Fed up with filling cost

[exevoowner]

Have bein thinking of going down the lpg route as the parents live in cornwall and being in the midlands means we normally go in the lexus is there a special kit for turbo'd car's ???

[adaxo]

Japfest 2 is a little close for me to make it (this Sunday lol)

Will be going to Ten of the best though. Always get to that.

I was talking about this Japfest on Sunday 8th July, this TOTB looks promising and fairly close so I may pop in for a day.

Have bein thinking of going down the lpg route as the parents live in cornwall and being in the midlands means we normally go in the lexus is there a special kit for turbo'd car's ???

Well, it's hard to explain in a few words, but yes, basically you need a vaporiser for turbo and good quality injectors then you need a good LPG ECU to be able to set this correctly and (the hardest bit) some one who know how to install and set the whole system properly via wideband/dyno etc.

[exevoowner]

Just did the google search and there looking at £1400 onwards for v6 i know there not cheap to do but surely there is cheaper ways to do it ?????

[disco-ian]

The main difference in the two types of kit are.

Draw through kits, these kits use a supply and demand vaporiser and a mixer ring on the induction pipe. As the air flows through the induction pipe it sucks on the vaporiser and thus sucks LPG in with the air flow. These types of kits work very well when fitted properly on naturally aspirated engines (without plastic intake manifolds) and indeed is the style of kit I have had fitted on my Land Rover for many years without issue.

Injected kits. These can be used on both naturally aspirated and forced induction engines. They have a cleaver ECU that fires LPG injectors at the correct (adjustable) ratio to what the petrol injector would be fired at. They too have a vaporiser however it is set to supply a constant pressure which increases with vacuum or boost load via a manifold feed, very similar to a fuel pressure regulator.

Personally I am a big fan of the OMVL Dream systems seen them use hundreds of times where i used to work without issue.

Some important things to find out from an installer if you are paying someone to do this is.

1) Have they converted one or something similar in the past. This gives them a better knowledge of setup and your expected fuel consumption afterwards.
2) Are they going to cut your car around to fit a tank. Not necessarily a problem especially if it gives you a bigger tank however I would way to know before hand and be given the option :-)
3) Do they want to upgrade your ignition system. Ignition systems are very important to burn the fuel, LPG is slightly more fussy as it has a slower burn rate which is one of the main reasons that people see a 15 to 20% drop in fuel economy on LPG. Upgrading the ignition system can help you, good plugs, good leads (Magnecor are my personal favourite)
4) Are they going to simply convert it and hand it back to you or will they put some miles on it. We always used to put between 50 and 100 miles on a car after converting it or changing its engine etc (any major work really) as few of our customers where local to us and a hundred of so mile drive home could let things bed in and then a possible tweak might be needed.

Well thats my 2 cents anyway for what its worth :-)

[disco-ian]

One other thing I'm considering doing is using a Dream 8 cylinder kit as they are rated to 400bhp with a high pressure vaporiser were as the 6 cylinder kits are rated at 300bhp with a medium pressure vaporiser.

[disco-ian]

adaxo --
Might be able to make Japfest on the 8th. Ill have to see nearer the time.

I've been going to Ten of the best for 4 or 5 years now. Most years a bloody worthwhile day out (considering the 400 miles round trip for me). Last a little bit much the same as the year before. Appart from being able to stand at the end of the wrap strip and see cars approaching if not doing 200mph +

I'll defo be going again though. Its my brother and my'n "lads day out" away from the women ;-)

[exevoowner]

MMM i know there a few on here that have converted there's to run on lpg but i've never had the need to do it before but just lately i'm doing more mile's in the legnum and last week only managed 2 trips to work and had to fuel up again so think i'll start looking around and see what come's up

[disco-ian]

I will have a word with my mate who runs his own company that does log conversions and see what he would charge. He's in Norfolk but sometimes it's better to travel that extra distance.

