Just remembered this, lol

[SuperSport]

I just remembered this....

About 1-2 years ago there was a group of students from one of my alma maters, East Carolina University, that figured out a way for their old VW bus to run off of-no kidding-used vegetable oil from deep vat fryers in restaurants.

I am serious.......and no, I haven't been drinking, lol.

They went cross country on used grease from local restaurants. They had to initially start the heap up on gasoline but would convert it over to the old cooking grease after it warmed up.

Supposedly it is very difficult for restaurants to get rid of this grease. I think there are special containers for it mandated for disposal.

They had an interview with GM about their technology.

I am going to look around and see if I can find out anything about this.

[Heckman]

I don't remember that, but I do remember about, oh lets say twenty some odd years ago having one of those. A true hippie wagon if there ever was one! Far out man!

[SuperSport]

For real....pile in the VW bus with the surfboards on the top, party favors in the cooler (and elsewhere) and head to the beach with 79 cents in your pocket for a burger at the local choke and puke...

The good old days, lol!!!!

[TheLil'Missus]

There's been a couple recent articles about this. I drive a diesel VW Bug and that's what there's now a kit to adapt your car to handle it. You lose the spare tire storage to put the extra used oil tank in the trunk and you have to filter the oil but restaurants have to pay to get rid of their oil so giving it to you is cheaper. There's a car rental place in Hawaii that uses these converted bugs and one of the main guys with the Houston VW group went on vacation there and rented one. He said that if they hadn't had it advertised all over the car no one would have known. It supposedly drove no different than his Bug back home. Also, the drawback to diesels is the soot, but with the veggie oil there's no soot. Beautiful!

[Heckman]

Don't forget the feathers dangling from the rear view mirror with the alligator clip.( or roach clip!) And the imitation stained glass peace sign in the rear window....wooohoooo!

[TheLil'Missus]

Houston Chronicle News Article

WESTON, Conn. - As car owners across the country grapple with pumped-up gas prices, some are turning to their favorite restaurants for a solution. Environmentalists with diesel cars have used vegetable oil for years to cut back on sooty emissions, but as gas prices soar, they say their "veggie cars" save cash.
Every two weeks, Etta Kantor drives to a local Chinese restaurant to fuel her blue Volkswagen Jetta. She calls ahead, and the owner puts aside a few buckets of used oil. At home, Kantor uses a colander and a bag filter to remove water and any food particles.
The vegetable oil is then poured into a 15-gallon tank in the back of her Jetta, where a spare tire would usually be kept. With the touch of a button, Kantor can switch from diesel to vegetable in seconds.
"Oh, I zip around town, go fast on highways. It's not any different," said Kantor, 58, of Weston.
Restaurants that would have to pay to get rid of it are happy to give it away.
"It saves us a couple of dollars, and it helps to save the environment a bit, so I thought, `Why not?' " said Shawn Reilly, a co-owner of Eli's On Whitney, a restaurant in Hamden.
Reilly estimates it costs as much as $60 a month to have the oil removed.
Bridgeport resident Aaron Schlechter says he picks up about 40 gallons twice a month from Eli's to fuel his daily 170-mile round-trip commute to his job as an environmental consultant in Staten Island, N.Y.
"The only way that I can assuage my guilt by driving this awful distance is by driving something that isn't consuming fossil fuels and has much more environmentally friendly emissions," he said.
Vegetable oil is becoming so popular that a Massachusetts company called Greasecar is buying it from a distributor and selling it to local customers. Founder Justin Carven said it's priced at 90 cents a gallon.
Since 2001, Greasecar has also been selling conversion kits, like the one in Kantor's car, that allow diesel cars to run on the recycled oil. About 200 kits were sold in the past year, Carven said. A standard conversion kit sells for $800 at Greasecar.
"Once you install it, though, you are saving hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Carven said. "The product usually pays for itself within the first year."
Cars that have a conversion kit have two fuel systems. The car is stopped and started with diesel ; once it's running, the vegetable oil is heated to make it thinner. The driver can then switch fuel systems, and the recycled oil is sprayed into the engine in the same way diesel fuel is.
The kit only works on diesel engines because vegetable oil is not flammable enough to work in gasoline engines.
Liquid Solar in Ithaca, N.Y., has contracts with a few local restaurants to collect their used vegetable oil. And in Santa Rosa, Calif., a group of 50 people have formed a co-op to buy oil in bulk from a local manufacturer and filter it.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency has approved vegetable-based biodiesel, which is also gaining in popularity, it hasn't OK'd any recycled oil for sale, said Christine Sansevero, an environmental engineer for the EPA.
"You just don't know what's in that oil," she said. "There could be metals, other chemicals that, when burned, could create something you didn't intend to burn; it could also be fine, but it's an unknown."
Biodiesel is a fuel derived from plant oil or animal fat, Sansevero said. It can be used in pure form, but it is often blended with regular diesel . The most common form is B20, a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel .
Veggie car owners agree that biodiesel is another renewable fuel source but say it isn't as cost-effective or eco-friendly. Pure biodiesel costs about $1 more per gallon than diesel , Sansevero said. B20 costs about 20 cents more per gallon than diesel .
The trend is catching on, especially for those who have a distance to drive.
The Healing Waters Band had a Greasecar kit installed in its bus for a recent seven-week tour. The band used a blended biodiesel mix to start and stop the engine and vegetable oil for the rest. The band left San Diego on a full tank of vegetable oil and filled up at a Chinese restaurant in Missouri before buying 500 gallons during a stop at Greasecar in Massachusetts.

[GyM RaT 03]

I think I saw that on ripley believe it or not a few years ago.


GR03

[Syn]

Don't forget the feathers dangling from the rear view mirror with the alligator clip.( or roach clip!) And the imitation stained glass peace sign in the rear window....wooohoooo!

My ex got pulled over for one of the feather clips. The cop said it obstructs your view. I can laugh now but I was realllllyyy nervous then!

[Heckman]

My ex got pulled over for one of the feather clips. The cop said it obstructs your view. I can laugh now but I was realllllyyy nervous then!

Obstructs your view? Thats funny! But that's what the stuff being held in the clip did to you!

[SuperSport]

Geez...all these flower childs on the loose over here, lol.

VW buses....surfboards.....roach clips....Hendrix......

Musta been the LIFE back then........lol.

[Heckman]

Geez...all these flower childs on the loose over here, lol.

VW buses....surfboards.....roach clips....Hendrix......

Musta been the LIFE back then........lol.

You forgot.....peace, love, dope, long hair and shower shoes dude!

[IM^]

Wow!! To those interested (like I am, I love things like this) the website is http://www.greasecar.com. You can buy a kit from there too for around $800. I think it's a great idea. Who's getting one???