My Surf Bus Conversion Project

[maxextz]

great stuff

 

[kitesurfer]

Howdie again folks.

It seems ages since i last posted up some photos of my conversion progress so i thought a quick update of what ive been upto was in order.
Aside from splitting my time between kitesurfing, surfing and work van progress has been steady.
Cooker and fridge unit is in and working. Overhead cooker unit where my water is to be stored is also in. Bed is up and working and most of the carpet has been laid.
Also have transplanted the swivel seats complete with seats out of my old t4.

Have ordered a custom heated bio fuel tank as i will be installing my vegetable oil conversion kit in the next couple of weeks to.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

So if anyone is interested i have 2 front seats for sale.

The swivel seat supports have yet 2 be finished and as such still look a bit argricultural but i have now have masses of height under my front seats and will be able to fit to very big auxilery batteries in there. I plan to fit a solar panel as well at a later stage as i will be wild camping on a regular basis.

The bio fuel tank is tee shaped and will fit in the space between the 2 front seats and will provide a raised area behind the front seats for resting your feet on when the swivel seats are facing as they are shown above. Should be around the 90ltr mark in capacity


KS

 

[BaywoodBill]

nice looking work.

 

[312 diesel (closed)]

That's looking very nice. PMd you on the seats

Edit, no I didn't cos your PM isn't switched on! are the seats thec standard ones or is the driver's seat a bouncy suspension seat?

 

[kitesurfer]

That's looking very nice. PMd you on the seats

Edit, no I didn't cos your PM isn't switched on! are the seats thec standard ones or is the driver's seat a bouncy suspension seat?

Oppps i didn't realise you had to turn on pm's. I'll sort that out. The seats are both the standards ones i think with the 3 adjustment levers. These are them before i removed them from the van.
The van has only done 56,000 miles so they are in good condition, its just the fabric isn't to my taste.


KS

 

[kitesurfer]

Further update. Not so much work on the conversion as ive been away using the van for a few preliminary surf trips. All good so far was able to run my electric fridge for 4 days non stop off my golf cart batteries that ive installed, 2 6volt deep cycle batteries i got second hand fitted under the passenger seat. Will be fitting anothefr 2 at a later date under the drivers seat as i'll need the extra juice for my a/v system once it is installed.

In the mean time i have been installing my vegetable oil conversion kit. The components consist of a second heated fuel tank, a heated fuel filter, a heat exchanger and a switching valve. Once the engine is up to running temperature on diesel you switch the valve and select the auxilery tank which then feeds warmed oil into the injection pump. The purpose of the various heated components is too thin the oil enough to allow the pump to pump the oil without over stressing it. Also i am hoping that the heated fuel tank will make a great heat source for me when i go away to the alpes snow boarding this winter.

Ive installed shut off valves on the heated fuel tank as it won't be needed in the summer and i don't want to cook myself.
I haven't quite finished installing the electrics for the switching valve but should have it running on veg oil by the weekend. I'll keep you posted as to my progress.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

Progress over the last few weeks has been slow as ive had brakes to change and ive been making a few surfboards and going surfing too. But here are a couple more photos of the ongoing conversion.
Also so far i have done over 5000 miles on waste vegetable with only a few minor problems with some leakage from the tank and ive had a couple of connectors collapse which resulted in fuel starvation problems but these have all been dealt with.
I have also started to install my 6volt battery banks. 2 lots of two 6v deep cycle batteries running in series and parallel, charged off a adverc battery charging system.











KS

 

[312 diesel (closed)]

I thought the 312 could run vegetable oil anyway as they come standard with a fuel pre-heater?

Not that I've ever tried mind you.

 

[davie]

I thought the 312 could run vegetable oil anyway as they come standard with a fuel pre-heater?

Not that I've ever tried mind you.

i'd love more info on that if you would mate ?

as i'm in the middle of setting up a small reactor for wvo just now as it happens and also i run a 312 !!

 

[kitesurfer]

I thought the 312 could run vegetable oil anyway as they come standard with a fuel pre-heater?

Not that I've ever tried mind you.

As i understand it the 212d, 312d and the 412d all have the same 2.9ltr turbo engine in them, i have a 412d. This is a direct injection engine with an elctronic injector pump. I'm not sure what engine is in the 312 so would not like to comment.
The signifigance of this is that DI engines do not run at all well when the engine is cold on wvo or svo, resulting in un burnt oil. I'm not sure about the fuel pre heater you mention, i haven't seen one on my engine although it would be handy to know what it looks like so that i can have a look. The danger of having unburnt wvo or svo is that it will gum up your piston rings which will both eventually cause loss of compression and also allow the veg oil to mix with the engine oil and this too can have some very serious effects on the health of your engine.
However once a direct injection engine is up to operating temperature it is perfectly capable of combusting wvo or svo properly. So the trick is to run 2 separate fuel tanks, one for diesel and one for your veg. A switching valve operating either manualy or remotely using the engine temperature for a swtiching signal is then used to switch over to veg once the engine is at temperature. Also at the end of your journey you need to remove the veg oil from the system and this is done simply by switching back onto diesel a mile or so before the end of your journey.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

i'd love more info on that if you would mate ?

as i'm in the middle of setting up a small reactor for wvo just now as it happens and also i run a 312 !!

Sounds like your making bio diesel?

