Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[buzzy bee]

Hi

I have heard that Hybrid cars have very low if any Tax (cost). If this is true?

Then could we fit a couple of motors to our cars that could propel it for a very short distance hence making it a hybrid?

If that would work it could save a bit of money? hehe

Cheers

Dave

[UKdave2002]

Yes the current road tax is based on emissions, ironically I pay less road tax for my modern than I do for the Stag, and I do 10 times more miles in the modern, at least the Morris and MGA will be free.
My previous modern car was an Omega I had an LPG conversion done by a firm in Crewe when it was only a few months old, but because it wasn’t the official Vauxhall conversion I didn’t get any of the tax or congestion charging benefits, saved a fortune on fuel though!

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Yeah I have been lined up to gas convert a friends car soon, or help to do it, wonder how hard it is. They do save alot of money!

Cheers

Dave

[Rick]

hehe I can take a guess on whose car that is

R
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[UKdave2002]

Hi Buzzy

Fitting an LPG system is not partially complicated, but does have to be done correctly, you can’t afford to have LPG leaking around a car with hot engine bits and electrical contacts sparking.

I had my 2001 Omega converted professionally when it was a few months old, it was in fact a very simple conversion that would have worked equally well on an older car. I did over 150,000 miles over 4 years on LPG with no maintenance or failure of any part of the LPG system. I did have though to replace 2 coil packs over the years; LPG needs a higher voltage to ignite it so puts more stress on the ignition system. Unfortunately the symptoms of the coil failing was a backfire in the induction system, modern cars have air flow meters, Vauxhall deploy the “Hot Wire” system which basically is a thin wire with a current flowing through it which gets cooled dependent on how much air is flowing, any backfire in the induction system destroys the wire and relieves you of £150! (Unless you go to Car Transplants like I did the 2nd time). Ironically running on LPG the air flow meter is redundant! and the car would run fine. But on my system you had to start on petrol and it irritated me driving round with the engine management lamp on.

When I sold the car a couple of years ago I stripped the LPG system out as a mate wanted it. It was only when I removed it I realised how simple a system it was, simple but very reliable! I recon it saved me 6p per mile.

Took some pics before I removed it, below is the LPG carburettor/mixer which worked just like a old Stromberg carburettor; rubber diaphragm which controlled a simple needle valve. 2 simple adjustments on it , one for idling and the other for mixture strength. The pic below show it in situ, quite simply inserted in the induction system after the air flow meter, they couldn’t use the standard air filter which you can see fitted on the o/s wing because the bend in the pipe would have been to tight, so had to fit the K&N job.



This is the LPG carburettor or mixer as I think it’s called in LPG terms.



Below is the regulator it sits between the tank and the mixer; plumbed into the cars heater so that in cold conditions you warm the gas. You can also see an electric valve on it, this switched the gas supply from the tank on & off, and there was a similar valve for the petrol supply. I had to start the car on petrol and manually switch to LPG when the engine was warm, switching to LPG also switched the petrol fuel pump off.



And here’s the tank it’s a 100L tank which gives you about 80L of gas (20% of the tank is needed for expansion). The tank is probably the biggest headache in terms of the space it takes up, I could have had a doughnut spare wheel tank, but as the Omega has a huge boot I opted for the bigger traditional unit, on 4X4’s there are special tanks which are slung under the car. So go for it! It saved me about £9,000 over 4 years less the £1100 conversion cost.

[john-saab]

Do'nt forget that most insurance companies will not insure you if you cannot produce a certificate to prove that an LPG system was installed by a recognised fitter.
I have been offered a 12 year old Jag that has had an LPG kit fitted...the guy wants £1000 for it BUT he lost the certificate...and cant get it insured. The answer is to have it serviced and checked but that will cost about £450 (I think he has gone to the wrong people).
I have a neighbour who had a system fitted in Poland to his 3.5 Range rover..it was cheaper for him to drive there have it fitted and drive back..about £550..including the fuel