On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 14:24:45 -0700, Jason@nospam.com (Jason) wrote:

>In article <4114fe43$0$5904$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>, "hmc"
><ciaochou2@yahoo.smooth.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi, I'm new to this group. I have an old (96) Honda Civic LX. I just got
>> another car, and I was thinking that I would convert my Civic into a
>> hybrid/alt-fuel/bio-diesel car. Anyone know if this is possible? And if so,
>> how much it would cost? Is there some sort of converter that you can
>> install? I've been hunting the Web sites, but I'm not finding much.
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>
>Unless you are rich, don't even try it. The expense involved would be
>really high. I advise you to trade the 96 Honda Civic in on a vehicle that
>runs the type of fuel that you want to use.

The real question, hmc, is what do you want to accomplish? Unless you
are a formal or amateur student of mechanical engineering who wants a
project, converting this car to run on anything other than gasoline
probably doesn't make sense. Unless you drive a lot of miles, your
cheapest route is just to keep driving you old car. If you are
concerned about the environment, bio diesel may not be the best
choice. It is unlikely to be as clean as a Honda ULEV engine and we
may soon reach capacity from french fry oil in which case it may end
up burning mostly petro-diesel.

For the price of converting your eight year old car you could buy a
brand new Prius or Civic Hybrid. OTOH if you are just cheap and drive
a lot of miles and have a convenient source of free veggie oil, buy
the used diesel VW and go for it. Beware though that some people find
VW ownership to be incompatible with frugality.