KS

 

[312 diesel (closed)]

Interesting. When I use the 312 I mostly take it a long way so it always gets pump fuel. I like the idea though. I think I read on a Dutch website that you could run a 312 on vegetable oil without any mods. But I skimmed the info as I was looking for something else. Do you run on waste cooking oil or virgin stuff?

As i understand it the 212d, 312d and the 412d all have the same 2.9ltr turbo engine in them, i have a 412d. This is a direct injection engine with an elctronic injector pump. I'm not sure what engine is in the 312 so would not like to comment.
The signifigance of this is that DI engines do not run at all well when the engine is cold on wvo or svo, resulting in un burnt oil. I'm not sure about the fuel pre heater you mention, i haven't seen one on my engine although it would be handy to know what it looks like so that i can have a look. The danger of having unburnt wvo or svo is that it will gum up your piston rings which will both eventually cause loss of compression and also allow the veg oil to mix with the engine oil and this too can have some very serious effects on the health of your engine.
However once a direct injection engine is up to operating temperature it is perfectly capable of combusting wvo or svo properly. So the trick is to run 2 separate fuel tanks, one for diesel and one for your veg. A switching valve operating either manualy or remotely using the engine temperature for a swtiching signal is then used to switch over to veg once the engine is at temperature. Also at the end of your journey you need to remove the veg oil from the system and this is done simply by switching back onto diesel a mile or so before the end of your journey.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

Waste oil mostly and straight if i run out of waste. I do about 400 miles/week so thats a lot of waste oil processing! You maybe able to run your 312 without a conversion but so far all my research for my 412d has indicated that it is not a good idea.

This is not the kit i personally run in my sprinter but the web page shows a comprehensive vehicle list of those that can be converted and those that can not and those that need a twin tank kit. etc.
http://biomotors.co.uk/CarsVansM.html#Mercedes
Well worth a look.

KS

 

[maxextz]

thats a very nice conversion you have done there.

max........

 

[220629]

KS,
The conversion looks great!

Since this has branched out to WVO I have some questions. I have about 10 gallons of peanut oil part of which was used to fry one turkey and then was stowed in our cellar about 5 years ago. Turkey frying is a bit more complicated than I thought. First let me say that I'm most likely going to dump it into a restaurant grease recycle, but if there is no danger I'd just as soon burn it off in my Sprinter.

My questions. Does anybody know if adding a quart of strained, unprocessed, once used peanut oil per fuel fill has any negative possibilities? I would expect with that dilution rate all should be fine. I'm thinking it will help with fuel system lube and let me dispose of my waste peanut oil.

Any and all thoughts are encouraged. AP/vic

 

[bart]

Recycle it. Ten quarts of oil are about equal to Ten bucks worth of diesel. If you do develop a problem with your sprinter, the costs could be much much higher. The upside of dealing with your waste oil is just not offset by the downside risk. Just my opinion.

Bart.

 

[kitesurfer]

KS,
The conversion looks great!

Since this has branched out to WVO I have some questions. I have about 10 gallons of peanut oil part of which was used to fry one turkey and then was stowed in our cellar about 5 years ago. Turkey frying is a bit more complicated than I thought. First let me say that I'm most likely going to dump it into a restaurant grease recycle, but if there is no danger I'd just as soon burn it off in my Sprinter.

My questions. Does anybody know if adding a quart of strained, unprocessed, once used peanut oil per fuel fill has any negative possibilities? I would expect with that dilution rate all should be fine. I'm thinking it will help with fuel system lube and let me dispose of my waste peanut oil.

Any and all thoughts are encouraged. AP/vic

Sorry for the late reply and thanks for the comments re the conversion. It has been worked on further and i shall upload some more photos soon.
Re your oil it depends on a couple of things. Firstly what age and model is your sprinter and more importantly what injector pump does it have fitted. Also you need to ensure that your oil is both free from moisture and has been filter to 1 micron to avoid damaging your ip and injectors.Your filter will do this for you but it is good practise to do this prior to putting it in the tank. As your oil has been stood for a long time it will propably have had the water settle to the bottom of the containers but has it been kept water/air tight for the 5 years it has been standing?
Basically the early sprinters with the inline injector pumps and indirect injection are the best for running on wvo and do not require the engine to be at full running temperture to ensure complete combustion of the veg oil. As such you can put the filtered veg straight into the main fuel tank. Later models require 2 fuel tanks and other modifications to allow veg oil to be used safely.
All this said however if you plan to do a long run in your sprinter and providing your veg oil is clean there is no reason why you can't start your van up get it upto temperture and then add enough veg oil into your tank for just less than your journey and then make sure at your journeys end fill up with diesel and you should be fine.

But let us know your sprinters age and i can give you some more informed advice.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

Time for a few more update photos of the interior. Most of the work left to do know is finishing off work as the main units are all built.

The blue lines in the ceiling are blue strip lights for maximum pimp effect. Rear overhead storgae unit built and beer keg holder/watercontainer also fitted.
Flat screen tv fitted that is wired up to the dvd header unit. My 1.5kw sound system is also now fitted with two 10inch subs, four mids and four tweeters.

KS

 

[kitesurfer]

Oh and i have fitted a sail cloth bunk bed over my folding double bed in the rear that doubles up as a surfboard rack. Needed a second bed for a mate when i head off snowboarding this season.

KS