! :)
I like this picture cause you can see my rig and get a taste of the scenery! :)Ok, enough about my truck...
Somewhere in South Dakota I believe, almost Montana.
Almost through the pass! The mountain scenery was amazing in Montana! I wish I could have captured it better with my camera.
Through the pass, and the beginning of a gorgeous view on the other side.
Thank you for the welcome Idaho! This would have been at almost 11:00pm, and Idaho desperately needs new paint on their roads! My technique was find a vehicle going a decent speed, hang on their tail for dear life, and hope they know the road better than I do. lol
Last Saturday a group from the area went out hiking in the mountains near Elk River Falls. Such beautiful scenery! It was a cool day, but that didn't keep us out of the water... Over the barricade we go, and down the mountain goat paths (where we had the luxury of them)!
Hiking/sliding down the slope to the swimming hole at the middle falls. :)
At first we swam at the middle falls which you can see at the top of the picture. After spending about a half hour there, we climbed down to the bottom of the lower falls and swam/climbed up the river right to the bottom of the lower falls, where there was a neat little ledge behind the falls that could hold about six guys or so. One neat thing about being behind the falls there was that the wind from the falls was causing the air to swirl in such a way that if you threw water up in the air, it just kept going up! lol It was also neat jumping off the ledge into/through the water fall. The force of the water was incredible!
Afterward we drove up to Elk River where we got some Huckleberry Ice Cream. :) Mmmmm...For reference, you're looking at about half the town right here. Haha...
On the way back we got stared down by Mrs. Cow... Many thanks to our trusty driver, we didn't hit it this time! :DOh and Idaho cows are very different than Illinois cows! This cow turned and ran up the slope to our left effortlessly! Like a deer! Haha... I couldn't believe my eyes.
Sorry this has been really choppy and fast, but I've gotta run and move some timpani's with my truck. Hopefully more to come later!
To the church and other friends back home, I miss you guys!
Veggie Mobile Tour
A tour of the mostly finished conversion (I always seem to be modifying something).
More info on Waste Vegetable Oil :)
I've been in the process of organizing/updating/rebuilding all my Waste Vegetable Oil stuff that needed improvement. Here's my new oil filtration setup!
New Exhaust on my Truck
Here's a couple videos of my most recent project on my truck! The weather has been so good the last few days that I just couldn't help getting outside and climbing under that thing. :)
As you can see in the second video, I decided to put the exhaust outlet behind the rear passenger's side tire. I found a guy who'd do the whole thing for only $70, so I went with it! I was a little nervous due to the low price (other shops quoting around $200), but the final product was very well done! They did a great job on it. :)
As you can see in the second video, I decided to put the exhaust outlet behind the rear passenger's side tire. I found a guy who'd do the whole thing for only $70, so I went with it! I was a little nervous due to the low price (other shops quoting around $200), but the final product was very well done! They did a great job on it. :)
Sorry I've been silent on here for so long. :/ Here's a video from last weekend with my little niece Camille! :)
Vlog Update
First off, last weekend we got Luke's truck up and running on Waste Vegetable Oil for the first time! :) Here's a video from that...Secondly, we've been having some crazy weather up here!
And where exactly is the road? Unfortunately all the roads were not covered with snow, and the bare ice is what's really scary!Update 11-17-08
Last Saturday I finished my first program on the CNC. I didn't get a chance to run it until today, but here's the video of it!
Any CNC programmer can tell I didn't do this quite right, but hey it worked! :) I wrote the program entirely by entering X, Y, and Z coordinates.
Last Saturday after work I helped rake leaves, which included some fun with the little guys. :)
Notice Winston at the end of the video. I think he's got some leaves in his mouth! :)
Any CNC programmer can tell I didn't do this quite right, but hey it worked! :) I wrote the program entirely by entering X, Y, and Z coordinates.
Last Saturday after work I helped rake leaves, which included some fun with the little guys. :)
Notice Winston at the end of the video. I think he's got some leaves in his mouth! :)
My Kind of S10!
Now this is my kind of S10! :) Uh, I'm talking about the big one... And could we make that a 6.5L Diesel? Haha...
