The Jetta is a 1982 Volkswagen Jetta Deluxe 4dr Diesel with a five speed manual gearbox. It has working AC, a sun roof, and an aftermarket Radio Shack stereo with a CD-in jack for portable players. The body is in good shape though it looks as though it has seen a minor front end bender from material at the bumper spring. There are no major dents, dings, scratches or rust. The paint is a little rust stained. The car is white with black trim. Some of the windows appear to be new. The odometer says 119247 miles but it only seems to record every thirtieth mile. The car was $600 and at first a little scary to drive. The brakes were like standing on the pedal with a brick behind it. The car would hardly slow no matter how high I stood. There was horrible steering play. There were treble knocking sounds when you drove over bumps. There was an air freshener in there that smelled like the offspring of a urinal puck and a bottle of cologne for men, the kind you smell on mall rats. It was a truly wretched, sweet yet masculine smell of spice and musk. You aren't supposed to take those things out of the wrapper. Did you know that? Are there people who actually like that smell?

I digress.

I think the brakes were the first thing I started working on but I completed them later. At first I just took things apart and looked at them to see how nasty they were. I had a budget to stay within and had calculated the worst case if everything from my notes needed replacing to fit within the funding I had set aside. So if things that were safety, brakes, or steering looked even a little crusty they got replaced. I don't at this time remember the order of things but the whole of the steering and suspension came out and were replaced. I probably could have adjusted out the slop in the rack and pinion but the passenger side had been missing a boot for what looked like a decade and the bearing was sloppy on that side. Really sloppy, I could grab it and move it up and down and all around. The inner tie rod end on that side was the same story so it went. The outer end on the driver's side was torn so the inner rod on that side was replaced with the outer as the stock unit is pressed into one piece. The passenger side outer was replaced for aesthetic symmetry emotions.

One of the strut inserts was worn and pitted up on the topside so they, both sides, were replaced. The strut that was worn I had to take down the street for help getting it out of the sleeve. I was looking for someone with a press that could pull it out but the guy down the road just put a big ole washer on the end, clamped that in a bench vise, held onto the sleeve and whacked at it like a slide hammer. And he wouldnt take any money either. How sweet is that, learn a new trick and got my stuck strut loose for free. Both of the axles were sloppy. Not quite scary yet but they both had torn boots and were loose. I had been getting some things from Kragen and had ordered both of these from them as well.

Speaking of Kragen... I had tried to get an alternator there, went through five and none of them were the correct one. How frustrating that was day after day trying. Weeks went by and still no alternator. Then I called Selbach who had one on the shelf that dropped in like new. The old one was alternating just fine in there. The problem was that someone at some point in this cars life had broken off the end of the pivot bolt. The result of this was that the alternator pivot mount bolt hole was elongated by inch from rolling around loose in its mount. Also the rear face was severely worn to the point that I could not simply clamp it down with a new bolt. The thing still rattled and the belt had so much swing in it that it would not have lasted.

Back to the shafts, the passenger side shaft went in easy as did the drivers side, until I tried to drive the car. The remanufactured shaft for the driver's side was slightly oversized at the bit where it enters into the back of the rear of the hub to create a dust seal back there. The veggieavengerd shaft enters the hub, the hilt of it contacts the back side of the bearing and the wider portion of the shaft, the part that was too big, rotates inside this little indentation. Well it was too large and welded itself to the hub as soon as I drove or rather, tried to drive. I managed probably about four feet. I had to hammer on it to free it. I checked and rechecked with Kragen that this indeed was the right part. I even ordered another and measured it when it came in. Alas. Selbach saved me again. He had one on the shelf waiting for me. It was off a low mileage car and only $40. He let me take it home and try it on before I paid for it too. Those guys rule. At this point I had given up on Kragen as, although I was knowingly doing this 'budget' they just weren't hitting the mark and messing things up in the process. They are still good for filter elements and gasket material. Flaming dragon steering wheel covers and cheap speakers in enclosures. Crap like that.

The suspension bushings I got from JCWhitney online along with a shop manual and some of those little blinky LED blue lights for my bicycle's air caps. The bushings are made of this urethane stuff that is a little stiffer than the rubber. They are red too for added appeal. The box was complete, I was impressed, all the bushings in the whole car and all the motor mount bushings for $91.

