KE-JG Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 Has anyone run a 4K on LPG? Not looking for sporting power, just plain economical commuting. Quote
Super Jamie Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 yes http://www.rollaclub.com/faq/index.php?title=Fuel#LPG brad mak from oldrollas even had a supercharged lpg 5k drag ke20 Quote
Tiger Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 The way fuel is going these days.. I think alot of people are gonna consider LPG street/strippers.... Even me! :P Maybe... Quote
cookie Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 yeshttp://www.rollaclub.com/faq/index.php?title=Fuel#LPG brad mak from oldrollas even had a supercharged lpg 5k drag ke20 war........... sure cool man :jamie: Malaysia here RM 8 will give u a full lpg tank super cheap :P Quote
TRD ke70 Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 yeah my old ke70 was on straight gas and it ran good, it was installed by a gas company from new, so it had been on gas all it's life. i can remember filling it up for 5 bucks and that wasn't too long ago. there was nothing special about the engine, standard valves and seats, standard pistons, pretty much standard. it done 278,000 km's before i pulled the engine out to put a 5k in it, and that ran gas until i sold it. Quote
kangaroosa Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 yeah my old ke70 was on straight gas and it ran good, it was installed by a gas company from new, so it had been on gas all it's life. i can remember filling it up for 5 bucks and that wasn't too long ago. there was nothing special about the engine, standard valves and seats, standard pistons, pretty much standard. it done 278,000 km's before i pulled the engine out to put a 5k in it, and that ran gas until i sold it. Are you able to give an analysis of the power difference between your straight gas K motor, compared to one running on petrol. Straight gas does not seem like a stupid idea anymore, with petrol prices as they are. I have had mates with v8's that went straight gas, and said the car lost a heap of power. The gas setup never had the get up and go when you kick it down with an Auto Transmission.(the systems were professionally installed and were a Gas Research product). Quote
KE-JG Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Posted September 9, 2005 What a great response to my first post! Yeh, I know about gas, I've been running a Ford Transit van with a 4.1 crossflow, on gas for about 12 years - it's terrific in a big engine like that - wouldn't ever go back to juice. And these days with juice at $1.30 and gas at 44 cents, I can run that enormous Ford for less than my 4K Corolla! Looking at building a KE70 on the gas for my daughter for economical commuting. It'll lose a bit of power but v-e-r-y economical I think. I want lots more go than that for myself, so there's a 5K getting ready to be modified to go into my '75 KE36 panel van - more questions about that another day. Yes, the gas work needs to be done by a qualified professional, and I sure would like to find one that's reasonable. I'm at Maleny, Queensland. Quote
Felix Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 from what i understand: you need to up the compression ratio to around 11:1 to get the best from LPG. also LPG has a lower calorific value for the same volume as normal petrol, so you have to burn more LPG to make the same power. LPG has lower emissions, which is one good thing going for it. Quote
Felix Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 LPG Worked 5K Turbo should cure any lack of power !jamie.gif and still be cheaper than running petrol 15-smile.gif make it easy to get mod plated. no emissions hassles. where does the tank go? do you just rip out the existing fuel tank, and mount the LPG tank behind the back seat, or does it take up half of your boot? personally i don't like the increased risk of fire/explosion in an accident. probably not such an issue in a bigger car or 4wd, but in a little car......something to keep in mind. Quote
KE-JG Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Posted September 9, 2005 Yeh, calorific value is down, so k's per litre is about 20 percent less. And yeh, we upped the compression ratio on the Ford and redid the advance mechanism to optimize for gas, and it goes really well. Starts instantly on cold days, pulls really well at any revs, and has run 250,000 k without the head off. The tanks are always round, which makes them awkward to fit, but yeh, pull the old tank out and the round one will be only half in the boot. It'd be good to get it as far from the rear bumper as possible for safety, but then should be pretty safe at that point. If you get hit hard enough to burst a heavy steel tank that, so far inside the car, then you've already got lots of other serious problems that don't bear thinking about..... Installation does cost a heap tho, so have to do a lot of driving to make up the cost. That paid off sooner in a big guzzler like the Ford - don't know how far you'd have to go to in a 4K to make the payoff. That may be the catch in it all...... Quote
Teddy Posted September 9, 2005 Report Posted September 9, 2005 When LPG gas is installed, on most cases, its actually alot more safer than petrol. People get all "ohh gass bomb in the car" when the word LPG is said, but think about it, your petrol car has just as much potential to become a bomb.. Sure LPG is more explosive, but have a look at the safty regulations about LPG instalation.. LPG instalations, when done professionally (and thats how it SHOULD be done), have alot tighter regulations to what can and cannot be done, compaired to petrol. Hell, look at a new car. Plastic fuel tanks with fingernail width fuel lines. LPG tanks are so frekin solid, some of them are almost bullet proof. You have more chance having a fuel tank explode on you, than an LPG tank exploding, if both setups have been professionally installed as per all regulations. :P Quote
Super Jamie Posted September 10, 2005 Report Posted September 10, 2005 so have i been, but not in the 3 grand gas system i dunno how much i'd trust a second hand setup Quote
mikeys toy[RL] Posted September 10, 2005 Report Posted September 10, 2005 our tow trucks used to eat valves on lpg also the regulators (MOUNT UP!!!) *cough* would freeze when it was cold Quote
Teddy Posted September 10, 2005 Report Posted September 10, 2005 Yes. Brand new, Professional Instalation. Also, run it ONLY on gas, if you want the best running mode; You can never get motors running 101% on gas AND petrol. it would be a frekin cheap way, once its all sorted tho. Quote
Felix Posted September 10, 2005 Report Posted September 10, 2005 i did a few calculations. assuming your petrol 4k got 12 km/L, and you did 20 thousand kms a year. it would take approx 2 to 2 1/2 years to pay off your new gas conversion, if it cost $2500. that is before you can really start to enjoy the benefits of your cheaper alternative fuel. plus then you really need to mod your engine to get the most benefits from LPG. more $$. Quote
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