Work, lots and lots of work.
Over the past couple weeks there's been a lot going on. It started for the most part while working nights in Chicago laying tile in a bank down there...
Driving down in my truck is always fun! I love driving in the city!
Here I am on a scaffold laying tile in el Baño...
Oh, I didn't mention it's called 'Banco Popular', so we spoke as much Spanish as we could. :p The rooftop view at night is really neat!
And there is one of the bathrooms that I tiled. Thanks Aaron for all the cuts! Aaron also drove my truck home one night so I was able to see it on the road for the first time! That was pretty cool. :)
Last Wednesday I went from working nights in Chicago to working in Woodstock at Phoenix Woodworking, on a shift starting at 6:00am. That took some getting used to! I'm enjoying it there, and have been spending a lot of time learning/operating the CNC. Here are a couple videos of that.
Driving down in my truck is always fun! I love driving in the city!
Here I am on a scaffold laying tile in el Baño...
Oh, I didn't mention it's called 'Banco Popular', so we spoke as much Spanish as we could. :p The rooftop view at night is really neat!
And there is one of the bathrooms that I tiled. Thanks Aaron for all the cuts! Aaron also drove my truck home one night so I was able to see it on the road for the first time! That was pretty cool. :)Last Wednesday I went from working nights in Chicago to working in Woodstock at Phoenix Woodworking, on a shift starting at 6:00am. That took some getting used to! I'm enjoying it there, and have been spending a lot of time learning/operating the CNC. Here are a couple videos of that.
Making Progress
Among the many tasks around here in preparing our home for winter, I am still making progress on preparing my truck for winter! Here's a couple pictures from yesterday...
Start by scratching the roof about three million times. A fingernail works great for this. lol jk Definitely want a power tool for this one!
Mask the edges and...
Apply spray-on bed liner to top of cab! I did this cause with all the junk that sometimes gets piled in my bed (and overflows onto the roof) the roof was getting beat up, and starting some light surface rust.
I also put spray-on bed liner on the bottom few inches of the truck, to prevent rust from breaking out down there. How do you like the new color scheme for my wheels?
And for a little of something new that I've been up to...
Here's the scrap yard where I'm taking junk metal from a neighbor who is cleaning his barn! :)
Start by scratching the roof about three million times. A fingernail works great for this. lol jk Definitely want a power tool for this one!Mask the edges and...
Apply spray-on bed liner to top of cab! I did this cause with all the junk that sometimes gets piled in my bed (and overflows onto the roof) the roof was getting beat up, and starting some light surface rust.
I also put spray-on bed liner on the bottom few inches of the truck, to prevent rust from breaking out down there. How do you like the new color scheme for my wheels?I'm guessing I'll be done with the exterior sometime middle of next week. Stay tuned!
And for a little of something new that I've been up to...
Here's the scrap yard where I'm taking junk metal from a neighbor who is cleaning his barn! :)Winter is coming!
Well winter is on it's way in Northern IL, and today the high was around 55 degrees! I decided it's finally time to finish up all the 'summer projects' that I wanted to do on my truck before winter Haha... So today I went out and started on a couple small rust holes that needed to be dealt with, as well as coating the bottom of the body with spray on bed-liner to protect it from dings and consequently rust. Here's the beginning of the project...
Here I am freezing in my junky work clothes that are much better in warm weather! lol
Stay tuned for pictures of when it's totally done! I doubt you'll recognize the truck. :)
Here I am freezing in my junky work clothes that are much better in warm weather! lolStay tuned for pictures of when it's totally done! I doubt you'll recognize the truck. :)
Myth Busters!
Before junking an S-10 blazer that I had, I took it out to try push-starting (or pull-starting in this case) an automatic. I've heard that you can do this if you get it up to 35MPH. To me it sounded like a hoax, but I gave it a shot.
There you have it! Myth busted! Haha...
There you have it! Myth busted! Haha...
1st Place!
Hey everyone! Last weekend was our church's 10th Anniversary Celebration! One of the events was a Pinewood derby, and my car took 1st place! Here are some pictures of it...
My car is the yellow and green one (Bio-Fuel colors), and here it is waiting in the pit for the next race.