The driver's side A Arm rear mount outer bolt broke off. The head of that bolt is up in this little pocket of space where two of the cars main panels meet. There was no way that I could find to get in there and fix it from the top side so I drilled it out and tapped it for a big old juicy bolt. It seems to be quite solid and I managed to get about 2 inches of thread in there. We will keep an eye on it.

The brakes... after bleeding they improved but, still no vacuum assist. The pads were all eight in good shape thickness wise but the front four were crumbly. There was a new set in the trunk so I scored there. I discovered that the vacuum pump diaphragm was torn so I ordered a rebuild kit and got it working again. Now the brakes were hearty again... Or were they, after stopping well a few times with the aide of the power assist the master cylinder had had enough. It went on vacation. The E-Brake is your friend. Selbach had a master the next morning for $92. It went in easy too. Brakes are your friend

Then there is the lighting and electrical system. Most of the lights didn't work. Or if they did they were really dim. The tail light clusters I discovered were just corroded at the blade connector. You could see also the one that was ground as it was corroded more so than the others, evidently too much duty for such a small blade. Also someone had tried to remedy the dim tail lights and turn signals by replacing the bulbs with bulbs of incorrect value. Both the left and right clusters had their blades polished and bulbs replaced. The backup lights were also not working. I inspected the switch and found it to be faulty. After replacing the switch they still did not function. I found the problem to be a corroded connector. A little rectangular thing with two tiny bullet connectors which I managed to roll up emery cloth and clean the corrosion off of. The female side I repeatedly smacked with a wire brush to force the bristles down in there. Then I put a little crimp in the barrels so they would bite better. It worked. Backup lights! The front Driver's side marker light was out also. I found it to be wired incorrectly and corrected it. Good ting too as I could not get the bulb out of the holder to test it. I think now that all the lights are working and bright as they should be.

The dash plastic I had to fiberglass back together as it has split in several places and was in a few pieces. The major split was right where the switches mount. It is just a little ugly right where they mount as a piece of cover plastic is missing. A trip to tap plastics, I need to go there anyway to get plastic mirror material to make my solar cooker/WVO heater.

I think that's most of it. Here is the ever long list:

• Replaced axle shafts
• Replaced alternator
• Rebuilt vacuum pump
• Replaced suspension bushings front and rear motor mount
• Replaced the front struts
• Replaced the rack and pinion
• Replaced inner and outer tie rods and tie rod ends
• Replaced ball joints
• Replaced brake master cylinder
• Replaced front brake pads
• Replaced strut mounts (not done yet)
• Polished tail light, backup light and turn signal connections
• Added Oil, Water and Volt gauges
• Replaced backup light switch
• Replaced signal bulbs in the rear clusters as some of them were the wrong wattage
• Added 12V 20A fused line from battery on a relay to ignition source for fuel switches and radio
• Replaced the fan speed selection switch
• Repaired dash plastic with fiberglass and accelerated super glue
• Replaced wiper washer pump
• Replaced one headlight that was full of water
• Fixed front left marker light. It had been wired incorrectly
• Five new tires

Greasecar kit installation

The kit was installed as directed by the accompanying documentation with the following modifications and details:

