Grease conversion on a '92 CTD

BRUISER

BRUISER

silent.. but deadly
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Mar 17, 2005
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Well I have finally started my grease conversion on my '92 CTD

I started by gathering parts..
I have filters, fittings, heat exchangers, pollack valve, lava line, and I just started making myself a grease tank..

After looking at a lot of tanks on the web and in person I decided I did not want a tank in the bed of my truck.. (plus I have a bed camper)

So I am building my own to go where the spare tire goes on my truck.

Here is what I have so far..
I am using 14 gauge steel..
a steel brake I just bought that can bend up to 35" wide.

the tank size is 30x30x15 estimate 58 gallons..
you can see in the pick I had to notch a few spots for it to fit where I want it.

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The biggest question is when it is all done if it will hold with out leaks :)
 
looks good. i'm curious about the brake details also, i think that may be my next metal working tool.
 
sharksanddanger said:
very cool! What thickness will that bend and where did you get it?
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it says 14 gauge.. that is why I got it.. but man it is very very hard to bend that..

I did find out that if you bend small pieces like 8 wide or small they bend pretty easy.. but bending that 30 wide piece took some muscle and a little lovin..

I bought it from northern with my chirtsmas gift certificate
 
dieselsub98 said:
Great job on the tank. The only concern I have is that there have been recent reports on veggie oil reacting with steel. Here are some more details...
http://www.frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6510
I am in the process of coverting my suburban to run on veggie oil. http://www.veggiesub.com
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Thanks for the link.. but I have been looking into coating the inside of the tank like the do with motorcycle tanks to make sure they do not leak..

of course I have no idea how that will fair with grease :)
 
dieselsub98 said:
I wondered about coating the inside of my stock steel tank. What are you planning on using? I saw pics of a steel tank that was coated on the inside for a WVO setup. All the coating came off and plugged up the fuel system. I will see if I can find the pics. I think they are on the Frybrid site.
Good luck with your conversion!
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if you could find info that would be great...

rigth now I am still building/getting rest of parts together..
 
yager said:
looks good ken !

What will that much weight behind the rear axle combined with the camper and towing do to your overall setup?
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Well before I decided on putting the tank back there.. I found out what the gross weight my rear axle can carry is, then found out how much weight is on rear axle when truck is empty..

estimates are: axle can carry 6000lbs.. weight on axle when empty is around 2400lbs.. which leaves 3600 till I max out..

when I tow I do my best to keep tongue weight below 500lbs
and my camper total weight is 1200lbs fully loaded with 30 gallons water, gear, etc.. ( very light camper )

so if you just add all that up it equals = 4100lbs around bed area.. and the tank will hold estimate 58 gallons which equals = 348lbs. plus I guess 50lbs for tank weight totaling = 406lbs

so the total together = 4506 which still keeps my weight below the maxed out limit of rear axle..

once the setup is done and on I will load everything up go to certified scales and see how much weight ends on rear axle in reallity.. I just hope my math works out to be correct.
 
Ken I have heard that there is some sort of issue with using Gavanised steel. As I told you I will be doing somthing about getting rid of my in bed tank so I can reclame the entire bed space.

Are you going to heat the Tank? I am using the Fuel line in hose method and it has been working fine. I would think that you are going to have to heat the fuel well befor you filter it. I have had issues with it passing through the filter when cold. It has been a real PITA.
 
Ridgerunner said:
Ken I have heard that there is some sort of issue with using Gavanised steel. As I told you I will be doing somthing about getting rid of my in bed tank so I can reclame the entire bed space.

Are you going to heat the Tank? I am using the Fuel in hose method and it has been working fine. I would think that you are going to have to heat the fuel well befor you filter it. I have have issue with it passing through the filter when cold.
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this is not galvanized steel.. this is cold rolled flat steel.

yes the tank wil be heated I am making a "w" shape out of c channel that radiator fluid will flow threw I will post pics when I get that done..

plsu I am running lava line from tank up to keep grease warm and I will also have heat exchanged in line to heat it more..
 
Well tank is all welded up so we started on the bottom.

we tacked on some c channel that the radiator flid wil lfow threw

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RenegadeT said:
Do you think that c-channel will give you enough heat transfer?
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I'm curious about this too. Ken - have you seen anyone else do it this way? Do you plan to insulate the outside of the tank and the C-channel to help hold in the heat?

Also - since galvanized steel is bad with grease. What about the plain steel that Ken is using, if he *doesn't* seal it on the inside with some product (since it seems the sealer might be bad with grease too). Would water in the fuel (there will inevitably be *some*) rust the bare steel?

If plain steel is a bad idea, then what options are left? Plastic (can't fab your own tank out of this), Aluminum (need special welder), or Stainless (just change welding wire if needed). Any reaction between Aluminum or Stainless with grease?
 
Tank

I would think that a tank coated with a sealant that would stand up to diesel fuel would be sufficient for WVO as well. I am running an aluminum tank in my 300SD (Mercedes) I had to cut an access hole in the top to allow for the in tank heat exchanger and I used a sealant I found at NAPA that was almost impervious to any liquid. I have had it for 6 months now and it has no problems.

I think that some of you may not understand ken’s idea for the heating of the fuel. As I understand it (ken correct me if I am wrong) he will be using the C channel under the tank just to get the oil up from a semi-solid state. This does not require much heat at all especially considering that the pick up for the oil will be located very close to the heated portion on the bottom of the tank. He then described he is using Lava line or HOH (Hose on Hose) to deliver the oil to the engine compartment. The oil in the lines will be heated enough to keep if flowing freely in the feed lines. He is then going to run the oil through a FPHE (Flat Plate Heat Exchanger) before it enters the IP. These add substantial amounts of heat to the oil at the crucial time right before the oil is injected to the pump. So there for you do not have the added strain on the water pump to pump many extra gallons of fluid all over the truck. In my 300SD I tapped in to the coolant line coming out of the back of the head where the coolant in the hottest and plumbed that to feed the FPHE. I see temps of close to 170 after the FPHE and temps of around 100 in the tank. I feel like the in tank heat exchanger is an overkill when you are using a FPHE. I used the coolant from the return water pump to feed the heated tank in the rear.

Just my soapbox.

David
 
I would skip the HOH and go with HIH (WVO hose IN coolant hose). The parts list is on Frybrid, simple Grainger/Norhtern parts. Since you have to run new lines anyways, might as well get the best heat transfer possible.
I understand what you're saying about the C-channel being only a preheater. The only heat I have in my 75 gallon tank is a HotFox (coolant heated pickup tube). Then it goes into a heated Vormax, HIH, and a FPHE. Basically I have coolant heat to the WVO from the point where it enters the pickup tube until it exits the FPHE. I'm sure the 12" hot fox heats the tank a bit too.
I havent put the temp gauge inline yet, got non-WVO IP issues to deal with first :(
My .02, I might be way off base. :beer:
 
earlybronco said:
I am running an aluminum tank in my 300SD (Mercedes) I had to cut an access hole in the top to allow for the in tank heat exchanger and I used a sealant I found at NAPA that was almost impervious to any liquid. I have had it for 6 months now and it has no problems.......
David
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What's the name of this stuff ? I will be making a hatch way for my jeep gas tank and hadn't really thought about what i was gonna seal it up with.....
 
Do you have any more information on the FPHE. I am looking for another way to heat my WVO before it enters the fuel bowl.
 
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