How Much to Convert to LPG

[Lambolica]

Still LPG prices are up around the 60c mark today.

keep in mind that you get 30% or so more fuel economy from petrol (not sure on weather direct injection is more effecient) so at 60c a litre you really paying 80c or so plus the conversion plus all the other checks that LPG tanks need (which will start costing more if there are more LPG cars around.)

And even though the excise is capped it will go up to around 90c or so I have read (unfortunatly I cant find that article)

[itchybum1]

Hi , i may have missed it , but just say eg. you end up taking " little johnny " up on his offer for older cars not factory fitted with Lpg ( $ 2000 rebate ) , how do you go about receiving your rebate and when do you receive it . Before , during or after you pay for the conversion ?

[fester]

barned01, no chance in hell of getting LPG approved for yourself. Firstly doubt you'd get anyone to sell you the stuff and secondly as far as I can recall from a friend who use dto install them you have to be like ticketed. Bit like mod platers.

He's no longer a mechanic but said he wa still ticketed to do LPG so he legally can do his own cars by pulling the system out of one and putting in another.

I also heard tanks are OK for 10 years like BBQ bottles but unlike BBQ bottles no-one checks and recertifies them. It is normally a new tank. Anyone confirm.

[Lambolica]

No doubt after you pay out for it. or dogey joints will claim it back for you so you don't really know how much the conversion should have cost.

[fester]

lambolica is more than likely right, since when did th government ever give you something up front. It will be get it done and then send your receipts/approval or whatever in and get the refund. Or maybe the installers will be agented to attend the refunds or rebate from teh price but yes watch out it doesn't introduce some shonks playing with the price of installations. You would want to get a "non rebated" price to compare before making any commitments

[river]

Hi,

This may sound like a dumb question.... how does LPG stack up in a crash? I know there's lots of LPG cars running about so I'd be interested to know if they're anymore prone to brew-up in a collision as opposed to a petrol vehicle.

seeyuzz
river

[jonra23]

Not too bad in a crash, they have a solenoid on the tank that works the same as an electric fuel pump on an efi car, no running of the engine = no fuel flow from the tank.

[hi-ace]

River,
I'm not sure of the extra risk factor with LPG in an accident, but remember, you have to have the little red LPG stickers on your front/rear number plates. So in my mind this tells me that there must be extra danger involved, otherwise, why the sticker warning everyone that it has a gas bottle on board.

[18rc turbo]

I also heard tanks are OK for 10 years like BBQ bottles but unlike BBQ bottles no-one checks and recertifies them. It is normally a new tank. Anyone confirm.

Almost right.... every 10 years you have to get your gas tank re-certified (basically just pressure tested), and your local gas installer or BOC dealer can arrange that for you for around $150 or so

[Grega]

river.........as has been mentioned there are two lockoffs normally.
one lives on the tank and activates only when +12v is applied to it
there is another in the engine bay which does same
there are also valves in the LPG tank........basically if the line is ruptured and gas starts spewing out it will lock and not supply any more LPG.

and yes they have to be re-tested every 10 years (the valves sometimes get changed at these tests and its around $120). tanks are stamped thereafter and usable again. they are also checked for gouges and scratches (if under car) and for rust ect

the little red stickers on your plates identify your car to the fireys in case of an accident they know what they are dealing with...........like hazchem stickers for example....

re tank rupture rates in the event of a bad crash - they're safer than petrol (to a degree) you think of the way plastic / metal tanks rupture being made of thin metal ect the tank is more solid and can withstand a fair old whack/fall.

many years ago (when LPG was 4c a litre and burnt off by the oil refineries) a family friend had his new XC Falcon wagon on LPG with the tank on the roof. he went round a corner too quick the tank dislodged and the LPG cylinder fell off and landed on the road. fireys came inspected and the tank was certified as OK.......off he went (this a good 25 years ago mind you). tanks these days made by APA are very very good quality (bet they're glad they didn't close down now)

as with everything i'm just waiting for "the chimp" to put the price of LPG up.......

[RT104GT]

Depends where you go. By the sound of it you will get ripped off no matter what $3500 is garbage. I did a 1982 Nissan 280zx for about $500 ( I supplied all the bits) I did a 1991 Camry VZV21 which everyone including Toyota told me would send me to hell and back. I pulled all the LPG out of my 1987 Camry Wagon and fitted it into the 1991 Sedan. I got a gas company to supervise the fitting and check out all the wiring. They supplied and I fitted a new gas line from front to rear and they complied the car. Cost $350.00 including taking the tank to Portland to get it checked and stamped indate for the next 10 years. And again I supplied all the parts. So my advice go to a wrecking yard, find EXACTLY the same car and remove everything and find a friendly GAS MAN and fit it all under supervsion. You will save thousands. As for the CAMRY VZV21 I have not gone to hell and back and we get 350 km from a tank of gas, we run on ULP to start it and that lasts four gas fills, the valves have not recessed and the car performs the same on ULP as on LPG. My CAMRY SV21 was used as a tow car up and down the Hume from 2001 to 2005 and did 100,000 on LPG. head finally did a valve in 2005 after long tow job from Coffs to Melbourne hauling 1400 kg. Also only LPG certified gas people can do RWC on cars in VIC 2 cents.