• The vented fuel cap's vents have been 95% plugged with metal fill epoxy. This cap was I believe designed for stationary use or placement somewhere other than at the fuel surface. Following leak aftermath recommendations I plugged up the vent holes. It seemed to have worked for the most part but there is still some leakage that my spill tray caught. A few ounces from 45 minutes of varied driving conditions. It is my intention to refit this cap with a sealed cap, one that I will drill a hole in and fit with a nipple. This will then be attached via hose to the bottom of a vent reservoir that has attached to it a simple breather filter element and vented outside the passenger compartment. A vent hose may be more prone to clogging with fatty wax though and would require inspection. More thinking and testing of some type of venting system is needed for sure. They are working to replace these caps with affordable non leaky vented caps.
• Used clear reinforced fuel line in some paths to facilitate troubleshooting. You can see the bubbles if they are in there.
• Added brass reducing adaptors where the fuel lines connect to the stock fuel filter, return path at the injector pump and inlet of injector pump. The supplied fuel line was too large for these connections and required that the clamps be over tightened on the hose to insure seal. In addition, the correct hose for the autos fittings was too small to fit over the fuel selection switch ports. Adaptors were used. This is not something that I would expect the kit manufacturer to be able to prepare for as all makes and even years of makes of cars are likely vary greatly. This should however be noted in the documentation in some form along with the proper use of a hose clamp.
• I used a 1-1/4", not 1" hole saw for the heater hose lines where they pass through the firewall to allow space for a split piece of hose to be inserted around the edge inside the hole. This protects the hose against abrasion.
• Added a splash tray around the oil fill at the veggie tank. I used about 3" of the side of one 30lb oil 'bucket'. A hole was cut into this for the fill and screw holes were added using the original gasket at a template. I then cut a new gasket for the top side of the tray and sandwiched all this together under the oil fill flange. Tank, gasket, plastic tray, gasket and then the flange.
• New #12 1" pointed sheet metal screws were used to replace the self tapping machine screws that were in place at the fill flange of the veggie tank. The original screws allow for one, possibly two reliable threading before they are stripped. The problem is the soft material of the aluminum tank and the tap at the tip if the screw. Because you aren't really likely to get these machine screws threaded in the same spot more than once, the tap then knocks out your threads from the previous pass. What you end up with is a very weak connection or completely stripped threads. I found that #12 screws just fit into the flange holes and also allowed for solid connection. It is also more likely that one can remove and rethread these several times before the hole is too worn to gain purchase.
• Some hose clamps were modified or replaced. The hose clamps provided with the kit in many cases were too large for the application. This causes a deformation in the clamp that applies uneven pressure on the hose. Portions of hose material are then gouged out by the clamp. Even with minimal clamp tightness. I did not have enough smaller clamps on hand so I pre bent the clamps supplied to a tighter radius and paid particular attention to how they were being applied. Smaller clamps are cheaper anyway.
• The hose was routed inside the vehicle for protection from the road. There was also a handy place to the right of the rear seat back on the passenger side to route the heater hose. I only had to slit the insulating cloth barrier to make a hole for them to pass. I did also add several layers of duct tape to the edge of the stamp metal seat back as they displayed nasty burs and sharp corners.
• The tank was strapped into the trunk using heavy plumbers tape. The ends were secured with a bolt and two flat washers, one for each side of the bolt. Aircraft nuts were used for this. Turnbuckles were attached to the tape by folding it three times forming a pocket for the eyelet for witch the bolt would pass through four layers of tape. This allowed for a strait path of the tape to the joint. Short pieces of split fuel line were placed on the corners of the tank to protect the soft aluminum from the harder plumbers tape strap. The turnbuckles were then tightened to clamp the tank down to the trunk bottom.
• A 20A fused line was added to the positive pole of the battery and taken through the firewall to the instrument panel in the dash. On this line was added a 30 amp 100% duty cycle relay. This actuation side of this relay was connected to the rear window defroster power t the positive side and to fuse block ground at the other. The output side of the relay was then used for the fuel and flush selection switches. This line will also service a radio and a volt gauge.

How does it run?

The car runs really well. It runs better on vegetable oil than it does on #2. There is seems to be a broader power band but I have no way to measure and quantify this observation. The engine idles more quietly than it does on #2. It seems almost as though the combustion is less violent with veggie and causing less vibration. Perhaps there is a slower burn rate with veggie. I am guessing there. And yes, it smells like food. Not really like French Fries, no, more like the grill at a Greek diner. I suspect though that the smell changes with the source of oil.

There is and neat oil and WVO (waste vegetable oil, free from the burger joint down the street when they change out the fryer) in the veggie tank now (and a little diesel because I flushed for too long once or twice. I can smell it in there when I open the fill). I picked up a load of oil last week and got my filter working. At first I just dropped the pickup hose with strainer down in the bucket but the flow rate was next to nothing and the pump was blowing fuses. Then I tried heating the WVO with my camp stove in an old $4 black enamel stock pot. I could fit about 50lbs of oil in the pot and it heated up quite rapidly. It was interesting to watch the oil clear up with heat. At first it was gradual, plumes of hot clear oil folding and rolling to the surface. A layer of clear oil began to form at the top and then suddenly, almost at once it cleared. I guess it reached that magic temperature where the fatty wax in there melted. Now, when the hot oil made its way to the filter element on the output of the pump things started flowing at a startling rate. I almost overfilled my clean bucket it was flowing so quickly. Man that thing pumps. It was a good feeling to filter all that oil so quickly. I also have been reversing the polarity of the pump when I am done and sucking back some clean grease to back flush the filter. Then just air for a moment to clear the lines a little.

