Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Vintage Fly Guy]

[badhuis]

I do not get the hate for the LPG used as car fuel.
About 35 years ago I installed my first system into my Triumph 2000 Mk2. This made it possible for me to use that car as a daily driver because the price of LPG per litre was so much lower compared to petrol. It still is. After the Mk2, I installed a system in my Mk1, an Austin Westminster A110, then a Jaguar 420, a Triumph 2500 Mk2, a Citroen Xantia (I bought that one with the LPG system installed already, only kept if for less than a year), a 2 door Range Rover and a Jensen Interceptor.

In all these cars the LPG system worked flawless. Engines seem to run even smoother (Triumph, Jaguar, Austin) than on twin carburettors.
There are negatives: loss of space because of having an extra tank, and slightly worse performance. Loss of performance never was a big issue for me because the cars I selected usually had enough performance. Those two negatives are the reason I feel LPG is best suited for larger cars with big(ger) engines.

A couple of things that needs care: ignition timing should be adjusted a little, another grade of spark plugs, exhaust valves will burn into the cylinder head if you drive a lot (but getting this fixed is fairly cheap). Adjustments to the system is easy. The electrical side also is simple.

Where it gets difficult is when newer type of cars are fitted with LPG. By that I mean the ones with fuel injection and computerized engine management systems. I have never installed those, and was not a fan of the system in the Xantia.
_________________
a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Ray White]

It is my understanding that in this country if you wanted to install an LPG system in a later car with fuel injection ( I can't remember the exact cut off date) you need to be qualified.

I remember in an episode of 'Wheeler Dealers'; Ed China had to hand a Range Rover conversion over to an LPG specialist, ostensibly for this reason. I think it is similar situation to air conditioning but I am not sure about that.

[ukdave2002]

[alastairq]

LPG was the viable alternative fuel once genuine 5 star petrol ceased to be sold [octane rating being the important issue]

A local fella ran an Aston Martin V8 some decades ago, a car which shouldn't have been run on anything less than 100 octane fuel[ which LPG is, IIRC?}

Also until Dacia [AKA Renault] discovered folk were prepared to pay out an awful lot more dosh for a new car, providing they thought it was the cheapest & best available....they offered a dual fuel Sandero...with a dugnut gas tank in the boot where the spare wheel would have been.
_________________
Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
----------------------------------------------
Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

[badhuis]

[V8 Nutter]

A friend of mine imported a Cadillac from Belgium, it was fitted with an LPG system. After a couple of years his insurance company said it would need to be checked by an expert and it would need some sort of safety certificate. Of course no experts were interested in certifying a foreign system and he took it off. A good thing really because it was very unreliable.

[Ray White]

I find the engine runs sweeter on LPG. IT may have something to do with the fact that I fitted spark plugs with a silver electrode. The downside is that they have a shorter life span than conventional plugs.

With all this hoo hah over vehicle emissions I would have thought LPG would be the ideal compromise as not everyone either wants or can afford a new electric car. The emissions from LPG cars are so low that they are exempted from that part of the M.O.T.

[badhuis]

[Ray White]

If I have a grump it is that we were all encouraged to get our "gas guzzlers" converted to L.P.G. and to that end I entrusted my pride and joy to a professional outfit who did a first rate job..but then you would expect that for 2K pounds (and that was 15 years ago!!).

I will now find it virtually impossible to get someone to buy the car... so a double whammy!

[Vintage Fly Guy]

[Ray White]

The way my car works is that it has to start on petrol. When the optum temperature is reached it automatically switches over to LPG. If the LPG runs out the car will just run on petrol; which is the situation now.

The conversion provided for a discreet filler cap built into the rear bumper; very neat! and a doughnut gas tank in place of the spare wheel.
A sophisticated electronic splice into the pre existing system has ensured that my car has been reliable but it has required a regular check up with the boffins who would take the car out with test equipment attached.

Said boffins have now closed down; as has our local auto electrician (lured to Aston Martin )

Not good for us locals.

[ukdave2002]

I had a Vauxhall Omega converted to LPG in 2000 by a firm in Crewe, the conversion cost around a grand and I calculated that payback time was at about 25000 miles, or about 9 months given my annual mileage in those days.

Although the car was EFI, the conversion used the simpler lpg mixer, and wasn't connected to the car's engine management system, you had to switch from petrol to lpg manually when the engine had warmed up a bit. Occasionally if the switch to lpg was made to quickly the engine management lamp would come on, because the O2 sensor would be expecting a richer mixture!

I did around 150,000 miles in the car, so the conversation cost was recovered several times. When I sold the car , I removed the LPG equipment as I figured that an aftermarket conversion would't add any value, and sold the LPG bits for a couple of hundred.

The only downside of running on LPG was the more frequent change of plugs, HT leads and a couple of coil packs.

[badhuis]