Vegcar.net » Converting a Car

Converting a Car

Note: The only vehicles that can run on vegetable oil are diesel vehicles. Many people ask, but it is not possible to convert a gasoline engine to run on veg oil (short of replacing the engine with a diesel engine)!

Single-Tank Conversion of a 1985 Mercedes 300SD

There she is (see first photo below). Josh’s car is quite a beauty. It was owned and driven by the wife of a Mercedes mechanic, who evidently loved his wife very much. The car is immaculate, inside and out.

We had a great shop to work in, with all of the tools one could need, and hundreds more.

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.

Here are all of the parts. Hoses, the Davco filter, hose clamps, fittings, electrical wire, circuit breaker, vegetable oil and other miscellaneous things.

We got down to work…

The engine compartment of the 300SD is very spacious. My car is a 300D and things are just a bit close together.

As you can see, there is quite a bit of room in the front of the front left wheel well to locate the Davco filter.

We positioned the filter to see where it might fit best.

We laid it in place to make sure that the hood could close and not hit the filter. We also identified where the holes would have to be drilled through the lovely W126 chasis.

Josh, the happy owner, soon to be free from the clutches of Exxon, Chevron, Beacon, Arco and BP.

Here are some of the parts.

More parts. One of the brass fittings goes on the waste valve at the bottom of the Davco filter. We attached a clear hose (18″ long) to the fitting so that when you want to empty the filter, you simply lower the hose below the car and can drain the oil into a container.