[RT104GT]

Hi,

This may sound like a dumb question.... how does LPG stack up in a crash? I know there's lots of LPG cars running about so I'd be interested to know if they're anymore prone to brew-up in a collision as opposed to a petrol vehicle.

seeyuzz
river

Hi River, there is a cutoff solenoid at the rear and at the front in the gas line and a tachometric converter that samples the ignition pulses so the moment the engine stops the solenoids instantly drop out. Mount the gas tank in a sensible place, although I had mine in the camry wagon and never smelt any gas as it is vented to the outside world via special concertina tubing. if you follow safe practices its no big deal. I have two cars on gas, the VZV21 camry Narrow bodied v6 which Toyota told me would never go (ultra-conservativism) . My 200 kph Datsun has the tank behind my back 10 cm away.
I went to Goulburn nationals and back to Hamilton 2000 km for $200.00 you get about 100k for $10 worth of gas.
I will let you know if I survive a crash.

[RT104GT]

Also if you intend to ever go into the country areas think carefully as LPG is not that easy to get off the east coast.


Gavin

HUH? I have been hauling wrecked cars back from Eastern Australia via inland to Hamilton since 2001 in an LPG equipped wagon and only once I got stuck and that was cos the stupid Shell at Deni shut from 1000pm until 0600 and I was too stingy to carry more than 1/4 tank of ULP as well as the LPG (whats point hauling around excess weight) . There is LPG everywhere except the Glen which just burnt down. What's more the question why do SCOTT MOBIL and all the other FUEL BARONS charge 60cpl at Hamilton when its 40cpl in Melbourne. FREIGHT? CRAP 2C.

[reverend bob]

I use to run a TA22 73 with straight gas. If the set up is done correctly you should gain power as LPG has a higher Octane. I didn't notice any gain or loss in performance. I had a 2tgeu and they plugged up the fuel injecter holes and plumbed the gas straight into the air chamber thingy. Sorry cant for the life of me remember the corrected name. Best thing to do is find an installer who does high performance instal. Don't put a duel fuel set up in, thats when you'll lose power. Look into gas vapour

P.S. If the government subsidy on LPG interests you don't rush out. A friend at BP refinery in Brisbane said that an 18% tax going on LPG soon and By Chrismas gas should be just under a $1.

[hemi twofifteen turbo]

about 6 weeks ago I installed gas on my ta23, all up it cost $88 and 6 hours of my time.
second hand tank and bracket from wreckers, (in date) $60.
Gas line (removed from massive long valiant) reason for the valiant being you cant reuse the copper line becuase once it's bent to the shape of the car you can't bend it again as the copper will work harden and crack which means leaks.. the val was long enought that the straight unbent section from under the car was enought to do the whole ta23. (cost $10 too
running a simple landi convertor from ebay for $20. all that was left was some heater hose for the convertor and some hose clamps I got for free from wreckers.
Power was nothing to begin with (stock 2T) so is still nothing (not noticable but cold starts are good!). It's a 90 litre tank becuase if I went the smaller tank i'd have no boot room, if i went the larger tank, id still have no boot room. so i went the larger tank . I had to remove the fuel tank, so it's straight gas. I live about 800m away from a servo so didn't start the car after removing the fuel tank and fitting gas system. Was able to drive to servo off the fuel that was in the carby/fuel line to fill the gas tank.

Power is not noticibly differnt, economiy is a shitload better. $30 was a full tank i didn't look at the tank level for 2 weeks and it was on 1/4" lol.
it paid for itself in a month.

I recently drove to byron bay in a 5.7L stroker holden kingswood on LPG with an R154 and 2.6:1 diff. plenty of cruisnig power and cost $150 to get to byron bay from melb, as a comparison a friends holden apollo/toyota camry cost $180 on petrol (i assume with a shitload less cruising comfort and power and definatly more cost!).

With lpg you can have ur cake and eat it too.

putting LPG on the ta23 was the first step to putting in the 1g, which will be on straight LPG too, will be doing it as soon as I work out why the sway bar hits the front sump 1g?

rob about the octane you can only really get the benefits of it if you up your compression ration to 'make use' of the higher octane.