Some of you saw this thread:
Well, I made the news:
I am doing my part to make the world the better place.
Actually I did it for the bragging rights. I need to get a life.
Seriously, what’s the milage, the pollutant level & why can’t you go above 45?
Y’all may just save America!
and “fried chicken smell” while idling isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but boy- my appetite would be on overload!!!
The only drawback I can see with that type of vehicle is that there is only so much used deep fryer oil to go around. 
How very cool!
I’ve been following along your other postings, even found a bunch of links and sent them to my Dad hoping to spark his interest. He’s mechanically inclined, owns a diesel truck already and recently retired so he’s got the time to tinker around, he’s looking into it.
So there you go, you’re in the news and possibly influencing my Dad a thousand miles away. 
Three cheers for halenlee!
Bio-fuel seems to be a small but growing trend over here too. This can only be a good thing. And a vehicle that smells like frying chicken instead of the usual disgusting stink … ? WOW1
That’s awesome. You’re doing a great thing, and it’s always nice to be recognized for it.
WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
You go!
It’s nice to be recognized for your talents and ability.
Congrats! That’s really cool.
We’re in the process of saving up to put a biodiesel engine in our tour van for the band. Unfortunately, it’s gonna be a bit expensive, as we need a whole new engine - it’s a Ford 350 gas engine currently, but since the engine itself is about done (it needs new rings, seals and gasket) we figure the price difference isn’t that great.
This year I’d estimate that fully 20% of our income went directly to fuel and travel costs, and I don’t see fuel prices dropping in the future. So it can’t hurt. We’re currently exploring underwriting options with an alternative energy company that’s trying to build a biodiesel distro network. We figure a touring band with “powered by biodiesel” on the side of the van is a big boon for biodiesel awareness.
In fact, we’re throwing a big harvest hoedown at our farm in Madison in September to help pay for it and raise awareness.
Hopefully, we’ll have a new engine ready to go before next summer’s tour schedule.
Last time I checked at the grocery store Crisco Vegetable Oil sold for $4.50/64oz.
That’s nearly $9/gallon.
Are they going to be able to make vegetable oil cheaper than gas?
The idea is to recycle used cooking oil. Restaurants have to get rid of their used oil somehow, and there may be a cost involved. (I don’t know if there is, but I assume so.) People like hlanelee can collect the oil from restaurants. The restaurants save the (assumed) disposal fee, and the driver gets his fuel free or cheap.
Is it really that expensive? Here you can easily buy oil for about a dollar per liter, not even four per gallon, at your local supermarket. AFAIK standard groceries are usually not cheaper in Germany than in the US.
And here, that is cheaper than diesel, but of course that is caused by taxes.
1999 U.S. oil consumption was 18,490 barrels or 776,580 gallons per day!
That’s a lot of used vegetable oil for restaurants to produce.
I’m just trying an alternative that works for me in my little part of the world. I can’t solve the world’s problems. What are you doing to contribute?
Sorry, just playing devil’s advocate.
I do my part by keeping my daily work commute to less than 20 miles round trip and driving a Toyota Corolla.
I know too may people that live 40 miles out of the city, drive (solo) to work in their Ford F150 / Expedition / Suburban / Durango, and then complain about how much they have to pay for gas.
That’s fantastic, hlanelee! I still want to hear the answers to FriarTed’s questions: Why can’t you go above 45mph? Will it just not go that fast, or do you have to be careful not to let it go that fast?
And what’s your (ahem) oil mileage? This sounds like a really cool idea!
Was the conversion a lot of work? Could a non-mechanic do it?
Is this the kit from PlantDrive.com? Do you know anything about similar kits from Greasel.com, and how they compare? I have a co-worker who has the Greasel kits on two vehicles, and he’s been trying to talk me into it too. (I have an '83 diesel Mercedes.)