LPG stuff

[Cane_It]

Ive been doin some research on LPG and whats out there, I've had do to some reasearch as I'm gonna head down the straight LPG path,

Ive noticed a few other threads on here in the past that Ive found useful, so i thought i'd return the favour with some links to some sites that I have found informative RE: LPG

with this link have a read and think VK cold air tray...
http://www.ramairbox.com/product.html

this one is a good general site to navigate around to findout some more stuff on LPG
http://cars.rasoenterprises.com/Propane-Carburetion.htm

http://cars.rasoenterprises.com/

any way enjoy, if anyone knows of the actual height of an impco 425 can you post details here, I'm trying to work out if i need to cut a hole in the bonnet.

enjoy.

[bennzy]

cut a hole for the converter?

[craigvk]

any way enjoy, if anyone knows of the actual height of an impco 425 can you post details here, I'm trying to work out if i need to cut a hole in the bonnet.

enjoy.

I wouldn't think they would make them bulky oversized units. My gas snorkel is about 4 inches or more high where it mounts on the carb, so surely it wouldn't be that big.

[bennzy]

ive never seen or heard a gas mechanic needing to do that to a bonnet, my gen3 converter is tucked away, im amazed on how they put it in, with such little room to work with

[Cane_It]

I wouldn't think they would make them bulky oversized units. My gas snorkel is about 4 inches or more high where it mounts on the carb, so surely it wouldn't be that big.

wouldnt have thought so either, but i cant just run a slim aircleaner to reduce height as the mixer is housed inside it.
I have to run a quaddy baseplate as a throttlebody (i have a good one handy)
as a result i have to run an adaptor plate to the 425 as it bolts straight onto a holley base plate but i would need an adaptor anyway to get the holley plate to mount onto the holden manifold (I have both but would rather the quaddy plate as its recently been rebuilt)
I know that the quaddy baseplate + adaptor + impco 425 (to the bottom of the aircleaner is 105mm, I was told by someone else that you need to run a 3 inch aircleaner to house the mixer, which gives me 181mm height if my info is correct, its gonna be close I reckon.

[craigvk]

I found this on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-IMPCO-425...QQcmdZViewItem

[bennzy]

Cane_It, do you live in melbourne if do, i can give you a gas mechanic number to give you advice about the converter and to tell you that u dont need to cut into the bonnet.

[Cane_It]

I found this on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-IMPCO-425...QQcmdZViewItem

i know, ive been watchin it for a bit, trying to work everything out before i commit.

[craigvk]

Have a bit of a look around for prices that LPG places sell. My local LPG joint said he wanted me to pay $300 for a new IMPCO 300A mixer and I ended up getting one off ebay in great condition for $40! That guy reckoned you couldn't get a new diaphragm kit for it.

[bradcad]

check this out much better than th eold systems out in 6 months. Produces more power than petrol

http://www.lpgli.com/features.html

[craigvk]

check this out much better than th eold systems out in 6 months. Produces more power than petrol

http://www.lpgli.com/features.html

It would be good but you would need a new manifold and probably other expensive bits.

[bradcad]

Nope

Cheaper than Vapour injection to install

injectors are tapped into the existing manifold (so the company tells me)

When you offset the price of additional injectors and labour to install them you are gaining large power increases, and incredible economy. Shit, even if it did cost $4000 to install, $2000 off for the govt's incentive, and you've just gained a lot including an injected car which produces bugger all polution.

each to his own I guess

[craigvk]

I thought the 2 grand govt thing was for new lpg installations that come with the tank. Unless you can tell me otherwise.

The tapped threads in the manifold sounds not bad. Sounds like it might not take up the room an Impco would.

I get about 1 3rd more power when I switch to petrol from gas. If someone could gaurantee that I would get the same power with the injectors, I might consider it, but I am a bit skeptical. It's good to see new sorts of things like this coming out. Thanks for the link.

[Cane_It]

gentlemen (and any ladies that might be lurking in our midst),

some more technical stuff for those interested, if this kicks off, I'll be considering going VN 5L or bigger and trying to get some of that $2000 outta the government to fund it...
http://www.gas-injection.com/lpg-gas...hnologies.html

heres some more,
http://www.parnell.com.au/

the mindset away from the stereotypical stinking taxi that is always associated with LPG may yet happen, enjoy.

Bradcad,
thanks for posting, I found it most interesting, I hope some of this stuff gets off the ground and becomes commercially viable. Considerins how much govt money gets chucked at utter crap, it would be good to see some home grown technology get backing and support to get off the ground in Australia.

