Anyone converted there elan to LPG?

[zeteclotus]

Just wondering if anyone had converted an elan twin cam to LPG

I now have most of a spare Sequential injection system.

I think the twin cam would like LPG as I understand it has quite a high octane rating.

It would also mean I will use less petrol which has to be a good thing.

And as it would mostly be bolt on I would revert to standard quite easily.

regards
Paul

[hatman]

Well now, let me see, add lightness by installing an extra fuel tank plus pipework and assorted gas gizmos? No, can't see it myself. Doesn't seem to sit at all well with the Chapman philosophy. Think I'll pass.

[elansprint]

Paul where would you put the tank a donut where the spare wheel is? My jag runs on LPG & the tank is very heavy to gain power from the octane rating you will need to run a lot more advance when on gas as it burns slower than petrol
regards
Ian

[lotuselan2]

Paul
When I lived in Europe in the 70's and 80's a lot of people had their cars converted to LPG. Some of the fuel savings was offset by the need for relatively frequent valve jobs. I think one colleague said about every 50,000 km for a Ford Taunus! Since the TC requires more attention to the valves than most motors, I would expect you might be looking at a lot more frequent than that.

Ian, how about your Jag? Any valve issues?
Ken

[reb53]

It certainly has been done before.
Saw it in a +2 here in N.Z. about 15 years ago when gas conversions were popular. Even had a different, switchable, ignition curve.
Sorry, can't help with the details as haven't seen the guy since then.

Do remember that he said he'd run it for quite a while with no problems.
He was a electronics type techy who designed and built it all himself.
More as an interesting project/challenge than a serious desire to save fuel costs.

It lasted a lot longer than his turbo conversion on a twink which grenaded after a couple of very hot laps at a local track !

Ralph.

[zeteclotus]

I have experience of running my jag on gas and so far have done 5 years and 50 thousand on it and no valve problems and less oil changes the oil still looks clean after 5 k miles.


I think the valve reputation comes from the fact that LPG runs clean the carbon gets cleaned off the valves which emphasis's a worn out engine.

It would be an interesting project for me rather than any thing else.

I have a small LPG tank that is long and thin and fits nicely in the boot infront of the original tank. Which also needs to be sorted out as it still stinks.

My plan would be to half or remove all together the original tank and fit the gas tank instead that.

Interestingly 1 Litre of LPG only weights 0.5 kg Add lightness
How much does petrol weight per KG

The pipes and vaporizer and stuff only weight about 4 kg.

Weight difference would only be like having a full tank of petrol.

The main weight would be in the tank.

The more I think about it the more I remember how I felt once i finished the Zetec. Nice project but end product not really for me.

Hummm what else could I convert the lawn mower?

[lotuselan2]

Paul
Petrol weighs about .8 Kg/liter. However, remember low boiling fuels have less BTU (Kcal) per Kg also. So the correct question is how many Kcal per Kg? I'm a Chem Eng and could look it up, but I think you will find it not a lot different.

Take the diesel scenario. People get more Km per liter, but the Km per Kg is almost identical. Diesel is a higher density than petrol.
Ken

[handi_andi]

So surely, he says tongue in cheek, the logical next question is what turbo diesel engine could one slide into an Elan and mate up with the drivetrain? And imagine the MPG!!!!!

Andy