I'm getting back into the conversion idea for my van. I called up one of those companys that sells the outright kits for your vehicle. He told me the price, and was a little amazed at how much it was. I'm sure it must be fair, but, a bit more than what I was willing to part with at this time.

I was wondering who all out there has homemade their own systems, and what pitfalls to lookout for? I was thinking about mostly common plumbing parts, insulate the fuel lines, and install a water heater tank onboard. Fill up the water heater with the WVO, and turn it on to get it warm. Plumb it so that you can purge out the cold oil in the line first then switch over to the warm veggie. In my head, seems simpler, and less expensive.

Any thoughts?

I did my own system, kind of a mixture of what greasel and greasecar have to offer. I like the hose on hose approach that greasel uses, but liked the features that greasecar has with the quick purge. I converted the stock tank in my suburban to hold the grease, I heat it with an ATF cooler running coolant. I've considered using a hot water heater for filtering and storage at home, but I don't think it would work well on the vehicle. You'd have a tremendous load on the alternator, plus the cost of an inverter to run the element. There is not much cost to convert the stock tank to hold/heat the grease. In addition you will need a better lift pump, Holley Blue or equivalent, a control valve and a filter.

Don't try to run the wvo through the stock filter, it will wax up and cause problems, but there are several alternatives that won't break the bank. I bought all my parts new, including a racor 1000fh heated filter from greasel ($380) and still spent less than $800. With a bit of time and persistance on ebay, you can convert for about $300 I'd bet. I think I posted my schematic diagram and parts list on this list, (it has my old filter part number) . Let me know if you need or want more info.

How does copper lines work with WVO? With fatty acids, I was wondering if there is a problem with copper oxides forming in the lines? I have a rear heater in the bus with regular heater hose going back to it. Haven't scoped it out just yet, but I think I may come up with a fitting that allows the copper fuel line to go down the center of the heater hose. Good heat transfer too.

What do you have for diesel? Do you use a small diesel tank and then use the stock tank for VO?

How does copper lines work with WVO? With fatty acids, I was wondering if there is a problem with copper oxides forming in the lines? I have a rear heater in the bus with regular heater hose going back to it. Haven't scoped it out just yet, but I think I may come up with a fitting that allows the copper fuel line to go down the center of the heater hose. Good heat transfer too.

What do you have for diesel? Do you use a small diesel tank and then use the stock tank for VO?I avoid copper. I made a tube in tube heat exchanger out of copper pipe and when I would pull a line off to inspect the veg oil inside would turn green, so I know there is a reaction taking place, and removed the heat exchanger. You could possible replace that heater hose with a larger if it won't already allow a 3/8" fuel line to run inside and not impeed flow, I just bundled my fuel line with the heater hoses and it works fine. Does coolant flow through those lines all the time? I chose to run a dedicated set of lines because I needed coolant for the heater in the tank anyways. I bundled within larger heat shrink tubing my heater hoses, fuel line, a return line (which I don't use at present) and wires for a sender on my new diesel tank and the electric heater on my filter. It make a clean installation keeping it all together.
When I first converted I was using a 3 gallon boat fuel tank for my diesel, now I have installed a larger 'permanent' marine tank that holds 18 gallons of diesel, the stock tank holds the veg oil. When spring comes I will look at mounting it under the truck and get it out of the cargo area. I've got a couple of pictures that I can send you if you'd like.