1st Place!
My car is the yellow and green one (Bio-Fuel colors), and here it is waiting in the pit for the next race.
1st Place!
I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. ~ Psalms 22:19---------------------------------------------------
Instead of re-writing the story, I figured I'd just insert some clips from my journal that tell the story:Aug. 29, 2008
Today we drove the three hours from the Hector’s home to the Pacific Ocean. Swimming there was great! We were wading out as far as we could, and then being swept in as big waves would knock us off our feet. The power of those waves was beyond words. It was so much fun! But because the waves kept coming in with such force we weren’t able to get out to where they were just beginning to break.
Toward the end of the day after playing in the waves, running up and down the beach, playing catch and digging holes in the sand, I decided to try getting out there one more time. I was very exhausted going in, but didn’t see any danger in it. It didn’t even cross my mind as dangerous. I figured it would wash anything up to the shore with its amazing force! So out I went. There were a few guys with me, but I was faster moving out than they, keeping about ten or so feet in front of them. All of a sudden I got out to where a wave broke between them and myself! This drove them inward, but only pushed me farther out. Immediately I started swimming for shore. The swells were huge out there. Between the swells in one valley, I remember touching the bottom, but otherwise I was swimming. It took me no time to realize I didn’t have the energy to fight back. I was under the waves a lot... ...I tried rolling on my back to float, but I’m not much of a floater, and I took in a lot of salt water. I knew I didn’t have a chance. I broke the surface and yelled for help, and the next wave broke behind me! It must have been a huge wave to break that far out, but it drove me in to where other waves were breaking, which drove me back to shore... ...Thinking back, my last words before ‘help!’ were ‘now I’m ready for something big!’. That was back immediately before I was separated from the other guys. At that point I was just excited to have finally made it out to where the big waves were beginning to crash.
Walking away from it... ...It’s obvious God has his hand on my life, and without him I’m truly helpless! Life is truly a vapor. The fact that I’m alive tells me he has more in store for me... ...BTW, from re-reading what I wrote it sounds like I was out there a few seconds. There were a lot of details I didn’t fill in. I spent a few minutes out there struggling, going up and down, and drinking salt water before I finally called for help. I honestly don’t think I could have survived much longer. Even afterward, when I was wading into the shore in thigh deep water, the waves that hit me there kept knocking me over.
Right now I’m laying in the back of the Hectors van cause every muscle in my body hurts. Literally, even the muscles in my feet ache. I’d be sitting, but that hurts my back muscles so bad. Haha… Even eating dinner hurt. I was holding onto my sides during dinner cause of the pain of stretching the muscles with what I had just put inside me... ...I guess there’s a lot to be said for a vigorous aqua-cise after all! :)
---------------------------------------------------
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust... ~ Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. ~ Psalms 28:7
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ~ Psalms 46:1
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. ~ Psalms 62:7
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. ~ Psalms 73:26
The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. ~ Psalms 118:14
O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. ~ Psalms 140:7
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. ~ Isaiah 12:2
...Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD. ~ I Chronicles 28:20
I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. ~ Psalms 18:1
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. ~ Psalms 28:7
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ~ Psalms 46:1
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. ~ Psalms 62:7
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. ~ Psalms 73:26
The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. ~ Psalms 118:14
O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. ~ Psalms 140:7
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. ~ Isaiah 12:2
...Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD. ~ I Chronicles 28:20
I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. ~ Psalms 18:1
1st Anniversary!
One year ago yesterday, my truck drank WVO for the first time! :D
Here's a link back to the pictures of it's maiden voyage. CLICK HERE! It's amazing how much one year changes things. The only thing that's the same on the conversion one year later, is the tank and part of the fuel lines!
Here's a link back to the pictures of it's maiden voyage. CLICK HERE! It's amazing how much one year changes things. The only thing that's the same on the conversion one year later, is the tank and part of the fuel lines!
Makeshift Turbo Controller
What do you do when you want more turbo power for less? Ok, this isn't exactly professional, but it saved me $110 bucks, and for the most part it works!
