Pictured here are the grease filter and the flat-plate heat exchanger. The filter is one of the essential parts of the operation - it filters down to 10 microns, and the hollow aluminum sleeve is designed by Fossil Free Fuel. It diverts the coolant to surround the entire filter element , heating it and it's contents. The heat exchanger is a standard hydraulic design that makes for thoroughly heating the entire path of the veggie oil. Shorty oversees the scene.

Here's the Chevy 6.2 we've been working on converting (the "baby beluga"). It came equipped with dual tanks, one of which we took down - there it is in the bed of the truck. Check out all the rust, it was a real bear of a job. There's Katie installing the heater in our new plastic tank. It's the same size and shape as the old one, hopefully it will fit in it's place with no surprises.

Here's Katie Rose and Gina at the Hothouse event last night, which is an annual gala affair showcasing the various projects supported by the Sprout Fund. "Basic Mechanics..." received a Seed Award from Sprout in the spring of 2007. We were in the "garage" section of a fabricated "town" - "awesome"! Also in the garage with us were Fossil Free Fuel, Bike Pittsburgh, the Alternative Transportation Festival, and Steel City Biofuels. All in all, it was quite the party.

Gina with Colin and Dave of Fossil Free Fuel. FFF is a vegetable oil systems design company operating out of Braddock, Pa. Much thanks to them for their support, and for all the great work they do.

Some of the amazing ladies who participated in the first session earlier this summer. These classes covered basic maintenance and repair, and the differences between svo and biodiesel technology. Most (but not all) of the participants had almost no experience working on cars. It was really exciting to see people overcome their fears about working on these wacky machines. We spent a lot of our time together working in teams of two or three - this had everyone communicating and figuring out stuff together.

Contemplating the inner workings of the Volkswagon diesel. We had two defunct diesel cars on hand (the other was a Mercedes) to pull apart and learn from - one of the things participants learned was that the manuals actually tell you very little.











Click the comment button to read director and instructor Gina Favano's bio (thats Shorty on the bottom right, with the welding glove in his mouth.)

Tools of the trade.