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running LPG as fuel

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:42 pm
by caveman
does anyone here run there T4 on LPG i am wondering as i am about to do it for my bay window and was wondering what the general concensus is

i live in england so fuel is expensive hence wanting to run LPG (liquid petroleum gas) which is 1/2 the price fo peterol (gas) here

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 5:42 pm
by Bobby74
I've heard of LPG mixer kits for 4 barell carbs. It basically meters LPG into the float bowls of a carburator.

I believe there is also base plates that "fog" LPG under a carb much like a Nitrous kit. I'm sure you could come up with something where you could mount nipples or some type of "nozzle" in the carb side so you could give a metered amount of LPG.

Going to straight LPG is somthing I don't know anything about. I've heard that you can run higher compression ratios because LPG has a cooler running temp and a higher effective octane, but this is second hand info. Might want to do some research on Google about this.

-Bobby

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:21 am
by Wally
Hi Caveman,
Yes, I run my squareback with 1800 type 4 on LPG on a daily basis. Before that it had a stock 1600 on LPG also.
With a bigger engine I found it a little bit more difficult to find a good gasifier that lets the engine rev easily past 4000 rpm. Power is noticebly less tehrefore..
Other than that it even runs with cooler head temps than when I drive with petrol! which is strange since LPG is suppose to burn with a higher temp. Gas mileage didn't suffer either.
I 'am very happy with it.

Best regards,
Walter

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:49 am
by Bobby74
Wally,

How does your setup work?? It sounds like LPG has a lot of benefits.... I'm wondering if it would be possible to make some type of methane or hydrogen setup in the future if gas continues to get more expensive?

thanks,
-Bobby

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:14 am
by Wally
Hi Bobby,
The set-up needs a very strong pressurized tank where the liquid gas is stored (in addition to your standard petrol tank) in your car. That is a downside: it needs a space! Mine (50 ltr) is in the front boot.
From there it goes in lquid stat to a gasifier which needs heat to work properly. Watercooled cars use the watercircuit to heat up the gasifier to evaporate the LPG, but in an aircooled car that is the major problem these days.
You used to be able to run the liquid gas through the exhaust muffler to heat up, but for new LPG installatie that are installed as of 1998, that method is no longer allowed. Heating by oil is not an alternative for moderate climates such as over here due to freezing problemes of the intakes in the winter early after starting the engine.

From the gasifier the LPG goes in gaseous form the the top of the carbs by an adaptor roughly the size of a venturi.
The gasifier regulates the amount of LPG and acts thus as a carb for the LPG system.

The nice thing is that LPG has a very high Octane rating (103 RON or more).
I think it would run even smother with a central plenum set-up of an injection model, so that might be my next set-up.


Regards,
Walter

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:21 am
by Kelley
does anyone have a spec diagram of this setup or an url where it could be viewed?

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:19 am
by Bobby74
Sounds great Wally! Thanks for the info. I don't think it would be too hard to adapt your system to somthing that would burn hydrogen or methane.. however the LPG is fine. Thanks again,
-Bobby

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:51 am
by greggholmes

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:39 pm
by NextGen
Years ago I had a friend that was going to convert a T-3 squareback to Propane. He moved and I never knew if he did it, but I remember one thing he did. He put a Tee fitting before the pressure regulator on the FI with a gauge and a switch. He said he could switch from gas to Propane by turning the switch. Now this is interesting, he also said, the T-3 took 30psi of gas to run and he was going to pump in 30psi of Propane. He said the electro-mach injectors didn't care what they were injecting. Is this possible if you have a pressurized tank of Natural or Propane?

Joe

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:57 pm
by type4newbie
A friend and I just converted a type 1 2332 to straight propane last week. It is easy and simple. I also got a ride in a stock 1800 type IV w/ turbo propane and it was very powerful for a stock junk yard motor. The only difficult part is the manifold which my friend made and used a 4 barrel throttle body w/ the propane. The 4 barrel throttle body and home made intake work great because the intake velocity does not matter w/ propane since the propane is already a gas and not a vapor (as gasoline is). If you have any questions I will be glad to pass on any limited knowledge that I have.

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:59 pm
by Wally
Yeah, I can run both LPG and gas by the switch of a dash mounted button. Just when on gas, I need to first run the carbs dry before switching over. I did mount an electric fuel pump to fill the carbs quicker :-)

The latest LPG technology usus indeed LPG injection, but that is only on cars that have already the newest EFI...
With that system, there is absolutely no difference in driving experience, mpg or power!
http://www.necam.nl/english/index.html


Greetings,
Walter

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:51 am
by MNAirHead
Howdy.

I JUST went to an equipment tech school last week.

One of the topics was the Propane conversion on a General Purpose Kawasaki engine.

What's required???

A "Spud" (inlet from the tank)

And a Regulator


I was sooooo stroked about it ... ran out to my truck where I had a 34pict3 and had the engineer do a step by step conversion to propane.

The challenge with information on propane fittings is that nobody wants the liabiltiy. I was required to swear on a pile of bibles that I wouldn't tell anyone the EXACT parts (sizes, numbers etc)

If you can hold off for a few months, I'll be converting a 1200 type 1 this summer.

Downside to propane is that it's not stable through a temperature variance... it's liquid at -43 f... and then builds pressure as the temperature rises.

T.