Just in case I am not the last Mercedes 300-series owner to learn this trick, I share it with you now. Have you ever hit your head on the front grille when you are working on your engine? I have. We can all avoid this uncomfortable and annoying situation by opening the hood all the way. There are two latches near the hinge-end of the hood – one on each side. Simply press these latches down while lifting the hood and you can raise it to vertical.

Just when you thought they had thought of everything, you realize they probably did.

Watch Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader refuse to rule out the use of waterboarding by the US against detainees. Folks, this is what fascism looks like.

This is the first diesel-hybrid that I have seen. Made by GM the Opel Astra is purported to go 59 miles/gallon.

“We decided to use a diesel-powered car as a starting point because in the mid-term, we don’t see a demand for gasoline hybrids in Europe ,” said Hans H. Demant, GM’s European engineering vice president and Opel’s managing director.

I think I’m still more interested in plug-in electric vehicles than in hybrids, even if they are diesel-hybrids running on wvo. Call me a purist.

Technorati Tags: hybrid, electric, gm, opel, astra, wvo, svo, biofuel, conversion, mercedes, benz, 300d, diesel, biodiesel, filter, vegetable oil, vegcar, grease

Lovecraft Biofuels has developed a new heat exchanger. This unit replaces the existing screw-on fuel filter that comes with the car (Mercedes 240 and 300 series). Installation is a breeze. Simply remove the fuel filter and screw in the heat exchanger. Then cut the coolant line (the one that goes to the Davco filter – or whatever filter/heater you use) and connect each end to the heat exchanger. Voila!

Lovecraft offers the heat exchanger for $95. I’ll be installing mine this weekend and will post pics.

(The usual vegcar.net disclaimer: we receive no financial benefit for this post or any editorial comments on the site.)

Here it is.

I finally organized the photos and put together the step by step process of our conversion. The car is a 1983 Mercedes 300SD and was converted back in early June of this year. The car has been running on veg oil since then and has been performing wonderfully.

Disclaimer: The following is not intended as instructions for how to convert a car to run on veggie oil. It is merely a “journal” recording the steps we undertook. We recommend that before converting your car, you consult appropriate manuals or instructions. The authors and vegcar.net accept no responsibility for any loss or accident resulting from the following information.

Check out this massive list of links posted by user karugs at the benzworld forum.

SeQuential Biofuels has stations throughout Oregon selling B5, B20 and B100 biodiesel and E10 and E85 bioethanol. Their station in Eugene is solar powered and features many other sustainable design elements.

From Treehugger:

Approaching the site, the dominant features are the 244 solar panels that cover the fueling islands and the 4800 plants installed in five inches of soil on the roof of the convenience store. The 33kW solar array will provide 30% to 50% of the electrical power that the station will require annually. The “living roof” will help to control rainwater runoff on the site and will help cool the convenience store during the summer.
[...]
The fuel station also includes a convenience store that carries top-shelf natural foods and beverages, many of which are produced by regional companies. The store also houses an annex of Sweet Life Patisserie, an established local coffee and pastry shop renowned for its premium coffees, baked goods and savories, complete with wireless internet and an inviting seating area. Local farmers will stock a seasonal fresh produce stand also located at the station.

Yesterday my friends and I were leaving Santa Barbara to begin the 275 mile drive home. Our 8 person convoy included two vegcars – my ‘84 300D and Josh’s 83 300SD. I started the trip with a full tank of WVO and brought along 15 extra gallons but didn’t think it would be quite enough to get home. So we stopped in at Costco Santa Barbara to buy some soybean oil.

The usual oil that we have seen at Costco is the 100% soybean oil manufactured by ADM (Archer Daniels Midland). Josh and I always had a bit of an issue buying oil from a company that paid more than $500 million in fines for price fixing violaitions, receives huge government subsidies, and for their widespread use of gmo’s (genetically modified organisms).

When we got to the vegetable oil aisle at Costco we noticed that the packaging was a bit different on the soybean oil. The price was also a bit higher – $13.59 instead of the recent $12.99 for a 35 lb. container (just under 5 gallons). Josh noticed that the brand was Kirkland and said, “cool, it’s not ADM.” We examined the box more closely and saw that this Kirkland oil was manufactured by Cargill – the largest privately owned US corporation – accused of promoting massive deforestation in the Amazon. Ah, the joys of living in the post-corporate world!

If you haven’t read about or used Zip Car you must. Once you join Zip Car you can reserve a car online and go pick it up, in your neighborhood. Their cars are located in the city, not at some distant airport location. In San Francisco you can rent a Prius for $8.75/hour or $65/day (INCLUDING GAS AND INSURANCE!). They offer many hybrid cars as well as trucks.

This, from their website:

Zipcars live in your neighborhood! Drive MINIs, VWs, cars that haul and more. By the hour or day. Includes gas, insurance, and parking. Simply reserve online, walk a block and drive away.