With the domestic auto industry collapsing around us (and keeping bloggers typing away madly), I've had little time to report on the host of mechanical changes I've been making to the 1982 Mercedes 300TD Wagon I'll be driving to L.A. in December. I've been underneath the oily old diesel every weekend making mechanical updates and preparing for my cross-country trek.

First up were fixes to get the 330,000-mile stalwart wagon operating at its best before setting sail from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Tightening the steering box eliminated most of the steering play and made the car much more pleasant on the highway. Replacing one of the rear struts on the self-leveling suspension eliminated a loud clunking from the right rear (and ensured proper self-leveling operation). And removing the dash, replacing the heater core, re-wiring the HVAC controls, and ensuring proper vacuum to the entire system (and then putting it all back together - ugh) gave me heat and ventilation for the first time since buying the car in 2006.

Making the car run on used vegetable oil is remarkably simple. Pictured and described below are the six main mechanical items needed to turn my ride from a petroleum-fueled vehicle into one that will run on waste vegetable oil (WVO), biodiesel, or traditional diesel fuel.

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#1) 16-plate brazed copper heat exchanger. Vegetable oil only needs to be heated to be burned in a diesel engine. It is too viscous at room temperature to be properly vaporized by the injectors, so heating it to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit does the trick to make it thin enough for proper burning in the engine. The unit above takes hot coolant from the Benz's radiator, cycles it through a metal matrix of tiny passageways, and returns the coolant to the radiator. Pressed right next to the hot coolant passages is another matrix of passageways, these with vegetable oil flowing through. Heat is transferred from coolant to vegetable oil, heating it quickly and preparing it for duty as fuel for the turbodiesel inline five.

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#2) Heat Exchanger + Fuel Filter. Right before feeding it to the engine's injection pump, it is wise to heat the vegetable oil once more to ensure full atomization in the combustion chambers. Additionally, filtering the oil again ensures that no impurities enter the engine. The unit above functions similarly to the 16-plate heat exchanger above (#1), but features a smaller heat exchanger and a large capacity, 4-micron oil filter that filters any impurities out of the oil. Engine coolant from the radiator is again used in the lower, metallic chamber, and vegetable oil enters and departs at the base of the unit through the two copper fittings. After passing through this unit, the waste vegetable oil is ready for combustion.

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#3) Fuel and Coolant Hose. To route vegetable oil from gas tank, through both heat exchangers, and on to the injection pump, 3/8" fuel hose (smaller spool in the middle) is used along with hose clamps to ensure the system is sealed. All coolant to and from both heat exchangers is routed through 5/8" coolant hoses (the larger hose on the outside).

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#4) Continuous Duty Solenoid. A purge tank system is used so that the engine may be started and shut down on diesel or biodiesel. As the radiator is not hot upon startup, diesel or biodiesel must be used on a cold start until the radiator is sufficiently warm enough to heat the vegetable oil through the heat exchangers. This solenoid is triggered by a dashboard switch operated by the driver. When the switch is flipped on, the solenoid sends power to two fuel switchover valves that route fuel from the main fuel tank where the waste vegetable oil is stored. When the switch is turned off, the valves route fuel instead from a purge tank that has approximately two gallons of diesel fuel or biodiesel.

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#5) 12 volt auxiliary fuel pump. As vegetable oil is a bit thicker than diesel fuel, a pump such as the one picture above helps ensure adequte fuel pressure to the engine compartment. This pump is mounted between the fuel tank and underhood injection pump.

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#6) Two Fuel Switchover Valves. These are activated by the Continuous Duty Solenoid (#4) described above. When activated, they route fuel from the vehicle's fuel tank as opposed to routing it from the purge tank. This system allows startup and shutdown on diesel fuel or biodiesel, eliminating the possibility of cold starting problems associated with thickened vegetable oil stuck in fuel lines underhood.

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All the parts and pieces are ready to go. Stay tuned as I install them this weekend, the final step before I am able to run the 300TD on nothing but pure, used vegetable oil from local Atlanta eateries.

