LPG conversion for my 1985 Colony Park

[Deermann]

Hi,

I'm in the process of converting my 1985 Colony Park to liquid propane gas (LPG).
It is going to be a dual fuel setup.

The reason I do this is pure economy.

Here are the maths:

Cars older than 25 years aren't being road taxed, there tax-free.

Normally it would be for a 1900 kg car:
Normal Fuel: €285 (3 months) €1128 (1 year)
Diesel: €490 (3 months) €1948 (1 year)
LPG (G3) en natural gas: €424(3 months) €1684 (1 year)
LPG €513(3 months) €2040 (1 year)

1€ = $1.40

So a younger car (after 1985) this size, normal fuel, would be $133 every month just the tax.
The same car with LPG $240 every month.

So why use LPG anyway. LPG is €0.65 per litre ($3.50 per gallon). Normal fuel: €1.50 per litre ($8.10 per gallon) (prices march 2011).
If you drive a lot, you can safe money with LPG.

So if a car is taxfree you can safe a lot of money with LPG!

I requested some quotations and they came up around €1850 ($2590) for the conversion, still a lot of miles to earn it back.
So I decided to do my own conversion which I will write down here. I think it will cost me around €600 to do it myself ($840). Return of investment: 5000 kilometres (8000 miles), looks like a great deal to me (and a lot of 25+ drivers over here).

Regards,

Adam

[88MercWagon]

This is going to be interesting at the very least. I toyed with the idea of converting a box to run on CNG, but currently don't have the time or resources. I'll be following you build for sure, and best of luck to you!

[Deermann]

LPG is compressed propane gas which is a by-product of the distillation of fuels.

LPG is widely distributed in the Netherlands and a lot of other other European countries. It is not as popular as it used to be. Installations for modern cars are very complex and therefore very expensive.
A basic V8 is ideal for LPG conversion, because of it's simplicity. You lose some power by using LPG (10%), but it can be gained back by advancing your timing and higher compression. Since I'm doing a dual fuel conversion, I lose 10% and perhaps gain back some by a timing manager.

Basically the LPG is contained in a tank in a liquid form and that liquid is vaporized, by the vaporized under the hood by using heat from the cooling system. This is fed to the engine by means of a mixer, basically a plate under the throttle body with a gas hose feeding it.

The is a lot of regulations for installing a LPG system in your car. The installation has to be checked and certified. Working with propane is dangerous when not taking it seriously.

You need:
a filling point
a tank and tank-frame
some hoses and line
a vaporizer
a mixer
electronics to control it.


The tank, it donut shaped tank specially made for fitting at the spare tyre location.


In the foreground the mixer, to the left the vaporizer and right a gas valve.


The llocation for the tank.

I started the conversion last weekend.


Filling point: work in progress


Filling point: inside the car


the result


the outside result


Propane/fuel switch installed.


Regards,

Adam

[grandpaslincoln]

Ooooh, this is going to be interesting!

[1987cp]

Quite interesting!

So Deermann, I gather you're Dutch (might add that to your profile) and "€" means Euros?

[87gtVIC]

Cool stuff!

[Deermann]

"€" means Euros?

Yes, you pay $1.40 to buy 1 Euro.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

[Deermann]

"€" means Euros?

Yes, you pay $1.40 to buy 1 Euro.

[johnunit]

very interesting.

Is this unit specifically designed for panthers/colony parks or is it a universal unit?

[Deermann]

very interesting.

Is this unit specifically designed for panthers/colony parks or is it a universal unit?

No, they are not specifically designed, but it will have to match your car. A vaporizer has a certain capacity. This one up to 200 bhp. The tank you can pick out of hundreds of shapes and sizes.

More modern systems (G3) are car and engine specific. They are closed loop systems.

There are several manufactures of tanks (mostly from Poland) and electronics and vaporizers (more complex parts) are from Holland, Italy and the US. A very well known system is Impco, which is made in the USA. They are used alot overhere, they can feed some serious horsepower. They even make double 4 barrel setups.

[86VickyLX]

So what's left before this can run on LPG?

[P72Ford]

This is neat!

How long are the tanks certified for?

[Deermann]

So what's left before this can run on LPG?

[Deermann]

This is neat!

How long are the tanks certified for?

It is checked with every safety checkup every year. Also CO must be lower then 1,5%.

It will basically last forever.

[86VickyLX]

Doesn't look too difficult. The different language made me think the names of the parts were made up.