Across the country on veggie oil!

Hello TPR!

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Colin Coon (wow, shocker!) and I am one of your handy dandy mods here on the boards. I am also going to be graduating High School this year, and hope to attend UCF in the fall.

The reason I'm posting this is because I wanted to tell you all about a project I am doing for my senior year. I have been working with my school since April to make this project happen, and officially started my project at the end of September, but the major component will happen in the spring.

Now what exactly is my project you may ask?

In the months of March and April I will be driving a diesel vehicle that I have converted to run on Waste Vegetable Oil across the country on a 10,000 mile journey. I will be doing all the work myself and documenting the entire experience. While it might seem like the trip itself will be the hardest part, it's the stage I am in now that I will have the most difficulty with.

The goal of this trip is to promote the use of alternative fuels, to prove that they work, and to show that anyone can use them.  I know I am not the first person to convert a car to run on vegetable oil, nor am I the first person to take one across the country, but that does not matter to me.  I want to spread the word that anyone and everyone can be a little more "green" in their daily lives. I hear lots of talk about being more green, but I want to put some action behind that and try to get others to do so also.

I have been collecting donations from personal friends, families of my school, and my family itself. I am essentially selling sponsorship space on my car to collect the funds I need. And before you ask, YES there will be a GIANT TPR banner on the car!! Everyone that donates has the opportunity to put anything they want on my car that will be traveling around the country!

To do this project I will need $8500, and while that seems like a lot, it really shows how big this project is. To date I have raised $5000 towards my project, which gives me enough to buy the car, but I still need $3500 more to complete my project. If you would like to donate, please visit my website (found below) and follow the instructions there!

I mentioned that I have enough to buy the car, and I have one already purchased. He is a 1980 Mercedes 300TD named Norm, have a look!!!

He will be arriving from Kansas shortly, and I am really excited about!

Anyways, I won't bore you all too much! Please visit my website for more information, follow my daily blog, and donate if you wish! If you have any questions then post them here! I will be more than happy to answer them for you! I will also keep this thread updated as much as possible to keep you guys all up to date!

http://www.colinsgreenmachine.com

Thanks guys!

Colin

I just want to say GOOD LUCK to Colin and that TPR absolutely endorses and supports this project!!!

--Robb "Show your support TPR!!!" Alvey

Colin - I was more than proud to be able to contribute to this grand project when I ran into you in Orlando.

Best of luck to you and Norm.

What a wonderful senior project! We need cars that run on alternative fuels.

You got my support!

Sounds like a great project Colin! We'll be rooting for you all the way!

That Benz looks nice. Might I suggest getting some corperate sponsors (like cooking oil manufacturers and others that are somewhat related to your project) if you haven't already. Do you plan on keeping the car and using it as a vehicle for you after you are done.

Wish I could help with your trip money wise, but all I can give you is a bump for a good thread.

I just want to say GOOD LUCK to Colin and that TPR absolutely endorses and supports this project!!!

 

--Robb "Show your support TPR!!!" Alvey

Thank you Robb, Elissa, and Kristen!!! You guys have been awesome so far in supporting me, and I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it!

Colin - I was more than proud to be able to contribute to this grand project when I ran into you in Orlando.

 

Best of luck to you and Norm.

Thank you too Larry! I really appreciate it!

And might I add, if you send me a donation you get a postcard in the mail, don't wanna miss out on that now do you?! Haha.

What a wonderful senior project! We need cars that run on alternative fuels.

 

You got my support!

I agree completely. That is why I want to do this project, to encourage people to be a little more open minded about "going green"! It's not as hard or as costly as some people might think!

Thanks for the support!

Sounds like a great project Colin! We'll be rooting for you all the way!

Thanks Adam!

That Benz looks nice. Might I suggest getting some corperate sponsors (like cooking oil manufacturers and others that are somewhat related to your project) if you haven't already. Do you plan on keeping the car and using it as a vehicle for you after you are done.

 

Wish I could help with your trip money wise, but all I can give you is a bump for a good thread.

Yeah, he isn't bad looking for being close to 30 years old eh?

I'm still trying to get corporate sponsors, but so far all the big chains (McDonalds, Burger King, etc.) don't want to have anything to do with me. Go figure! So I've been looking for local places around where I will be stopping. I will be calling a lot of them in the next few weeks and asking them for oil. The mom and pop places seem to have the friendliest and most generous personnel.