I store both business ends of the filter system in a 5 gallon pickle bucket. I think I will get a lid and cut holes in it for the hoses to keep things a little neater while it is packed. The rest of the filter system is just coiled around back there in the trunk. Some day soon I am going to make a solar cooker for heating my oil for filtering, among other things. That way there is no messing around with propane and all that burning.

I have been collecting my cooking oil in the kitchen also. It's not much but I figure we could go a few miles on what we had left from breakfast yesterday and the olive oil zucchini saut we had at dinner. I will add these to the pot when I heat things up to get the water out and it will get filtered with the rest.

What is left to do?

• Drive that sucker!
• Replace all the fuel system rubber with synthetic lines and seals so that I can warm up and flush on B100. This petroleum diesel is damn nasty, stinky stuff.
• I need to adjust the fuel level sender in the veggie tank as it reads when the tank is full up
• Inspect timing belt and replace if needed
• The fan blows a fuse if it is run on high. The fun guys at Selbach Auto tell me that those fans pull too much current. This is also why the switch overheats and melts down. It's probably all old and crusty someplace too.
• I need to install the strut mounts. One is cracking and both are a bit noisy.
• I think there is an exhaust leak somewhere. Not severe but I can hear it puffing.
• Oil change soon
• I think that this car has issues with leaking when it rains or is washed. I have never washed it myself but there was water in the carpet pad when I peeled it back to work. There is like, silt of something in the carpet. I don't know what was spilled or flooded in there. Almost like someone forded it or got it stuck in high water. Or other things I don't want to think about.
• I need to do a better alignment on it when I replace the strut mounts.
• If it is to become the Veggie Avenger it needs a wicked paint job and many, many decals with witty and sexy slogans. A real eyesore/candy propaganda machine
• I would also like to fix some cracks in the tail lights but I keep forgetting to get the kit when I am at the auto parts store.

smacked nary a knuckle through the whole adventure. Not until it came time to play with the plumbers tape. Oh man that cuts quick! And the whole project is still under $3000.

Photonic Records Stack:

Note: click on an image for a closer view

The Jetta's front side	The Jetta's back side	The veggie tank home	Heater hose in trunk with duct tape
Tank heater coil	Inside tank	Tank buttoned up with two boxes of neat soy salad oil	Tank strap turnbuckle
Coolant Tees, the right one is over to the filter. The left is returning from the tank	Filter and fuel switches side	Filter and fuel switches top	Fuel switches all hosed up
Fuel switches wired - see also fuel line adaptor, bottom frame right	Wires route through firewall	Heater hose fire wall hose protection	Heater hose on the interior where it makes its way through the firewall
Heater hose wrapped in Mylar coated bubble wrap hose wrap	Heater hose route in the rear of the car	Heater hose route past the rear seat back	My spill tray
A partially plugged up fill cap	Water temp gauge on the dash	The triple gauge console is hidden behind a plastic JETTA cover. Pop the cover, insert gauges	Another view of the driver's compartment - you can see the fuel selection and purge switches
The landscape of my trunk, the blue thing is the Greasecar filter rig	Greasers

Friday Afternoon Oil Cookoff 09/06/2002

Mmmm its so... creamy.... No, seriously, this is some yummy smellin goop that just went in the pot.	The filter rig behind the Veggie Avenger M1.	Warming up the golden power goo.	Those green boxes in the front are left from the neat oil I got at Costco. I now use them as my 'clean' jugs. The red ones are what I get from the burger joint. Happy Dog!
Oooh soo close!	DING! All done! Time to suck and filter.	Video Propaganda. The most exciting 33 seconds of your life. You can almost smell it cooking.

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