[disco-ian]

I should be popping over to him Monday afternoon so he can see my leggy (fingered crossed I'll have it tomorrow)

[Davezj]

The only issues i have seen with LPG installs is the certification that the insurance companies now want to see before they will insure you're car. with out a certificate, no insurance.
anybody with basic mechanical and electrical skills can set themselves up as an LPG installer
this is the only thing that has stopped me converting my car for the last couple of years.
it is finding the person that will certify your DIY installation that is hard to find. otherwise for a good system you are looking at about £1500 to buy the kit and have it installed. if you don't specify all the individual parts of the system yourself you don't know what sub standard parts are being used, and if the installer is not famillier with the make of kt you want fitted, he will probably advise against it and say the stuff he usually uses is far supiroir just to make his life easier.
A VR4 is quite a highly strung car anyway and if your not using quiality parts then you are not going to get a good result.
With a good well speced install you should be able to run to the red line in any gear without switching back to petrol.

[pezza]

Yep very happy with install and power, I will be getting car on dyno soon and compare the lpg and petrol runs side by side at 12psi max boost. Price for the fuel has not fluctuated as much as it has with leaded still 73ish pence per litre ... so can drive it hard without worry of 70 squid + to refill.

I don't remember sending my certificate to insurance when mine was done, come to think of it.. but they may want proof come renewal time. I also have not made it down to DVLA office too to register the car as LPG. I was told that I could only do this in person which is a drag.

I would be interested to find out from other LPGers who have an amended V5 as to whether they are paying any difference in tax or whether there is any difference in congestion charge (for those who drive into londres).

Come MOT time I will run the car through on LPG ... see what happens

[adaxo]

Some insurance companies are happy to insure without certificates but, as we all know, they always find the good opportunity to charge you more and they do.

Dave you a right to say that most installers got a good price for a particular kit and they will try to sell you that as the best and 'top of the range' but sometimes you can find a fitter who is passionate about his work and not let your car (and you as a customer) down (Pezza's LPG fitter for example).

I see LPG 'installed' (throw under the bonnet and shut down quickly, more like) done by UKLPGA certified installers and few DIY installation done very neat and running sweet. As IMO with everything in our life, the more you know the better/wiser you end up.

[disco-ian]

Right well got all my kit through today (hope I remembered to order everything :-))

I will try and get some pictures of it all before fitting and then some of the install also (I'll start a project page to keep the forum nice and clean and help with searches etc in the future)

Wont be fitting for a week and a half though as off on Holiday this weekend.

[disco-ian]

I can not find a projects section in the forum. Is this pictures and videos section where most people post that kind of things or would it be better elsewhere

[exevoowner]

Well you have a choice either start a new one in this section or in the engine section

[adaxo]

Small update, after covering 2000kms all settle down and its now set-up right, not to lean cruising and 12.5 AFR on WOT,

Average shown on UTCOM its 15,3 l/100 from last 2000 KM covered 90% in town so not bad at all, just fill up another tank for a whole 43£, that what I cover

IMAG0253.jpg

that's much I fill up to full

IMAG0254.jpg

and that much I paid for it

IMAG0255.jpg


I start to think/plan on my next project, which will be water/meth injection on increased boost, mainly to keep temps down and may a little power gains.

[pezza]

Good stuff.... I need to get my head round km/per litre numbers LOL *time for calulator*

What capacity is the gas tank and how much arre you able to get in there..

AND... 65p a litre??? where is that??

[adaxo]

Tank is 70ltr, but is 'slightly modified' to hold a bit more than average 80% of capacity.

0.65£ is from my local LPG installer, and weirdly, I used to cover about 20miles more than filled on BP or Shell gas, it has been the same while I filled my old Galant too.

[MarkSanne]

How did the 'slight modification' work? What did you modify and how? Much appreciated

[swinks]

...and 12.5 AFR on WOT,

With all respect Adam but that on LPG... I can foresee another thread sooner or later by you: "I need new engine..."

Regarding methanol injection. IIRC it doesn't like lpg due to nature of lpg combustion.