I was going through my old emails today (man I get a lot of email!) and ran across one that’d I sent myself with a list of forums to include on my website.
It was really old too..June of 2005 old…yep, that old.
Anyway, back to the story.
So I started going through the forums & posting them to my site (they’re in the Helpful Web Links section) when I ran across Frybrids Forum http://www.frybrid.com/forum/
Frybrid is a company that sells a conversion kit that you can put on a vehicle and it’ll run straight veggie oil.
Well, while I was there, I saw this:
I clicked on it & noticed that it was the SAME EXACT CAR I’d read about nearly 4 years ago! Not only was it the one that I read about, but it was the one that got me into Biodiesel.
It was a bonified veggie oil-burning, uglier than sin Diesel Chevette.
Here’s the two articles that I’d read all those years ago late at night one night.
Article #1:
http://www.dieselchevettes.com/greasel.htm
Article #2
http://www.dieselchevettes.com/3500_miles_in_this.htm
Boy, I can still remember the night I read the articles and a light went on in my head that’s never dulled since.
So here’s the short version of how the Rabid Biodiesel Nut went from a normal, diesel lovin’ guy to a Rabid Biodiesel Addict.
My dad, who is massively into diesels, and especially Isuzu diesels, had just picked up a Chevette Diesel. You see the engine in it was made by Isuzu.
The car looked like crap (and I mean REALLY looked like crap) and I’d had it over to my place cleaning it up a bit. Stunk to high heaven inside too, but the stupid thing ran.
So anyway, back to the story….
So he’s bought this ugly chevette diesel and since we were going to try to get it road worthy, I decided to start researching it & ran across the article above.
I thought, use Veggie Oil in a diesel? No way! That’s just ludicrous! (I remember thinking that too!) Well, then I read how this guy had driven all across the US pulling a trailer full of WVO behind his Chevette and the magic happened.
“Dude, I can think of a TON of restaraunts that’d give me their grease!”
But then the brick wall….turns out to run a diesel on WVO you’ve gotta do a conversion to the vehicle.
Now, for those that know me, you know I also drive an Isuzu Diesel Pickup…thing looks like…well, about as bad as that Chevette.
And, seeing as I hadn’t spent more than $500 for the thing, I wasn’t too keen on investing a bunch of dough into it. I figured, heck, if I get in a wreck then I’m out all that investment.
….and that’s when I stumbled onto Biodiesel.
Through doing some searches I ran across Biodiesel Now (http://www.biodieselnow.com) and started reading everything I could. I spent many a late night hooked to the thing, reading like crazy! I’d become a mad man! Obsession had set in….well, ok, maybe not quite yet, but it was getting there….
so as I went through the forum I started poking around & noticed that there was a guy in Salt Lake City (remember, I live in Utah) that was making & using this Biodiesel stuff. I thought, Hot Damn! I’ve gotta get ahold of this guy!
I think that was the winter of 2002. The Olympics were going on & everything.
So anyway, I got ahold of him & started emailing him & pestering him with questions about the legitimacy of it. Yep. It was legit!
So after the winter I got up the guts to actually try some in my truck. I drove up to his place & he let me put some in my truck & I headed home.
That wasn’t my first time, but that’s how I’d fill the thing up.
Anyway, half-way home the truck started to get quieter & I thought, EUREKA! This stuff is for real!
And…well….as they say…the rest is history.
I’m now a hopeless Biodiesel Addict, complete with my Biodiesel T-Shirt on while I write this blog post.
-Graydon
The Rabid Biodiesel Nut