LPG on VT wagon??

[pac23]

i just bought a vt wagon with every intention to convert it to gas.. i was actually planning to go dedicated gas and pull the fuel tank out putting the gas tanks in its place..
after calling 7 places in the general area.. the all said that you have to put a 50L tank in the tyre well.. this is about 1k more expensive then using cylindrical tanks and the 50L tank is to bloody small.. one place also told me that going dedicated was bad for the engine.. i was under the impression that it is better to go dedicated for tuning purposes...
can anyone tell of someone that would do the conversion i was after or if its a bad idea and just go with the norm of putting the tank in the tyre well and then having to take up boot space with the spare tyre..
is someone knows of someone in sydney with some real know how on LPG systems i would love their name as i dont want to get stuck with a shitty system that backfires constantly...
Any help???
cheers

[Swordie]

It might be worth asking the Ford guys at their LPG Forum. You could also ring a Holden dealer service department to see what they recommend. The wagon shape hasn't changed in years. Holden dealers were fitting LPG to Ecotec motors and probably servicing them.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=71

[Danv8]

If you can go for gas injection.

[mmciau]

Is it honestly value-for-money to do the conversion?

Is the fitting of LPG to the VT model cost effective at this stage of its life?

Mike

[Ghia351]

Before you do anything estimate how much you'll travel for the remainder of the car's ownership and compare the petrol cost vs the LPG cost for these km's. If the difference is not considerably more then the cost of a decent LPG conversion then for your current car it's not worth it. Problem is people remember how much the last tank of petrol cost but forgot the money spent on an LPG conversion. If you don't do sufficient km's to save enough to cover the cost of the conversion and then some you're better off sticking with petrol. Resale on an LPG-equipped car might be slightly more but you need to calculate the comparisons to see if its worth the effort.

The newer sequential vapour LPG systems avoid the air box backfiring problem and bring the economy of lpg closer to petrol while reducing the power loss. Gas-only setups like the e-gas Falcon have modified internals to cope with LPG's hotter and drier burning characteristics and hence an aftermarket conversion on a petrol model voids Ford's warranty atm and needs to be taken care of by the installer. I haven't heard of any major problems with ecotecs running on duel fuel, they just need some petrol running regularly to keep things lubricated properly and maintain you're oil changes again becuase of LPG's dryness under combustion. A local taxi company in Bay Rd, Highett (VIC) runs an all Commodore fleet and they seem to be OK, then again a panel shop and mechanics are part of the business as well.

You really need to do the sums as a saving at the pump for a low mileage car aftermarket LPG converted car might prove false economy until every factor is costed.

[German Statesman]

VT sedans came out with a Holden option some 6 months after the model's release, and it was made by Impco for Holden. It was available as a dealer-fit or as a Holden By Design installation, and was popular with fleets.

Ecotecs seem to run okay on gas - watch for valve recession, and the valves will hammer into the heads when this happens usually around the 150k mark if fitted from new. Valve stem seal problems will occur with this too because the valve collets will be worn from the hammering. The strange firing order of the V6 (a spark on the waste stroke of the combustion process - an emissions plus I've heard) and its propensity to crossfire between leads make a good healthy ignition system a must, and big 9mm-10mm leads are a good start over the ordinary factory items.

For god's sake, stay away from cheap and nasty stepper-motor controlled systems - either Impco or a gas injection system is your only choice. The stepper motor systems open and close the flow of gas according to the engine rpms, but are fully open at 3000rpm - give it a bootful, and you're hoping that there is enough supply in the regulator so that the engine won't run lean. Impco systems have a 242kw (325hp) rated convertor as peace of mind but there's the added bonus of an engine vacuum-controlled air valve in the mixer which controls air/gas delivery to the nth degree.

LPG only is definitely the way to go - you can advance the timing to compensate LPG's slower burn rate and lower energy rating, and you'll lose nothing to petrol. You wouldn't go wrong with Bill Campbell from Gas Injection Technologies in inner Sydney - he had the Impco distributorship in Sydney for many years and knows heaps about what you want to do. I knew him for many years before I got out of LPG conversions and he had a funny story of taking a gas injected VS SS out to a GT Falcon Owner's Club day at Oran park a few years ago, and running away with the best lap time on the day.

Good luck - don't worry about the old crap about so many kms till you break even: its what you pull out of your pocket to keep the thing running that matters.

Cheers