Departure from Atlanta is set for December 5th, when my best college friend Hugh and I will be driving over 2,000 miles to Los Angeles on clean-burning waste vegetable oil.--Colin Mathews

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If you hadn't heard already, the Big Three's pleas to Congress fell on deaf ears today. Pelosi, Reid, and seven other Democratic Congressional leaders upstaged a meeting between the Big Three and a bipartisan group of senators to discuss a compromise surrounding the already-approved $25 billion in Federal aid. The Democrats' message, as voiced by Nancy Pelosi: "Until they show us a plan, we can't show them the money."

Specifically, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders want to see viability plans from the Big Three that ensure good stewardship of taxpayer money, and clear, concise plans towards corporate health and intelligent re-structuring. The bipartisan group of senators and the Big Three had hoped to redirect the $25 billion in low-interest loans towards simply bridging their current cash crises and remaining solvent for the time being.

In blocking immediate emergency Federal loans to the Big Three, Democrats have forced the domestics to show just how they would use the aid. Hearings on their plans are scheduled for December 2, and a vote by Congress is scheduled on or around December 8 when Congress returns to consider aid to the struggling Big Three.--Colin Mathews
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Am I the only one disappointed by the rumored Honda/Acura NSX as presented over at AutoCar? It looks to my eye like the meeting of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and Nissan's just-launched 370Z. Both attractive cars, indeed, but neither one possessing the NSX's legendary mid-engine layout, unique silhouette, and lightweight frame ensuring ultra-precise handling.

Opposed to the original NSX's minimalist 3.0-liter V-6 that launched Honda's revolutionary VTEC variable-valve timing, this new vehicle is rumored to house a honking V-10 that takes up significant real-estate in front of the driver. And look at all that dead space between the crankshaft pulley and the front bumper, reminiscent of similarly wasted space in the ultra-swoopy Camaro of the late 1990s.

I'm sure this proposed vehicle from Honda (which might be delayed due to market struggles) will be a track-day dominator, just like the new Nissan GT-R and the Porsche 911 twin turbo. But nothing can match the driving joy of a willing dance partner with quick moves and light feet, and I hope a more worthy successor to the NSX name makes its way into production as well.--Colin Mathews

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Launched in 1886 as a "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering," Bosch has been in on diesel technology since fellow German Rudolf Diesel introduced his revolutionary heat engine at the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Bosch continues their leadership in compression ignition technology with the advent of Volkswagen's 2.0-liter clean diesel as found in the 2009 Jetta TDI and 2009 Jetta TDI Sportwagen.

Delivering highly-pressurized Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel to all four piezoelectric injectors is Bosch's common rail system that runs at pressures up to 30,000 psi. Bosch's piezoelectric injectors are capable of delivering up to five pre- and post-injection pulses of fuel, helping to eliminate noisy diesel clatter and greatly improving efficiency and emissions.

Bosch also contributed the Jetta TDI's high-pressure fuel pump, engine ECU, diesel particulate filter (essential for reduced soot), low-pressure EGR sensors, camshaft sensors, oxygen sensors, hot film air mass sensor, and glow timing ECU.

The net result of all this technology is a stout wave of low rpm torque, extremely low emissions, no soot, and gas-engin-quiet operation. Not to mention gas mileage as high as 58.85 mpg as recorded by mileage-busting couple John and Helen Taylor.--Colin Mathews

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We all know that the domestics had less of a presence at the L.A. Auto Show due to harsh economic realities and just the daily struggle of staying solvent. But AutoCar weighed in with their uniquely British perspective on the view from the floor in L.A., calling it "the weirdest US motor show opening of modern times," saying "the California air was actually full of the car industry's ever-accelerating financial desperation."

They claimed that Chrysler stand was devoid of both "the kind of lighting rig that Audi had set up across the aisle" as well as pearly-toothed execs. GM, too, was struggling, and had run full-page ads warning of the disaster that would surely follow if the domestics didn't get the $25 billion they were requesting. AutoCar felt that Ford was the most poised, and showed little signs of struggle, and pushing ahead with a full lineup that included the impressive new 2010 Mustang.

AutoCar felt that "signs of a meltdown were obvious" from the L.A. vantage point. Typically the proud locus of showy new models and the kind of bragging rights that play well in image-conscious Los Angeles, this year's L.A. Auto Show was a sobering view of an industry that is being turned inside-out by a brutal market. But are Mulally, Wagoner, and Nardelli really sharing in their company's pain, traveling on high in private jets as they ask a dubious Congress for massive Federal assitance?--Colin Mathews

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