I will indeed be keeping the car after this project is done. I intend to take him on even more road trips like this on in the future, and continue to spread the word about being green. It will make a good college car too!

Thanks for the support!

_____________________________________________________________

You guys are all awesome, thank you for the support so far! I need all that I can get!!

Colin

What a wonderful senior project! We need cars that run on alternative fuels.

 

You got my support!

 

I agree completely. That is why I want to do this project, to encourage people to be a little more open minded about "going green"! It's not as hard or as costly as some people might think!

 

Thanks for the support!

Anytime, dude. Hey, maybe someday, they'll report this in the news!

Hey, what's the MPG on the car? Have you found that out yet?

^Once Norm gets here I'll be doing a few press releases here in Sarasota. I'm already set up to be in Sarasota Magazine in January!

Veggie oil gets about the same mileage as regular diesel does (maybe a little less) and currently Norm gets 28 city and 30 highway. Not too bad if you ask me, he is rather large!

Colin, I'd just like to say that this is incredibly cool, both from the green standpoint and the getting a prime set of wheels standpoint. I'm a little strapped cash-wise, so how about a little magazine/radio publicity instead? I'm not Rolling Stone (thank god) but I'll send the word out.

Cheers and let us know how "Norm: The Ride" feels!

Scott

I'm sure you knew this question was coming from me...

Do you plan on driving 10,000 miles and just driving each day or doing cool stuff on the way such as coasters?

Good luck Colin. If you're coming to chicago and you need somewhere to say for free give me a call.

-Eric

wow!!! That's a long journey ahead of you!!! I would really like to do that, but I can't even drive for once, and I don't have the time. Hope you take some photos of coasters on you drive! At least while your driving past the theme parks or something of the such!

^Once Norm gets here I'll be doing a few press releases here in Sarasota. I'm already set up to be in Sarasota Magazine in January!

 

Veggie oil gets about the same mileage as regular diesel does (maybe a little less) and currently Norm gets 28 city and 30 highway. Not too bad if you ask me, he is rather large!

It does get less (my brother converted his truck).

Did you get the additives and a barrel to convert your veggie oil? If you need help or questions, send PM me and I'll try to get your answered, answered.

Colin, it's awesome to see you finally got your website up and running! I haven't forgotten about ya, and you can count on our support. I'd fund the whole thing if I could, but hopefully everyone here can chip in and help. I'm sure every little bit will help make it a smooth journey!

Good luck and have fun Colin! You have my support all the way. I just don't have any money to contribute at this time. Sorry!

Wow, this is an amazing project! Do you know your specific stops along the way yet? We'd be glad to come out and show our support if you swing through this neck of the woods.

Good luck and have fun Colin! You have my support all the way. I just don't have any money to contribute at this time. Sorry!

Thank you very much for your donation, every penny counts and is greatly appreciated!

Seriously, don't be discouraged from donating something....even if it's only a couple bucks. It may not seem like much, but realistically every penny really does add up - especially when you have a huge online community supporting the cause. Take Sammi's postcard contest for instance. The postcard and stamp didn't cost much, and it helped a member succeed because we all rallied behind her!

Imagine if a large percentage of the most active members of TPR went without one fast food meal, or one Starbucks coffee and decided to put that cost towards support of Colin's project. That's be a pretty good donation to get him started!

Hmm, maybe we could do it in support of Robb's effort to lose weight too. Show your support for Robb by skipping one fast food meal and give that money to Colin's project instead. Win/win!

Does this make me the campaign manager now, Colin?

EDIT: Tell ya what, I'll be the first to skip that fast food meal and donate instead. I was gonna grab some Zaxby's on the way home from work. I'll give my arteries a break and help Colin out instead! Who'll join me?

Wow, lots of responses! Let me try and answer them individually!!

Colin, I'd just like to say that this is incredibly cool, both from the green standpoint and the getting a prime set of wheels standpoint. I'm a little strapped cash-wise, so how about a little magazine/radio publicity instead? I'm not Rolling Stone (thank god) but I'll send the word out.

 

Cheers and let us know how "Norm: The Ride" feels!

