Propane Injection

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1969GTS

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Did anyone else see the Hotrod show on speed TV last night. Mothers polish did a early 70’s Chevelle with a small block. The interesting part was they are using liquid propane injection as the fuel. They claim that as its injected at -54 degrees it expands 400 times providing about 5 lbs of boost. They fabbed up this cow bell injection system that looked like a space age cross ram. Apparently with the new technology of liquid propane injection you get a ton of cheap horse power from the boost. I wonder how long until someone starts building kits for the public.

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Don't know................

BUT, I'd like to see some information on a true propane carb conversion for a Mopar application............

I had one on a school bus we bought years ago, and it was the cleanest burning ting I've ever seen........there was a little valve to push for a "pre-shot" to the intake, and then away it went........ran great, all kinds of power.

This is a nearly exclusive USA fuel source, and when purchased for automotive fuel, I believe it's pretty competitive with gas.........

Anyone have any info ??

You guys do know that this cheap gasoline is not going to last, don't ya' ? In America, if it's out of sight, it tends to be out of mind........I'm just wantin' to look at some serious alternatives. 8)
 
In my opinion one of the stupidest thing they ever did up in this country is push propane conversions on to gasoline powered vehicles. The government even offered rebates then when people tried running these systems in the cold weather low and behold the engines wouldn't start. You see if the propane liquid isn't warmed, as it goes into the engine, it won't vaporize and just sits there. So now you got to put on electric heaters at the pressure regulator just to get the stupid thing to start. The other problem is these engines now became "dual fuel" engines, problem with that is when using propane the engine needs a higher comp. ratio (eg. 14 to 1) to operate efficiently otherwise on gasoline the low comp. engine runs fine but on propane it performs like a DOG. Needless to say there aren't many propane "dual fuel" vehicles running in my part of the country anymore but there are vehicles like transit buses running on just propane or hydrogen with engines that are designed for just those fuels.

Terry
 
Propane vehicles are quite common in Alberta where my folks live and many gas stations are equipped to sell it for automotive use. The problem here in the US seems to be distribution rather than supply. The pump needs a special valve to feed the car and it also needs to be set up to measure volume of propane dispensed. Any of the propane suppliers I've seen in the US sell propane by the pund rather than the gallon so wouldn't work with a vehicle. My uncle had a truck converted to propane ... it did burn clean but engien mods were needed becasue propane has no lubricating properties and is hard on rubber components as I recall.
 
1967DartGT said:
Propane vehicles are quite common in Alberta where my folks live and many gas stations are equipped to sell it for automotive use. The problem here in the US seems to be distribution rather than supply. The pump needs a special valve to feed the car and it also needs to be set up to measure volume of propane dispensed. Any of the propane suppliers I've seen in the US sell propane by the pund rather than the gallon so wouldn't work with a vehicle. My uncle had a truck converted to propane ... it did burn clean but engien mods were needed becasue propane has no lubricating properties and is hard on rubber components as I recall.
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Sorry DartGT but I know of no one that runs propane powered personel vehicles here in Alberta and I've been here all my life. The city of Calgary and Edmonton have experimented with propane for years on their small trucks and minivans but it has yet to catch on.

Terry
 
I remember when I lived in Wyoming in the 70's and early 80's, there were a lot of vehicles there converted to propane.

As for propane injection, haven't heard of it on a gasoline engine, but I know of some people with Diesels that run propane injection.
 
there is a truck that goes around my town that is run completely off of propane. but the thing is its a propane delivery truck. so the company just has the filling station for themselves. and the only other time that i have heard of propane is in drag racing diesel trucks. they use it like a car uses nitrous.but they dont completely run off of it.
 
this morning on trucks they installed a propane conversion kit on an f 150 never mentioned oiling mods or cold weather problems. claimed it made engine last up to 3xs as long as gas motor
 
I don't see how it could provide boost if the propane is injected into the manifold. It would just blow back out the "cowbells".

I've seen some propane conversions but mainly they're used for serious off-road truggys as they feed from any angle and won't leak fuel.
 
demon seed said:
Sorry DartGT but I know of no one that runs propane powered personel vehicles here in Alberta and I've been here all my life. The city of Calgary and Edmonton have experimented with propane for years on their small trucks and minivans but it has yet to catch on.