With this goofy little wire I doubled my turbo pressure! I still have too much back pressure on my exhaust system. Maybe I can change that. ;)
Please note that this is not recommended for 1994 and newer 6.5L diesel engines.
With this goofy little wire I doubled my turbo pressure! I still have too much back pressure on my exhaust system. Maybe I can change that. ;)
Please note that this is not recommended for 1994 and newer 6.5L diesel engines.
I can't even sit still
So for those of you who know me, you know my "luck" with police has been bad from day one... actually no, from day eight to be more precise. If you can imagine it, I can be stopped for it, and I'm NOT exaggerating. To quote a cop that was referring to a ticket he was giving me, he said "Well, you were thinking about doing it". Haha... Well, today something happened that I had never imagined. I was stopped in a parking lot, with the engine off, outside my vehicle, messing with my turbo linkage. Yep, apparently there is a local ordinance against working on your vehicle in a parking lot!
Fortunately he was nice about it and didn't give me a ticket.
:D
Fortunately he was nice about it and didn't give me a ticket.
:D
Winston Playing in My Truck
As is normal for little Boys, my nephew Winston loves cars and trucks! So while working on Luke's truck the other day, he enjoyed playing in my cab. Here's a cute video of him last Thursday.
Luke's Truck's Conversion
Over the past couple days I've had the pleasure of converting my second vehicle to run on Vegetable Oil! Ok, it wasn't MY second vehicle, it was my SECOND vehicle to convert, but it was actually my third conversion! :) Confused yet? Nevermind...
This past Tuesday I went over to my friend Luke's house to work on converting his Diesel truck to run on Vegetable Oil! Here are some pictures from the week...
The main 'workbench' over at his house on tuesday
Part of the conversion at the end of Tuesday... Far from complete, but we made a lot of progress! :)
On Thursday (yesterday) he brought his truck over, and we spent the afternoon and evening trying to wrap things up. In this picture Luke is soldering the 'T's onto the ends of the heated fuel lines.
In this picture I believe Luke is trying to route the heated fuel lines up from the darkness beneath.
Waiting for another wire to pop through the firewall...
...from Ethan my faithful companion electrician. Thanks Ethan for volunteering your help! It was GREATLY appreciated.
Not sure exactly what is happening here, but there is Luke, his truck, myself, and the open door to my blazer (which served as a make-shift tool shelf).
We weren't able to finish completely last night, but they spent the night and after an hour or so of work this morning it's almost done! The only thing left to do is fabricate the fuel tank in Luke's toolbox, and patch into the fuel lines!
This is going to be one sweet ride once it's done, especially after Luke gets the part fixed that makes it go. :P
This past Tuesday I went over to my friend Luke's house to work on converting his Diesel truck to run on Vegetable Oil! Here are some pictures from the week...
The main 'workbench' over at his house on tuesday
Part of the conversion at the end of Tuesday... Far from complete, but we made a lot of progress! :)
On Thursday (yesterday) he brought his truck over, and we spent the afternoon and evening trying to wrap things up. In this picture Luke is soldering the 'T's onto the ends of the heated fuel lines.
In this picture I believe Luke is trying to route the heated fuel lines up from the darkness beneath.
Waiting for another wire to pop through the firewall...
...from Ethan my faithful companion electrician. Thanks Ethan for volunteering your help! It was GREATLY appreciated.
Not sure exactly what is happening here, but there is Luke, his truck, myself, and the open door to my blazer (which served as a make-shift tool shelf).We weren't able to finish completely last night, but they spent the night and after an hour or so of work this morning it's almost done! The only thing left to do is fabricate the fuel tank in Luke's toolbox, and patch into the fuel lines!
This is going to be one sweet ride once it's done, especially after Luke gets the part fixed that makes it go. :P
Also, I will now continue to be updating my little "Amount Saved By Converting My Diesel To W.V.O." meter on the lower right column of my blog. So stay tuned!
More Cool Stuff
Here are a few videos that I took yesterday in relation to my WVO (waste vegetable oil) stuff:
The 'user' view of my conversion.
My filtration setup
The speed of warm vegetable oil
I hope this picture didn't scare you too badly! I still have my truck, and I'm not planning on getting rid of it (sorry if you were interested). There's a story behind this one though...
