Looking for someone who can weld

[divell420]

I'm converting an old diesel engine to run off of waste vegetable oil ( www.greasecar.com for info) and need soeone with some metalworking experience to help with the project. Nothing complicated for anyone with the know-how, it just involves attaching a second gastank to the frame somewhere.

Anyone who wants to help with an eco-friendly hippybus leave a message here or email divellATfreespaceDOTcc

 

[divell420]

posted this morning, page 3 by evening. wow

bump for the evening crowd. anyone? (Bueller? Bueller?) Costs the welder nothing, and we can talk about what it takes to be worth your while

 

[Xtatic]

I don't think ther are alot of people on here that actually know how to weld ..... now are we talking about TIG or MIG welding .... what materials are the tank and frame ... that info is kinda needed to.

 

[Astroboy]

pm defazman, I am sure he can help you out

 

[defazman]

Thanks for the nod Astro.

divell, you could probably find some local machine shops or fabrication shops to do the job. If it's nothing complicated, then it might just cost you a few hours of labour ($150 or so).

 

[divell420]

TIG or MIG welding? Beyond me man. It's steel to steel, I've got to attach a gastank to the steel frame of the vehicle. It'll be a big tank (150L++) so it'll have to be secure, but as far as welding goes it shouldn't be anything complicated.

Problem with going to a shop (besides money) is this isn't exactly a standard job, so the guys won't know what they're doing... and not being a metalworker, I don't know exactly how to go about doing this. That's why I figured I'd check here first.

Doesn't have to be a professional job (nothing else with this truck has been) but whoever does it will have to spend some time understanding what the project is all about so they know how best to do it

 

[Evil Dynovac]

Your hippie car should run smoothly on love, no?

 

[R4V4G3D_SKU11S]

Originally posted by divell420
Problem with going to a shop (besides money) is this isn't exactly a standard job, so the guys won't know what they're doing...

How is it not a standard job? Steel to steel welding. I'm pretty sure a professional welder could handle that.

 

[Lurker]

Do you really want to weld the gastank to the frame? Why not bolt it/strap it on?

If you really want it welded, take it to a pro to make sure it's not going anywhere. I can weld, but not sure how safe it would be to have your tank welded. I mean, if you hit something, it would rip the tank off instead of knock it off without ripping hole in it

Paul

 

[Gladiator]

safety first!!!

I live on a farm, have tractors and implements and all sorts of heavy machinery- I do agree that a 150 litre tank filled with oil will probably weigh over 300lbs++. Welding is an option, as long as you go to someone with experience and know how. As a secondary precaution, I would have the tank clamped on with some type of metal clamping after it has been welded, just in case you hit a big bump along the road, and the tank somehow "breaks" off from the frame.

I use FARM DIESEL (Marked Diesel) for many of my diesel needs. If you go to a HUSKY Station you can get Marked Diesel for approximately 44.5cents a litre, but you are not permitted to use it with any vehicle that uses our highways or roads because you have not paid the ROAD TAX portion that is included in your reg diesel or gas.

What would be the legal issue of using veg. oil for a source of power? Would they bust you and say you are not paying for the upkeep of our highways and bi--ways???

I am very interested in alternative power sources, and still believe water is the best choice. You hear about fuel cells that contain hydrogen, bad idea. HYDROGEN ON DEMAND is the answer, and is presently being developed by these russian guys I met. (OLD SOVIET TECH) A small box the size of a package of cigarettes, contains + and - points where water would be separated ON DEMAND into hydrogen and oxygen. This would make your vehicle MUCH safer, than having 40lbs of hydrogen stored in your trunk. (Don't get rear ended!!!) This is the path I think we should take. The oil cartels on the other hand, would rather you not take this route.

Interesting endeavour though..... just go to Mc D's back door to fill up.... I am sure they would love to get rid of their used oil. On the other hand, They probably send it back to their distributor, where they clean it and then send it back as NEW CLEAN OIL for those FRITES!!!

Later.

 

[d.code]

This bus is the coolest thing I have ever been on EVER.

 

[Evil Dynovac]

What about soy? I hear that is going to be the new revolutionary fuel. Soy diesel.

 

[Gladiator]

BIG K FUELS Where did they go??

Remember last winter and the radio commercials for BIG K FUELS BIO DIesel??? That was soy diesel, but they said in the winter it had to be mixxed with regular diesel in order to work. Fine for your home heating (if tank is in your basement).

Later.

 

[divell420]

Some very good points have been brought up. Thank you tribe! (keep em comin!)

This is why I didn't want to take it to a metal shop... the guy would have just done what I told him to, rather than what's best.

Options so far are welding, clamping, bolting and strapping it on. Lurker: can you elaborate on why it's better to have it strapped in? I don't want my gastank flying off if I hit something, but if it ever does come off it won't matter if the tank ruptures or not as the fuel line will break, and it'll still leak grease all over the place. So however it's attached, it has to be secure enough to take the whole frame with it if it goes anywhere.

And with this thing, I'd have to hit a mack truck to break my frame apart. I think I forgot to mention that this hippy bus is actually an old school bus. One of the big ones

It has storage compartments for bags and such underneath the bus (like greyhounds do), these can possibly be adapted to hold the extra gastank for extra support. Those storage bins need some metalwork themselves though, rust did some damage

Once this is set, we'll be able to drive for 500km or so between fuel stops, then after a few hours out back of a greasy-spoon restraunt we're good to go for free. I don't think there's any laws on this besides emissions standards, and burning grease is cleaner for the environment than gas or diesel. Slightly higher particulate emissions (all carbon) but no nitrogen, phosphorus or other pollutants

 

[divell420]

Re: BIG K FUELS Where did they go??

Originally posted by Gladiator
Remember last winter and the radio commercials for BIG K FUELS BIO DIesel??? That was soy diesel, but they said in the winter it had to be mixxed with regular diesel in order to work. Fine for your home heating (if tank is in your basement).

Later.

That's still a big step in the right direction but not exactly what I'm talking about. Biodiesel is originally vegetable oil (user or new) from soy, sunflower, peanut oil, whatever, reacted with methanol to make it more viscous and flammable. It can be poured directly into your gastank but is usually mixed with regular diesel 60-40 or 70-30 for better performance.

What I'm talking about is running of straight vegetable oil. Filtered (well!) and poured into a second gastank. The engine starts like normal off of regular diesel, and once the engine has warmed up, heaters are activated to heat up the grease that sits in the second gastank. Once the grease is a high enough temperature (approx 10 min) the driver flips a switch and the engine starts running off the heated grease. Google for "straight vegetable oil" for more SVO info

 

[Astroboy]

If you're running a bus that large, I would mount two tanks, for extended cruising...500km, really is not enough. Even if you're going across Canada for example....

 

[Evil Dynovac]

It's like I'm reading some kind of Stan Lee comic book over here!

 

[divell420]

Going across Canada is the plan.... 2 gastanks would be the smart solution if it wasn't for the heating stuffs that need to be hooked into the tank for this to work. I'd rather have one really large tank and only hook the electrical once.

Or even just carry extra filtered grease with us and stop to refill the tank.

electrik kool-aid acid tekno??

 

[Astroboy]

yeah. that is an option...but could always make a second tank, that ties into the heated one. as the heated on lowers you gradually replace from the full one, so it heats sufficiently for use...
or would even a slow infusion of new grease, cool it too much to be useful?

I just know that when I drove across Canada in my Diesel truck, with 100L tank, I needed two 25L Jerry Cans to get to gas stations across northern ontario and the prairies...I can't imagine finding 100's of litres of grease will be that much easier...