I put in a diesel engine and filled the tank with biodiesel and started it up.

Turns out it wasn't quite that easy.

Biodiesel - the WD-40 of modern fuels

Biodiesel is a penetrant.

A really, really good penetrant. The difference between diesel and biodiesel is similar to the difference between gasoline and WD40. You coudl probably use WD40 as a fuel, but you're going to have seepage problems.

It's the same with biodiesel. It will penetrate through any standard fuel line, dissolving out the inner lining as it goes, and leaking all over the engine. It will seep between compression washers. It will leak out gaskets. And it will condense out the top of your fuel tank.

So the first thing that had to happen was all the fuel hoees had to go. I replaced them with biodiesel spedific hoses. And I still had leaks.

Every washer in the fuel system had to be replaced or in some cases resurfaced. Rubber and nylon washers were replaced wtih VITON washers. Aluminum, steel and copper washers were hand polished to a mirror surface to make the mating surfaces perfectly flat and capable of containing biodiesel.

The petcock, which shuts off the fuel line juust below the gas tank, had to be replaced with a valve deisigned to handle gaseous materials. And the base of the tank, where the petcock mounts, had to be resufaced to a mirror finish.

Finally, the tank cap itself leaked continuously until I replaced the cork washer with a handmade VITON washer and carefully filed the tank top perfectly smooth.

The good news, if anything sticks on my trip, I'll just put a few drops of biodiesel onto it... it will free up quickly!