The 'user' view of my conversion.
My filtration setup
The speed of warm vegetable oil
I hope this picture didn't scare you too badly! I still have my truck, and I'm not planning on getting rid of it (sorry if you were interested). There's a story behind this one though...Part 1: Lately I've been looking for an older s10 blazer to convert to a gas/water hybrid. I wanted to start experimenting on something cheap, but was having a hard time finding a cheap enough blazer with a good engine. So a few days ago I decided to quit the hunt for now, and wait until the time was right.
Part 2: Yesterday a guy came into DeCraenes Service Center (where I work) and told me that he decided to junk his s10 blazer that we were working on. I said not a problem, and he proceeded to ask me if there were any junk yards in the area that would come pick it up... :) I was suddenly thrilled to hear that he didn't have someone on the way yet! So I offered him the going junk-car rate, and got the blazer for $175!
I'm excited to see what will come of this, although I'm a little bit suspicious of this Blazer still :)
Part 2: Yesterday a guy came into DeCraenes Service Center (where I work) and told me that he decided to junk his s10 blazer that we were working on. I said not a problem, and he proceeded to ask me if there were any junk yards in the area that would come pick it up... :) I was suddenly thrilled to hear that he didn't have someone on the way yet! So I offered him the going junk-car rate, and got the blazer for $175!
I'm excited to see what will come of this, although I'm a little bit suspicious of this Blazer still :)
This post is more for my pleasure looking back years from now
Today I worked on my truck, connecting the turbo boost/vac gauge. I love the sound of my truck!
Here it is running without the intake manifold. I had to remove the manifold so that I could drill and tap a hole in the side without getting metal filings in the engine. While it was off I had to start it up...
I love Diesel engines! Watch how this thing shakes when it shuts off. It means one thing... it's a high compression diesel engine :)
This post is for my personal enjoyment, but don't be embarrassed if you find it extremely thrilling as well... It's ok, normal, and expected to feel chills when operating or observing a Diesel vehicle.
Here it is running without the intake manifold. I had to remove the manifold so that I could drill and tap a hole in the side without getting metal filings in the engine. While it was off I had to start it up...
I love Diesel engines! Watch how this thing shakes when it shuts off. It means one thing... it's a high compression diesel engine :)
This post is for my personal enjoyment, but don't be embarrassed if you find it extremely thrilling as well... It's ok, normal, and expected to feel chills when operating or observing a Diesel vehicle.
Changing by the minute!
Last night Joseph and I dropped the two top gauges into the truck. The one on the left reads fuel pressure, and the one on the right is a Turbo Boost/Vacuum gauge. I installed the fuel pressure gauge so that I can monitor the pressure that my veggie oil system is delivering to the engine, and I installed to turbo boost gauge so I can tune up the turbo of course! :) Supposedly the 6.5L Turbo Diesel that I have is designed to handle up to 17psi boost pressure, but the stock pressure on my system is only set at 3-5psi! I am definitely going to be raising that! I'm thinking of targeting the 10-12psi range. No sense blowing an engine over a little fun! haha...
A New Conversion!
Hey Everyone, I know it's been a long time since I've said anything on here, but I was out in Washington for about a week (post about that coming once I get pictures back) and since then I've been working a lot on my truck. I just 'finished' it last night, and thought I'd get some pictures up here of it!
There I am, perched happily under the hood of my gorgeous truck!
---------------------------
I thought I'd do a little before and after :)
Here is what the engine compartment looked like about a year ago when I finished converting it for the first time!
Here it is as of a half hour ago! :) Much more classy! I owe a HUGE thank you to my Dad who specifically helped me with the design of the new mounting plates/locations, to Mr. Hirst who generously offered the services of his machine shop to make the mounting plates, to Nathan DeLadurantey who got me started on this in the first place, hahaha! ...and to my whole family for enduring the mess I've made with oil, tools, and parts everywhere!
Here is what my dash looked like one year ago (although I did have a vent cover for that dash section, I just couldn't find it in a picture).
And lastly, here is my dash now! Again, I owe a big thanks to Dad for lending me his design expertise!
---Oh and as a side note, a couple days ago our local Wal-Mart had a 50% off moving sale! So I was able to pick up some nice electronics very cheaply including the CD player shown in the picture, and the camera that took the picture!
Well, that's pretty much it for now! Once Jessica gets back in town I am planning on getting some pictures from the Washington trip up, so stay tuned!
There I am, perched happily under the hood of my gorgeous truck!---------------------------
I thought I'd do a little before and after :)
Here is what the engine compartment looked like about a year ago when I finished converting it for the first time!
Here it is as of a half hour ago! :) Much more classy! I owe a HUGE thank you to my Dad who specifically helped me with the design of the new mounting plates/locations, to Mr. Hirst who generously offered the services of his machine shop to make the mounting plates, to Nathan DeLadurantey who got me started on this in the first place, hahaha! ...and to my whole family for enduring the mess I've made with oil, tools, and parts everywhere!
Here is what my dash looked like one year ago (although I did have a vent cover for that dash section, I just couldn't find it in a picture).
And lastly, here is my dash now! Again, I owe a big thanks to Dad for lending me his design expertise!---Oh and as a side note, a couple days ago our local Wal-Mart had a 50% off moving sale! So I was able to pick up some nice electronics very cheaply including the CD player shown in the picture, and the camera that took the picture!
Well, that's pretty much it for now! Once Jessica gets back in town I am planning on getting some pictures from the Washington trip up, so stay tuned!
Recent Happenings
Wow, so much has happened since my last post! I'm going to attempt to touch on some of the 'bigger' or more unusual things that have happened over the past month.
Over the weekend of May 17th the Rock Valley College Chamber Singers went on tour down to St. Louis. This picture speaks for itself!
Here I am headed over to the St. Louis Arch to enjoy a short nap at the museum after a wonderful lunch at Max and Erma's! THANK YOU MR. LAPRADE!
Part of our group in St. Louis
Then school let out and we headed straight for the lake! Well, not quite... Some friends from California (the Hector family) visited with their new sailboat, so we just HAD to test it out on Lake Geneva.
Actually the Hectors tested the boat while we just rode along :) For more about the adventure, click HERE
For the last week in May, Joseph and I headed out to Virginia to record and run AV at Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy.
A reception for Chief Justice Roy Moore on the patio outside the conference center.
Everything went very smoothly except the last three hours in this room. Due to "dirty power", and flat out power failure, things got a little chaotic! Fortunately, none of it was our fault and considering the obstacles, it could have gone much worse!
Last week the Strands hosted a group of guys for some paintball fun! Here we are preparing to be attacked on the first round. You can see our opponents just beginning to walk out of the trees on the opposite side of the field. I definitely preferred attacking the hill rather than being attacked.
Last but not least is all the work I've been doing on my truck! Here you can see I ripped out the headliner. I'm planning on reupholstering it, and hopefully getting CHEVROLET put across the ceiling just to the back of the visors.
I have also been rebuilding my vegetable oil conversion, after having it brutally ripped off by a mechanic that I won't be sending any more work to. :/ So far all I've got under the hood is the mounting brackets and the wires. I have everything for the conversion assembled, I'm just waiting for the final mounting plates from a machine shop that a friend in our church works for. I can't wait to finish this job! I haven't skimped on anything, and it should run without a hitch!
One of the new additions to this conversion is a fuel level sender, and gauge that I installed. It'll be nice to know how much grease I've got back there! Haha...
My dash in process. By the time it's done I'll have added four switches and four gauges.
Here is one of the gauge pods that I made with the design help of my Dad (having a Dad who is an engineer is GREAT!).
Aside from that there is always summer work to be done around the house, including some less expected work projects like cleaning tornado damage! I was washing a window in my parents room when the tornado came through and we lost the tops of three trees, as well as one that was pulled up from the roots!
I had never experienced such unbelievable winds before, but I had heard that "hurricane force winds" were due to be arriving soon so I didn't even think to run, I just thought 'well the wind has arrived!' :) The most amazing thing was how quickly and without warning it came and went. If I had run for the stairs immediately, I doubt I could have made it to the main level by the time everything was over.
Praise the Lord nothing was damaged besides the trees!
Thanks for letting us use your saw Jeremy!
The ever growing pile of branches. We finally burnt it all yesterday. WOW! What a fire!
Relaxation! :) Well not really, with the little nieces and nephews around you've got to always be on your toes! Here I am whacking Winston on the head with a foam float... I made him cry, but he got used to it and eventually returned the fire :)
Well, I think that wraps things up for the most part. In early July I should be putting up a video of the Veg' Oil conversion install! Until then, ttfn!
Over the weekend of May 17th the Rock Valley College Chamber Singers went on tour down to St. Louis. This picture speaks for itself!
Here I am headed over to the St. Louis Arch to enjoy a short nap at the museum after a wonderful lunch at Max and Erma's! THANK YOU MR. LAPRADE!
Part of our group in St. Louis
Then school let out and we headed straight for the lake! Well, not quite... Some friends from California (the Hector family) visited with their new sailboat, so we just HAD to test it out on Lake Geneva.
Actually the Hectors tested the boat while we just rode along :) For more about the adventure, click HERE
For the last week in May, Joseph and I headed out to Virginia to record and run AV at Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy.
A reception for Chief Justice Roy Moore on the patio outside the conference center.
Everything went very smoothly except the last three hours in this room. Due to "dirty power", and flat out power failure, things got a little chaotic! Fortunately, none of it was our fault and considering the obstacles, it could have gone much worse!
Last week the Strands hosted a group of guys for some paintball fun! Here we are preparing to be attacked on the first round. You can see our opponents just beginning to walk out of the trees on the opposite side of the field. I definitely preferred attacking the hill rather than being attacked.
Last but not least is all the work I've been doing on my truck! Here you can see I ripped out the headliner. I'm planning on reupholstering it, and hopefully getting CHEVROLET put across the ceiling just to the back of the visors.
I have also been rebuilding my vegetable oil conversion, after having it brutally ripped off by a mechanic that I won't be sending any more work to. :/ So far all I've got under the hood is the mounting brackets and the wires. I have everything for the conversion assembled, I'm just waiting for the final mounting plates from a machine shop that a friend in our church works for. I can't wait to finish this job! I haven't skimped on anything, and it should run without a hitch!
One of the new additions to this conversion is a fuel level sender, and gauge that I installed. It'll be nice to know how much grease I've got back there! Haha...
My dash in process. By the time it's done I'll have added four switches and four gauges.The switches will control the:
- VO/Diesel valve
- power to the VO fuel pumps
- electrical glow-plug fuel heater (for an extra heat boost in cold weather and cold starts)
- return fuel line valve (to the VO tank)
- VO tank fuel level
- VO fuel temperature
- fuel pressure (not absolutely required for the conversion, but HIGHLY recommended)
- turbo boost pressure (unnecessary for the conversion, but will allow me to safely tweak things for higher performance)
Here is one of the gauge pods that I made with the design help of my Dad (having a Dad who is an engineer is GREAT!).
Aside from that there is always summer work to be done around the house, including some less expected work projects like cleaning tornado damage! I was washing a window in my parents room when the tornado came through and we lost the tops of three trees, as well as one that was pulled up from the roots!I had never experienced such unbelievable winds before, but I had heard that "hurricane force winds" were due to be arriving soon so I didn't even think to run, I just thought 'well the wind has arrived!' :) The most amazing thing was how quickly and without warning it came and went. If I had run for the stairs immediately, I doubt I could have made it to the main level by the time everything was over.
Praise the Lord nothing was damaged besides the trees!
Thanks for letting us use your saw Jeremy!
The ever growing pile of branches. We finally burnt it all yesterday. WOW! What a fire!
Relaxation! :) Well not really, with the little nieces and nephews around you've got to always be on your toes! Here I am whacking Winston on the head with a foam float... I made him cry, but he got used to it and eventually returned the fire :)Well, I think that wraps things up for the most part. In early July I should be putting up a video of the Veg' Oil conversion install! Until then, ttfn!
