Running my Vauxhall Astra on veg oil

worried_jim

Buy one get one free? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Have you ever topped up in a supermarket carpark? The looks you get when you drive away are priceless.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Just to say... LOVING this thread. It's like reading a good episode of Top Gear.

Rolandtheroadie

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Just to say... LOVING this thread. It's like reading a good episode of Top Gear.

Without the dramas hopefully lol.

Topped up the car today with free fuel then went to the petrol station to put as much as I could in it. It took nearly 7 litres. I could see it in the filler pipe and will fill to that point again when I get back to get a rough idea on fuel economy.
It's probably still around 25% diesel 75% veg mix and as I used my contaminated diesel as well, the whole 400 odd miles will cost a princely £8.21.
Will take an extra couple of inline fuel filters though just incase.
Thats me up to 1950 miles so far.

Went for a munchie box the other night. £5.50, but walked out with 40 litres of oil too. The cleanest I've ever had too, it looks like they filter it from the frier.

worried_jim

Has anyone had any problems yet with blocked filters? I hear the first 500 miles are supposed to be the worst as the svo/wvo cleans all the dino deposits from the tank and the pipes. Has anyone who had a change done yet and had a look inside to see if its gummed up with crud.
Any oil contamination or gummed rings? I am still runnging fine with no issues and I plan to pick up a load more svo tomorrow, unfortunately wont be pre filtered.
400 odd miles for £8.21 is good going, I bet you'll have a smile on your face driving past the tax station.

lyndasharp

We've just bought a police Morris Minor traveller in need of complete restoration. We're going to put a diesel engine in and run it on veg oil, though it'll be a couple of years before its on the road as we need to get our saloon restored first!

The Merc is running OK on straight oil, but still not starting fantastically in the morning so we might put about 10% diesel in for the next fill. No problems with the filters as far as we know, we changed them not long after geting the car last October as it was well overdue for a service!

Rolandtheroadie

No problems with filters yet, have a spare in the car now just incase. Looked at the one I fitted, looks fine too.
Topped up today so that was 410 miles and it took 38 litres to top it up to the previous level. About 49 MPG on a run so i'm impressed with that.
Or about 2p a mile lol.
And yes, I did look over at the inspection places on the way past with a wee smile on my face.
I've set up usedvegoil@ email and am hoping to take advantage of a free 100 business cards deal on the internet and drop them at a few pubs and hotels out in the countryside round here that may not have anyone uplifting yet. I've also got someone going to ask at a local golf club.

Rolandtheroadie

lyndasharp wrote: »

We've just bought a police Morris Minor traveller in need of complete restoration. We're going to put a diesel engine in and run it on veg oil, though it'll be a couple of years before its on the road as we need to get our saloon restored first!

What sort of diesel will you drop in it? One from the same era or something more modern?
The 1.7 in the Corsa seems a great engine (astras probably the same) and I'd think you could pick one up for buttons.
I saw a decent one on ebay last week for £600 BIN and i'd imagine an MOT failure that starts and runs fine should fetch no more than £150 (and only that much because scrap values arnt bad just now).
It actually sounds like quite a fun idea.

lyndasharp

scotsman4th wrote: »

What sort of diesel will you drop in it? One from the same era or something more modern?
The 1.7 in the Corsa seems a great engine (astras probably the same) and I'd think you could pick one up for buttons.
I saw a decent one on ebay last week for £600 BIN and i'd imagine an MOT failure that starts and runs fine should fetch no more than £150 (and only that much because scrap values arnt bad just now).
It actually sounds like quite a fun idea.

We're looking for something that will go in the engine bay without modifications to the chassis - don't want to end up with a Q plate! Also we're after something with a fairly good mpg - while the merc is lovely, it still only gets 35mpg and we'd prefer to go for something in the 50+ range.

Apparently the 1.5 from a Citroen AX will fit, I heard of 1 person doing that a few years ago. It's also got to be one that will join to a 5 speed Ford gearbox, as that's easily available with a Moggy fitting kit. Might need to get a custom flywheel made, and a custom manifold as well, but that's do-able. It'll also have front disk brakes instead of drums, to make sure it stops Will have to look into the Corsa option too!

rev_henry

lyndasharp wrote: »

We're looking for something that will go in the engine bay without modifications to the chassis - don't want to end up with a Q plate! Also we're after something with a fairly good mpg - while the merc is lovely, it still only gets 35mpg and we'd prefer to go for something in the 50+ range.

Apparently the 1.5 from a Citroen AX will fit, I heard of 1 person doing that a few years ago. It's also got to be one that will join to a 5 speed Ford gearbox, as that's easily available with a Moggy fitting kit. Might need to get a custom flywheel made, and a custom manifold as well, but that's do-able. It'll also have front disk brakes instead of drums, to make sure it stops Will have to look into the Corsa option too!

What about a mk3 fiesta 1.8d engine then? This minor sounds like its going to be amazing when you've finished with it!

mikey72

lyndasharp wrote: »

We're looking for something that will go in the engine bay without modifications to the chassis - don't want to end up with a Q plate! Also we're after something with a fairly good mpg - while the merc is lovely, it still only gets 35mpg and we'd prefer to go for something in the 50+ range.

Apparently the 1.5 from a Citroen AX will fit, I heard of 1 person doing that a few years ago. It's also got to be one that will join to a 5 speed Ford gearbox, as that's easily available with a Moggy fitting kit. Might need to get a custom flywheel made, and a custom manifold as well, but that's do-able. It'll also have front disk brakes instead of drums, to make sure it stops Will have to look into the Corsa option too!

I would have thought it would have been hard to fit a tranverse engine in, surely a rwd one would be an easier option?