Ok, let's hear your stories of 2011 road trips. How many greasy miles did you go? Did you bring your fuel with you or dumpster dive? Any breakdowns or other fun tales?
I'll start it off. Back in March, my fiance and I took a 500+ mile round trip to Burney falls to celebrate our engagement. I had just finished converting my 79 300sd and this was actually the maiden voyage. I had 20 gallons in my tank and an extra 15 gallons in cubies in the trunk. 35 gallons of oil and over 250lbs of weight in the trunk. I also brought my key tools, extra hoses and clamps, flashlight and my oily pants should things go awry. I had done a couple of conversions in the past, so I wasn't too worried about breakdowns, but one never wants to risk a breakdown with a lady in the car. Although, she didn't completely freak out when I was crawling around in the snow trying to fix a pressure switch on my truck on our last trip, I am trying to make a better name for veggie oil. 80 mph on I5 the whole way there without any problems whatsoever. We cruised up and down hills and got to the destination without a hitch. The morning we were to leave however, freezing temps hit. I still had some WVO in my diesel tank after wiring the valve in backwards, so of course, I couldn't get the car started that morning. Fortunately, I knew of a trick to hand pump the lift pump while cranking the engine, and it finally worked as I primed and she cranked while stepping on the throttle. No tow trucks, no crawling under the car, no spills and 500+ miles on free fuel was what I call a successful first trip.
-Jason Jelonek
