Latest Install almost done, PlantDrive kit on my 91 Delica

[PlantDrive]

Well, it's been a while, with winter, other conversions, etc. but I finally got back to doing my own (what's that about the shoemaker's kids going barefoot?!).

Anyway, it has the custom aluminum tank, Vegtherm Standard, VM2 filter with two 3-port valves bolted onto the VM2, and the whole works, filter and valves and tank, are under the van.

I posted some pics over at our blog's photo gallery.

http://web.me.com/plantdrive/PlantDrive ... llery.html

(Look for the one with the photo of the Optima battery with the 6-pack of Big Rock Trad beside it, click there)

Notes:

1) I have to have the valves' mounting holes machined out a bit to bolt them onto the 3/8" pair of holes I used to mount the filter. So, I had a few more done while I was at it.

2) 1/4" aluminum backer plates were installed to support the weight of the filter and valves (it's mounted behind the left front wheel opening)

3) After mounting, you can use the filter/valve assembly as a lever and bend the original sheet metal a bit, to make the whole thing vertical.

4) Install an Optima, and you have room for the 6-pack, and it'll give you all the cranking you need and fewer hassles over time than two batteries. Mine spun over just fine at -20C, synthetic oil, no engine heater prior. So, that allows a reorientation of the Optima, and allows you to cut out the corner of the battery box (still nicely supported).
Then I can access the top-mounted filter from the top, easily. And, I can put on a really tall truck filter, if I want to, and likely change the filter once a year (settled oil), instead of 2-3 times. But I think I'll just install a heavy rubber flap in there, or maybe a section of the plastic battery tray from the original setup ( not needed under the Optima, which is non-spill), and then I'll be able to use the extra storage space for tools, spare filter, etc. - or a 6-pack....

5) One long loop for coolant, off the rear heater lines. Cut in the tee at the one rear heater line, run a line to one side of in-tank heater, out the other side, across tank, up to filter on other side of van (same path as WVO supply line), across to other tee. Remove (cold) radiator cap, and in may case, it just sat a while as I cut in the other tee, and I had coolant starting to drip out, which meant it had gone around the loop on it's own, so did not have to do the usual thing of pulling the coolant 'round the loop with a suction gun.

6) Supply and return valves are just wired together to a toggle mounted between shifters (manual). No staggered purge. Not likely that I will add one, unless I feel like it; not needed for this type of engine down to our usual -20C in winter and not doing a terrible lot of purges...I only purge when engine will cool down totally, and I add diesel when the diesel tank is at half.

7) Tank is 12" deep, holds over 100 litres. Nice. Still lots of clearance - for the "serious off-roader" who wants to routinely back into stumps/rocks and wants more clearance to be able to ride the 1/4" thick aluminum tank right up onto stump/rock, and maybe dent it a bit, and high centre the van in the process, as opposed to just backing into said stump/rock with a dull thud, we can make a shallower tank; for me, it's plenty of ground clearance, I like the capacity, and no, the van is not lifted.

8) Tank filler is simple: through floor, marine fitting, spill plate, filler is just inside rear door.

9) Bumper/Hitch. 1500lb capacity, we'll say. Beefed up original brackets, had a steel bumper made and powder coated, light duty hitch; all I need.

10) Rubber mat for back of van - they are made here in Salmon Arm, let me know if you want one, their annual "yard sale" runs all summer, coming soon. Cheap effective almost perfect size protection for rear of van, made from recycled tires.

11) Still need to wire a fuel level gauge, install a few screws into tank filler, wire up a buzzer, etc.

12) Bumper weighs about 50 pounds. Tank weighs about 50 pounds. So even half full of oil, say, I have added a nice counterweight, down low, balance and center of gravity better. Handling is noticeably improved! I will self-weigh front and rear sometime at scales, and see how close to 50/50 it is now. Maybe this winter I won't have to engage 4x4 for every little snow flake and parking lot glaze, with my Cooper ATR's that came (new) with the van.

13) All fittings at tank, filter and valves are ORB (O-Ring Boss), not NPT threaded. No thread sealant needed and I could angle them as desired.

14) Tested Vegsensor at idle, fully warmed up engine: Vegtherm off at 95C; back on at 87C.

15) Return fuel is looped on veg, return-to-tank on diesel.

16) No "pusher pump". Great power, no problem. No electric pumps needed when the filter is well heated and fuel line not restricted.

[Adam]

I'd love to get one of those tanks. Are you seeling them seperately?

[Luna-Sea]

Thanks for posting that Ed!
Right on!

[PlantDrive]

Thanks! And yes, the tank is available at plantdrive.ca under the "tanks" section of our online store.
I am quite happy with the whole setup so far. I also cut out the plastic battery tray that was under the old battery, just trimmed a little off the end with snips, and it now fits nice and snug over the cut-out section of the metal battery tray, giving a really nice storage area.

(One Optima, longitudinally, with this beside it...Optima is sealed, so plastic tray is not needed under the battery now).

So I just remove the 6-pack or spare tools/filters, etc. (or today a loaf of fresh bread, to keep the dog away from it while I made other stops), and pop out the tray, and then have a nice access for filter changes of the top-mounted element (drain thoroughly before removing), and the valves.

The tank is BEEFY. 1/4" aluminum. Also very well reinforced, and easy to fill and see when you are getting close to full. Just drop in the funnel, grab a NATO can, and pour, and keep an eye on the level as you fill. Heated with a coolant-operated in-tank heater.