 

 

Scott

That would be awesome! PM me with any details you may need from me, any press is better than no press! I really appreciate that, thank you!

Hopefully Norm: The Ride will be smooth as glass, and yeah he really is a nice car if I do say so myself! The current owner bought him for $900, and has sunk a lot of work in to him. I won't say how much I've paid for him, but Norm has been prepped for my trip as best as possible which makes me happy!

I'm sure you knew this question was coming from me...

 

Do you plan on driving 10,000 miles and just driving each day or doing cool stuff on the way such as coasters?

 

Good luck Colin. If you're coming to chicago and you need somewhere to say for free give me a call.

 

-Eric

Haha, I knew this was going to come up! Sadly most parks will be close around the time I will be passing them, and this really is not a "park road trip" so my visits will be limited. I will probably hit a few, but like I said it's not the point of the trip!

I will be in Chicago, so I will definitely give you a call Eric! Thanks for the support dude.

wow!!! That's a long journey ahead of you!!! I would really like to do that, but I can't even drive for once, and I don't have the time. Hope you take some photos of coasters on you drive! At least while your driving past the theme parks or something of the such!

Thank you! I'm glad I got the opportunity to do this project now as well. One of the big questions for my project when it was first starting out was "why not do this on your own?" That was a hard question to answer! I simply said that "There is no better time than the present, and if I don't do this now I may never have the chance to this in the future."

I will see about getting some photos, but like I said, it's not the point of the trip. I'll see what I can do though!

^Once Norm gets here I'll be doing a few press releases here in Sarasota. I'm already set up to be in Sarasota Magazine in January!

 

Veggie oil gets about the same mileage as regular diesel does (maybe a little less) and currently Norm gets 28 city and 30 highway. Not too bad if you ask me, he is rather large!

 

It does get less (my brother converted his truck).

 

Did you get the additives and a barrel to convert your veggie oil? If you need help or questions, send PM me and I'll try to get your answered, answered.

Yes, but it's not a significant amount (between 2-5mpg). Keep in mind that I'm doing waste vegetable oil, not biodiesel. It is just pure filtered vegetable oil, no chemicals added at all. I do have a container that I'm collecting oil, but I will also be ordering a centrifuge filtering system that I will mount on a platform on the car. This will give me 55 gallons of filtered oil as well as the 15 gallons in the oil tank itself. That should take me about 1600 miles!

Thank you!!

Colin, it's awesome to see you finally got your website up and running! I haven't forgotten about ya, and you can count on our support. I'd fund the whole thing if I could, but hopefully everyone here can chip in and help. I'm sure every little bit will help make it a smooth journey!

No worries Scott! Yeah the website took a bit of messing with before I got it to something presentable like it is now. Stupid joomla!!

And that you for the support dude, I appreciate it! And yes, every little bit counts!!

Good luck and have fun Colin! You have my support all the way. I just don't have any money to contribute at this time. Sorry!

Thank you for the support!!

Wow, this is an amazing project! Do you know your specific stops along the way yet? We'd be glad to come out and show our support if you swing through this neck of the woods.

Thank you! I do have a "rough draft" of my current route through the US, and once I finalize my stops with everyone I will be staying with then I will post the final route and dates here. Look for it in a month or two!

Good luck and have fun Colin! You have my support all the way. I just don't have any money to contribute at this time. Sorry!

 

Thank you very much for your donation, every penny counts and is greatly appreciated!

 

 

Seriously, don't be discouraged from donating something....even if it's only a couple bucks. It may not seem like much, but realistically every penny really does add up - especially when you have a huge online community supporting the cause. Take Sammi's postcard contest for instance. The postcard and stamp didn't cost much, and it helped a member succeed because we all rallied behind her!

 

Imagine if a large percentage of the most active members of TPR went without one fast food meal, or one Starbucks coffee and decided to put that cost towards support of Colin's project. That's be a pretty good donation to get him started!

 

Hmm, maybe we could do it in support of Robb's effort to lose weight too. Show your support for Robb by skipping one fast food meal and give that money to Colin's project instead. Win/win!

 

Does this make me the campaign manager now, Colin?

 

 

EDIT: Tell ya what, I'll be the first to skip that fast food meal and donate instead. I was gonna grab some Zaxby's on the way home from work. I'll give my arteries a break and help Colin out instead! Who'll join me?