Terry
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Terry,
I am originally from Alberta and knew quite a few people who converted their work trucks to propane (propane tank was large and bulky and had to be mounted in the bed). Most conversions seemed to be fleet vehicles but some were private as well (my uncle converted his). My folks lived in Camrose (near Edmonton) and there were several gas stations there that sold auto propane. My brother was a gas jocky at the corner station and had to fill the cars (no self serve with the propane). I moved to Montana in 1990 so am not sure if it is still as popular as a fuel as it used to be, but I remember the gas station signs advertised "Regular, Premium, Diesel, and Propane" well into the 90s. Propane was alot cheaper (although mpg was lower) so maybe it will regain popularity if gas goes back up to $4 a gallon.
 
Well an ex Albertan living in Montana, I like Montana. I'll bet it ain't as cold where you are today as it is in Camrose right now LOL. Yea the most I've been seeing for propane sales lately is bottles and RV fixed tanks for heating and cooking. As a matter of fact I can imagine that those poor people out in the country who are still burning propane instead of Natural Gas for heating have been buying the propane like it's going out of style cuss it's been so stinking cold since November. (except last week).:-D:-D

Terry
 
If you are going full time propane impco made mixer valves and thottle bodies that are still around. I have seen the /6 version of $275 on ebay. One thing that I have seen is the low cr engine w/ propane and a turbo. The propane can stand the compression and because its already vapor you have less issues than a turbo carb w/ gas. This is my goal w/ my /6 833 OD truck. Also, if you are an environmentalist, and I know most MOPAR guys are, propane runs cleaner. So, day 1 you run you 540 cu hemi w/ 4.10s getting 3 mpg. Day 2 (when its raining) you run your propane /6. Day 3-7 you run your motorcycle. Average Milage and carbon foot print makes you a bonerfide tree mugger. (Note: precise calculation of carbon foot print did not include spent rubber tires from hemi and motorcycle).
 
ever try to start a lp gas forklift after its been left outside when its cold? you pretty much need a glow plug like system like the diesels have. ive considered running propane on my idi, but i have a turbo on it so i probably wouldnt gain much.
 
We have a propane fork lift at work. It does good. But I hate that thing in the winter time. Regulator frezes and the thing wont start. It does have rad water runing through it. But untill the motor heats up the rad water, it frezes over. Not worth the trouble if you ask me. Gas works just fine.
 
demon seed said:
Sorry DartGT but I know of no one that runs propane powered personel vehicles here in Alberta and I've been here all my life. The city of Calgary and Edmonton have experimented with propane for years on their small trucks and minivans but it has yet to catch on.

Terry
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10 years ago I worked at CFB Gagetown and all of their work trucks were run strictly on propane. These were just normal chev 350 half tons. Had to keep them inside at night in the winter, but other than that the seemed to work ok. Also in 1996 was working in Seoul Korea and we had a little company 4 cyl van that ran strictly on propane as well. Seems to me the van was made by Suzuki.
 
My friend has a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring 318 in his yard, it has been set-up to run on propane years ago.
 
I've got a few customers at work who have used propane conversions. It does have more octane than gas, but the "5 pounds of boost" claim doesn't hold water.
 
most all propane trucks are run on propane. the government still gives them a a large tax break incintive by doing this. there is no performance gain. they burn very clean and most fire on gas and switch to fuel or do have a heater. they are mainly 454 big block chevrolets. i have a motor out of a 99 c8500 chevy. it is a forged crank, 4 bolt main 454. you could almost eat out of it it was so clean with over 150,000 miles.

also my buddy runs his rock crawling buggy on propane because it will not flood over on vertical climbs or drops. it performs as well or better than fuel injection. it also has no performance gains from the propane.
the engine is a 22r toyota.
 
Years ago i worked at a forklift shop and can say propane engines are extemely clean. i have worked on everything from small pump motors to regular trucks and big rigs and it always amazed me how clean they were when it came time to tear one down. They are also extemely simple and easy to set up. as far as the cold weather issues just install a block heater and a couple seconds cranking to pump the warm coolant through the vaporizer and your good to go. ever tried to start a big rig thats been sitting out in the snow all night without a block heater? PITFA!
 
Schwans, the home delivery dairy products company, uses propane on ALL their trucks. Our shop has the local contract to maintain them. It gets darned cold here and they start every time. They are all fuel injected GMCs and there is no heater on them at all for cold start.
 
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