We just did a run to Calgary and back, from Salmon Arm. Nice to have the range of of a 100 litre WVO tank! A few extra NATO cans, you can do a nice long trip. I ran about 105-110 km/h most of the way.

[Delicaman]

Did you ever consider just running a mix in the same tank? I run a 33% mix right now and have been since March. In the Summer months you can run 50% with no mods because its warm enough. The Veg and Diesel mix and thin very nicely. The veg acts like a natural additive with the Diesel. The Veggie burners up island (Comox Valley) have gone beyond the Two-Tank System and now just heat the lines with Aircraft grade heated line sections. Way less cost-Way less hassle and still better for the environment. If you were really worried about Veg Temp you could replace your existing Filter assembly with this one..
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Single-12V-Heated-Fu ... 1|294%3A50

Just for your info.... Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Benn@ http://www.comoxvalleydelica.com

[loki]

nice looking filter, I might consider that if my single tank system has issues in the winter.

Did you ever consider just running a mix in the same tank? I run a 33% mix right now and have been since March. In the Summer months you can run 50% with no mods because its warm enough. The Veg and Diesel mix and thin very nicely. The veg acts like a natural additive with the Diesel. The Veggie burners up island (Comox Valley) have gone beyond the Two-Tank System and now just heat the lines with Aircraft grade heated line sections. Way less cost-Way less hassle and still better for the environment. If you were really worried about Veg Temp you could replace your existing Filter assembly with this one..
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Single-12V-Heated-Fu ... 1|294%3A50

Just for your info.... Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Benn@ http://www.comoxvalleydelica.com

[PlantDrive]

Notes re: single tank/blends:

First, replies to Delicaman....

1) I don't live on the Island, I live where it goes to -20C in the winter. So single tank/blend are not of much interest to me for half the year. The vegoil will drop out of suspension in the tank easier, the colder it gets, and then you're stuck with a van that won't start, if it's cold enough out.

2) If you do the math, blending at 50/50, for example, and you drive 20,000 km per year, and use 10 litres per hundred km, your total fuel usage is 2000 litres, so you are buying 1000 litres of diesel at 90 cents per litre. $900. We have a kit (2T-SD60) that will work in the Delica that costs $899, and anyone with a modicum of backyard mechanic skills can install it in a weekend. So, the payback in that scenario is about one year, after that you are running 100% WVO 95% of the time. If diesel goes back up, less than a year. That is about 6 times shorter than any other renewable energy payback time.

3) In my case, I went the extra and put in our aluminum tank. Payback at retail in this case would be around 2 years at 20,000 km/year and self-installed....I have put on 11,000 km since I got my Delica in early December.

I can run in any winter weather I will ever encounter, do not have to play with blends, have a huge range for long trips on WVO (plus my original tank of diesel, kept full, if I ever need it).

4) There is enough research to indicate that longer term use of vegoil at blends more than 15% vegoil in diesel will likely cause injector coking and other issues with the engine that will ultimately result in premature engine failure that I would not recommend the higher blends to anyone. We'll see how those engines are doing up-Island, in a year or two. The results are actually fairly predictable for high percent blends and improper single tank setups...injector coking followed by rings sticking, then loss of compression, etc. That takes some time to evolve. Do your homework, don't just jump on the "buddy across town did it and it seems ok so far" bandwagon.

5) Single Tank, properly done, can be viable in a moderate climate, but you will be stuck with the small Delica tank and other issues I have mentioned previously and won't go into again. Short version - if you do a blend, keep it to 15%, if you do a Single Tank, do it right, if you do 2-tank, you likely have your reasons.

Question for Loki - did you get your Elsbett kit installed, and how did it go as far as the installation process is concerned? Our filter is coolant-heated, by the way, so unless you added a block heater and a circulation pump to get pre-heated coolant to the filter, it would not help you in winter - it's meant for the 2-tank systems.

[PlantDrive]

Sorry Loki: I see you were referring to the filter Delicaman mentioned, not ours.

That filter, I would say yes, looks pretty good, the only problem is it is still an bottom-mount filter, so in very cold weather the electric heat at the top will not reach the bowl and filter element as fast as you need it to: gelled filter, no startie...or worse, a stall after you head out the driveway, and, in in single tank, you can't just switch to the other tank, you'll be warming and priming on the roadside getting it going again....I'm talking at, say -15C and below...depending on what kind of oil you have.

It's also a very small element by the looks of it, so they will plug often if you do not do a really thorough job of pre-filtering the oil. We wend to a much larger element on WVO systems years ago to get good filter life per money spent...early years, we used a similar size element, and even with heating and bag-filtering the oil, we'd get maybe 1500 km out of an element, then they'd plug. In recent years, since we used the much larger elements of a Vormax or the slightly smaller ones on the TurboFyner and VM2 filter bases, we easily get 6000 km or so from an element with just basic gravity-settling of the WVO, and double that, at least, if the oil is cleaned to 10 microns or less with bags, centrifuge, etc. before it goes in the tank.

[Exceed93]

Hi Ed,

I'm curious about the specific model of Optima battery that you are using, and if you had any issues with cold weather starts. I need to replace my dual setup and am considering going with the single. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[Profister]

I'm curious about the specific model of Optima battery that you are using

I am not a moderator but this is off topic. Your quick search would return this: http://www.delica.ca/forum/experience-w ... tml#p33148