[bradcad]

That's it champ. Tooo many aussie inventions get lost. He told me funding is now there, so he's looking at a viable system for $2500 to $3000 (obviously on existing injected) in 6 months. I dont give a shit if I've still got the holden then- she's coppin gas as soon as these come out, then the timing is getting advanced a hell of a lot.

[Cane_It]

another question,
does the converter "prime" ie send a charge of gas through the ducting into the mixer on startup? I'm specifically talking about the Impco 300A, Ive had 2 and neither have primed, I used to run petrol for the last few minutes of each journey then flick it to gas after giving the throttle a few pumps to squirt some of the petrol thats still in the bowl into the manifold just before I fire it up again, she'd fire first pop ALWAYS no matter how cold a morning.
this wont be an option for me if i go straight gas so something that primes would be a winner for me.

[craigvk]

Heh. It's funny that you and I have an identical barge. As talked about before. If you had the same rims on your car as mine, you wouldn't know the difference.

Anyway, back to the gas. When you start, the gas goes down the line at fast speed and into the converter (some turkeys call them regulators, suit yourself ) and then it's all go. As far as I know, there is no priming involved. If I don't start my car for say a few hours, it takes a few seconds of cranking compared to starting it up after maybe half an hour after stopping. It would surely be due to evaporation and other crap. As the gas is liquid along the way until it hits the converter, it must dissipate some what. The converter I have like most out there has a priming button. If you have a damn hard time starting, pressing on the priming button when cranking can get it going but it's damn hard. It's stiff as a rock. Oh, and if you press the priming button when the barge is running, it will conk because it is flodding it. It's sort of like trying to act as the gas mixer by changing the flow of gas yourself.

It is a good idea to run petrol every now and then. For me it means rocket power, but it also means the engine suddenly likes to drink all the petrol too. Petrol doesn't go too far with my barge.

[craigvk]

I should have said that my car probably needs a bit more cranking after a few hours because the engine would be cold. It likely has nothing to do with the gas.

Cane_It, does your LPG tank have an output solenoid on the tank where the line goes to your engine bay? They are a must these days and illegal without it.

[Outlaw Torn]

the converter/regulator that i had in the VC had the primer button, but it was worked on a solonoid thru the change-over switch inside the car. Also you may have noticed that the regulator is connected into the heater system. This is because the gas itself needs to be heated before it will ignite properly. Hence the reason it is best to start on petrol then change to LPG when the motor is warm/warming up. As for the primer button flooding the engine this is very tru because it by passes the regulator and gives a burst of "concentrated" LPG thru to the mixer.

[Outlaw Torn]

another question,
does the converter "prime" ie send a charge of gas through the ducting into the mixer on startup? I'm specifically talking about the Impco 300A, Ive had 2 and neither have primed, I used to run petrol for the last few minutes of each journey then flick it to gas after giving the throttle a few pumps to squirt some of the petrol thats still in the bowl into the manifold just before I fire it up again, she'd fire first pop ALWAYS no matter how cold a morning.
this wont be an option for me if i go straight gas so something that primes would be a winner for me.

if u go dedicated LPG the system will have to prime, simple as that. When running on petrol u have the choke which has the same effect, it would be a bugger of a thing to start under any situation without a primer/choke system.

[craigvk]

the converter/regulator that i had in the VC had the primer button, but it was worked on a solonoid thru the change-over switch inside the car. Also you may have noticed that the regulator is connected into the heater system. This is because the gas itself needs to be heated before it will ignite properly. Hence the reason it is best to start on petrol then change to LPG when the motor is warm/warming up. As for the primer button flooding the engine this is very tru because it by passes the regulator and gives a burst of "concentrated" LPG thru to the mixer.

Actually it's not that at all. Gas doesn't need to be heated. Cooling fluid or at least water needs to be circulated through the converter, or it will freeze. When LPG enters the atmosphere, the state of it changes. The converter needs fluid circulating through it so it stops it from freezing up. I couldn't start my car once because I had low coolant in the radiator and made the converter freeze.

[craigvk]

I think I want a 425 now!

[stevenvhsle]

Hi i have just bought a VK on gas off my borther in law and having problems with it running properly every time you take off it coughs and splutters he sssssaid he put a full tank of fuel in it and then this happened any ideas could it be the converter has given up or maybe a leak or something? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Steven.

[craigvk]

Check for vacuum leaks around the mixer to carb, adjust the idle on the mixer to gain the highest idle. Replace dirty air filter. Is the diaphragm inside the mixer in good condition without rips? Take the gas hose off the mixer and crank the motor. Smell gas vapour coming out? If so, the converter is probably alright. There is a few things to check.

[stevenvhsle]

I have replaced the filter done a full service this happened just after he put new gas into it so not sure but ill do what you said and see how it goes. thanks for the help.