Lego 1440 rpm V8
Lego Mindstorms is a brilliantly simple combination of sensors, actuators, and logic control that can be made to do the most devious and delightful things. Like this lego maniac who built an air-powered V8 engine with a rev counter on one of the cams. That counter tells us this baby can crank up to 1440 RPM, and that's without any kind of lubrication system. The cool part is, even though it's all plastic and powered by air, it still has that comforting V8 sound. (Hat tip to Phillip!)
I've been published!
I got my two cents into the Chicago Tribune! :)
"Jonathan Erber of Harvard, who in August converted his 1993 Chevrolet diesel pickup to also run on vegetable oil, prefers Chinese restaurants. "I get higher performance from their peanut oil. I barely touch the pedal and it gets up to 60 [m.p.h.]," he said. "When I see a Chinese restaurant now, I go there."
If you'd like to read the whole article, click HERE.
"Jonathan Erber of Harvard, who in August converted his 1993 Chevrolet diesel pickup to also run on vegetable oil, prefers Chinese restaurants. "I get higher performance from their peanut oil. I barely touch the pedal and it gets up to 60 [m.p.h.]," he said. "When I see a Chinese restaurant now, I go there."
If you'd like to read the whole article, click HERE.
LAST CONCERT!
Hey everyone! This Thursday, May 22nd at 7pm the RVC Chamber Singers and Women's choir are giving a concert at Zion Lutheran Church in Rockford. This is the last concert that we are giving this semester, and possibly my last concert with them ever!
Hopefully you can make it! If you have any questions please let me know! I believe there is no charge. I think it's a benefit concert for something in Rockford.
Hopefully you can make it! If you have any questions please let me know! I believe there is no charge. I think it's a benefit concert for something in Rockford.
WVO Progress... Settling Tank
Hey everyone! Now that I'm out of school I'm getting back to rebuilding my Waste Vegetable Oil system (that for many reasons has sat dormant during this past semester). Today I worked on building a much higher tech version of the settling tank than what I had before. Here are some shots of today's work:
Here is the settling tank. As you can see, I have wrapped the lower half of this tank with heating wire. This heating wire is designed to warm up the vegetable oil, consequently lowering the viscosity of the oil and accelerating the settling process. During the settling process large contaminants and some moisture separate from the oil. As you can see, the spout that I have coming out of the side of the tank is some distance from the bottom. This allows the large contaminants (French fries, peanuts, cabbage, etc...) to collect at the bottom of the tank without clogging the filters during the filtration stage.
Here is some heating wire set into groves that I have cut into a piece of 3/4" foam board insulation. This is what the tank sits on, consequently heating and insulating the bottom of the tank.
Here is where I finished up today. As you can see I have insulated the outside of the barrel, as well as built the mounting plate for the pump which is also in the picture.
The next step will be mounting the filters and connecting all the PVC. Then this setup will be ready to roll! :)
I am going to try and continue updating this blog with my progress as I completely rebuild my WVO setup. Also, stay tuned and hopefully when I re-install the conversion on my truck, I will be able to put up a step by step video! :D We'll see.
Here is the settling tank. As you can see, I have wrapped the lower half of this tank with heating wire. This heating wire is designed to warm up the vegetable oil, consequently lowering the viscosity of the oil and accelerating the settling process. During the settling process large contaminants and some moisture separate from the oil. As you can see, the spout that I have coming out of the side of the tank is some distance from the bottom. This allows the large contaminants (French fries, peanuts, cabbage, etc...) to collect at the bottom of the tank without clogging the filters during the filtration stage.
Here is some heating wire set into groves that I have cut into a piece of 3/4" foam board insulation. This is what the tank sits on, consequently heating and insulating the bottom of the tank.
Here is where I finished up today. As you can see I have insulated the outside of the barrel, as well as built the mounting plate for the pump which is also in the picture.The next step will be mounting the filters and connecting all the PVC. Then this setup will be ready to roll! :)
I am going to try and continue updating this blog with my progress as I completely rebuild my WVO setup. Also, stay tuned and hopefully when I re-install the conversion on my truck, I will be able to put up a step by step video! :D We'll see.
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