That's an awesome idea! You are totally my campaign manager now, hahaha!

Scott is absolutely correct, every penny really does count! You would really be surprised at how much it really does add up in the long run, especially with a project like mine.

If everyone would seriously consider doing something like this, I would be MORE than appreciative of it! I would keep a tally of all the donations gathered by TPR, and see if I can't do or put something on my car as a thank you! Really, that is an awesome idea!

I have it up on my website, but my paypal account is colin.coon@gmail.com. If any of you go about doing this, please include your name and a brief thing saying "Hey I didn't eat a taco hell today, here you go!" so that I can keep track!

Thank you SO MUCH guys for all the support!!! You have no idea how much it really means to me!!!

And sorry for the long post, ha.

Wow, that's a really cool thing to do. I fully support anything that has to do with going green! Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to reading updates on this.

Wow, that's a really cool thing to do. I fully support anything that has to do with going green! Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to reading updates on this.

Thanks Nay! I really appreciate it!

I would also like to publicly thank BeemerBoy (Scott) for donating his fast food money to my project!!! It was my only donation I received today, and I thank him greatly for it!

THANK YOU SCOTT!!!

Also the donation page of my website is down. I am doing a little bit of maintainence to make the donation process easier. I now request that if you are going to make a paypal donation to please send the donation directly to http://colin.coon@gmail.com. The donate button I had on my page took 1/3 of the money going through it, and like I said, I need every penny!

So that's it so far, thanks again all of you!!!

Next week Colin, I will skip Sushi with my friends and send the money your way!

You need a chart somewhere that you keep updating as you get closer to acquiring Norm. The Path To Norm might be a long and bumpy road, but you'll get there soon

Cameron.

Next week Colin, I will skip Sushi with my friends and send the money your way!

 

You need a chart somewhere that you keep updating as you get closer to acquiring Norm. The Path To Norm might be a long and bumpy road, but you'll get there soon

 

Cameron.

Thank you Cameron! Giving up sushi is quite a hard thing to do, trust me I know!

I should keep a chart, maybe I'll do that tonight.

And for everyone else, I added a new blog entry today! You can check it out here. Pretty much I summed up what and how I will be running Norm on WVO, and also there is a little shout out to TPR! So please read if you get a chance!!

That's it for now guys. Thanks again for all the support!!! I really appreciate it!

And look for a big update when Norm gets here!

I myself drove a 300 TD for about 5 years even in a Canadian winter. I LOVED that car. She didn't have a name, but with that engine purr, the sunroof down and after I got a sound system, I felt like I was in heaven. Whatever you do, DON'T get rid of this car. It will last forever provided you maintain it in tip top shape. Also source a parts supplier. There are a few you can find online.

Alas, when the engine really started to go and needed replacement, she was just too much to maintain. My wife and I still talk about her like a long lost relative.

Oh yeah, good luck with the project!

I myself drove a 300 TD for about 5 years even in a Canadian winter. I LOVED that car. She didn't have a name, but with that engine purr, the sunroof down and after I got a sound system, I felt like I was in heaven. Whatever you do, DON'T get rid of this car. It will last forever provided you maintain it in tip top shape. Also source a parts supplier. There are a few you can find online.

 

Alas, when the engine really started to go and needed replacement, she was just too much to maintain. My wife and I still talk about her like a long lost relative.

 

Oh yeah, good luck with the project!

Awesome! I have only ever driven a 300D, and I LOVED it as well! The reason I chose a TD was for the extra storage capacity that a wagon provides. There is just something about the Mercedes from the 1980's that is just so amazing, I love the things to death.

I will probably never get rid of Norm after this project is over with. I plan on taking him on many more road trips over the years, and he will make a great college car for me! These cars have hit the 1,000,000 mile mark, and I would love to see that happen to Norm. Only 800,000 more to go!! Haha.

And speaking of Norm, I purchased him today! YAY!!! He is shipping on the 24th, and should be here in early December! I'm really really excited!!!

Thanks again for the support everyone!!

Colin

Hey Colin, 13 years ago, my sister made a film about her cross-country trek in a bio-diesel powered vehicle called "Fat of the Land". There's info at this site:

http://carbonfarm.us/fat.html

I might be able to send you a DVD of it.

Good luck.

Martin