LPG conversion?

[stoner 0]

I'm considering an LPG conversion for my '90 1.8 16v. Does anyone know if it's possible on my car? Would it affect the power, and what would the cost be? I'm currently commuting 500 miles a week, so it would save me over £1000 a year if I can do it.

 

Thanks

 

Andy. :D

[Beetlebug_2001 0]

you can do it while corrado hunting i found one for sale that had been converted to LPG at the cost of £1500 i think

[stoner 0]

Just had a quote from Gastech of £1750 + VAT. This seems a bit steep. do you think it would be cheaper elsewhere if I hunted around?

[Beetlebug_2001 0]

Yeah phone around youd be stupid not to, think of it like insurance, you never take the first quote, ive heard a lot of ppl pay £1500 for LPG and thats been over the years i would have thought it would have got a bit cheaper with poppularity, bear in mind u want dual fuel just running gas will f*ck your engine as it doesnt lubricate inside the engine so the incresed wear will have you eating through cylinder heads, basically it means use gas all u want but every now and then put normalk fuel in the engine.

[VR6 0]

I think there is a Government initiative that pays for some of the conversion cost.

[24V Renshaw 0]

My mate is thinking of breaking his 1.8 16v which is fitted with an LPG conversion. If you are interested I can ask what he would want for it. All you have to do is get it checked once it is finished for it to be OK with the insurance.

 

J

[Supercharged 2]

I think there is a Government initiative that pays for some of the conversion cost.

 

Only for cars less than 3 years old i think...

[Tattie 0]

My bro has got LPG on his Range Rover (bloody big truck!!). The tanks for the gas ain't small!! About the same size as a big bazooka subwoofer. So there goes any boot space. Its also not that easy to take it out when the space is needed either.

 

MPG is the same as before except you are using cheaper fuel. On his truck he has 3 tanks, 1 in the boot and 2 under the floor in chassis space (alright for him with his ground clearence but not for a C!)

 

Basically car starts on petrol then after its up and running automatically switches over to the gas. Cost him a couple of grand to get it all installed.

[corozin 0]

I know a guy in Poole who has a 1.8 16v with LPG conversion. He bought the car already converted, so I don't think we'll ever find out who converted it.

 

It's the only LPG Corrado I've ever come across. He gets about 35mpg but the fuel costs something like 36p a litre so it's dead cheap to run. Has a donut fuel cell in the boot for the LPG where the spare wheel used to sit.

 

Realistically the cost of doing the conversion isn't really worth it on a car with the value of a Corrado.

[vr6storm 0]

I'm considering an LPG conversion for my '90 1.8 16v. Does anyone know if it's possible on my car? Would it affect the power, and what would the cost be? I'm currently commuting 500 miles a week, so it would save me over £1000 a year if I can do it.

 

Thanks

 

Andy. :D

 

 

if i were commuting those sort of miles in a week i would'nt be looking at a LPG conversion i would be looking into getting a cheap to run motor for the daily grind so leaving your C for the W/E's etc

 

the way i look at it......even if it was a 1.8 16v C like yours.....is

 

ok you'll save £1k a year fuel

 

but you'll have an initial outlay of approx £1.5k-£2k

then add on the fact you'll have to inform your insurance of the amount of miles you do which is way above average :shock:

add on the increased wear and tear you'll C will be subjected to......which even with a near bomb-proof 16v will be higher to fix than any run of the mill motor and of course tyres......though i have heard that LPG can run a lot cleaner than petrol and your oil stays cleaner quite a bit longer too

 

that £1k saving doesn't seem to great now doesn't it?

[paul 0]

If you're dead set on an LPG conversion then think of the following. I looked into converting a jeep cherokee and spoke to a conversion company about it.

 

1. Are you sure you'll be keeping the car for at least 2 -3 yrs after converting? It will take 12 - 18 months to recover the cost and another 12 months of motoring to have actually made it worthwhile.

 

2. Don't go for the older single point injection systems which may appear cheaper but you lose about 10% in performance (so I was told). Pay a little extra for the multi point injection and you won't lose out on power. (Although the Corrado 16v engine might not suffer so much as its an old tech engine).

 

3. If your car has a small boot (which the corrado has) then consider a tank to replace the original petrol tank. This has 2 parts, a large LPG tank and a small reserve tank for petrol. You get a switch on your dash to switch between them. Alternatively you can go for a "doughnut" tank which sts in the spare wheel well but wont hold so much fuel. You then have the problem of not having a spare tyre but most converters will give you a can of "get you home" tyre sealant.

 

4. Find out how many garages sell LPG in your area.

 

5. As mentioned on another post. Shop around, you should look to pay £1500 or a little less.

 

 

HTH

[jedi-knight83 0]

also bear in mind that the tax is on frozen on LPG for another year or 2, after that the governemnt can put the tax up to what the want on the Gas. Then you wont be making a saving anymore!!!

[chubbybrown 0]

I work for a LPG company,LPG has many green issues and I applaud that,but,

LPG is very hard on valves,if they are not the hardened type you will burn them out.

the old way of not burning them out was to use 3 fills of gas and one fill of petrol (4star)

Propane gas if setup right will give same power as petrol,insurance companies dont charge anymore if lpg system is fitted.

LPG in cars is enormous in Belgium,Holland and Italy,but you cant use channel tunnel if you have a LPG car.

if proceeding make sure they are LPGA approoved,they have a website(http://www.lpga.co.uk) and the quality counts as you wouldnt let anyone install a gas boiler in your house would you ?

maintinance,ach well there aint much,just a filter every 3 years or so.

the sales and tech boys have vauxhalls and they do dip in power if the engines small regardless of what they tell you if under heavy load.

http://www.lpg-vehicles.co.uk/

http://www.calor.co.uk/hmpg/hmpgdisplaylev1.asp?catid=5

 

Im surprised noone has mentioned shoving a TDI in the COrrado yet !

 

doughnut tanks are inobtrusive or use a cylinder tank if boot is full of ice anyway

( so no boot at all )

hope all this helps,more beer for me ! :lol: 8)

[vr6storm 0]

 

Im surprised noone has mentioned shoving a TDI in the COrrado yet !

 

: 8)

 

 

roy mate.....your just full of gas!!! :lol: :lol: ......sorry couldn't resisit

 

anyway if you have a look there are a couple of the dutch guys????on this forum that have done the TDI conversion and then some :shock: