I want to convert my KH Verada to LPG, what is the cheapest way to go about it? I was thinking of getting a system from a wreckers or is it better to get a new system with the gov rebate, anyone have any ideas of the costs for either? cheers

You could be working into problems with an older system, as well as lacking tuning support from an experienced fitter.
There is a diaphram which often goes in older older systems, getting one from a wreck could be problematic.
It needs a mod plate and (in Qld anyway) your vehicle needs to recorded as LPG with the registration Authority.
Tanks also need a regular 10 year inspection, unless you can install, test and pass the system yourself....
For a 1200 dollar out of pocket cost..e.g. http://www.tcbgas.com.au/pricing_lpg_conversion.htm
I wouldn't risk it...
DIY and gas.... It's your ass.....

You could be working into problems with an older system, as well as lacking tuning support from an experienced fitter.
There is a diaphram which often goes in older older systems, getting one from a wreck could be problematic.
It needs a mod plate and (in Qld anyway) your vehicle needs to recorded as LPG with the registration Authority.
Tanks also need a regular 10 year inspection, unless you can install, test and pass the system yourself....
For a 1200 dollar out of pocket cost..e.g. http://www.tcbgas.com.au/pricing_lpg_conversion.htm
I wouldn't risk it...
DIY and gas.... It's your ass.....

Thanks for your help shoot, I might go for a new systems

Oh, just to add, there's a lot be said for the old mixer system over the newer kits, there's heaps of mechs that can work on the systems, and there is some good mech's around. Handy if you do road trips or holiday with it..
A bloke up the road tweaked my uncles 2001 TJ advance, it's got 300,000 on it..It runs and starts like a 2 y.o. car....Now......

I'd go with a new one... You've still got to get a used one fitted anyway, unless you plan on doing this yourself. Plus with the amount of mileage on your car and its age it seems kind of futile converting it to LPG since its getting towards the end of its usable life. Owning a KH Xi myself, I do know how much it sucks at the petrol bower, but at the end of the day its not really worth converting a 12-13 year old car with 230,000+ KMS on it to LPG. Not unless you plan on keeping it a very long time... Maybe try spending your dollars giving the car a really good tune up. That is what I did with mine and now its getting much better fuel economy. My father used to fit LPG to cars, so I will tell you the cost of getting the system and installation is in the thousands. Even though LPG is cheaper, your car uses more of it and you'll lose a small amount of power. I was thinking of doing this to my KH Xi, my father strongly advised me against it. My advice: spend your money on fixing it up.

You've got a good a good point to an extent. The earlier the better....

I'd expect you save somewhere in the order of $400-$700 every 10,000 km... Depending on driving style and type of work..
So, yes, doing it to an older, well travelled car, requires more thought, but magna engines are pretty cheap these days too.
I fitted my TW @ about 60,000 km's she's on 130,000 now
I did a breakdown a while ago...Here (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60404&p=1358004&viewfull=1#post1358004)

Would I do it to your car, NFI, I don't know your circumstances.

I'd go with a new one... You've still got to get a used one fitted anyway, unless you plan on doing this yourself. Plus with the amount of mileage on your car and its age it seems kind of futile converting it to LPG since its getting towards the end of its usable life. Owning a KH Xi myself, I do know how much it sucks at the petrol bower, but at the end of the day its not really worth converting a 12-13 year old car with 230,000+ KMS on it to LPG. Not unless you plan on keeping it a very long time... Maybe try spending your dollars giving the car a really good tune up. That is what I did with mine and now its getting much better fuel economy. My father used to fit LPG to cars, so I will tell you the cost of getting the system and installation is in the thousands. Even though LPG is cheaper, your car uses more of it and you'll lose a small amount of power. I was thinking of doing this to my KH Xi, my father strongly advised me against it. My advice: spend your money on fixing it up.


Hi mate, thanks for advice, I know what you mean about spending the money on a older car, but yes I do intent to keep it for a long time and I do about 30,000 k's a year so it would be worthwille me having it fitted, I don't know what kind of tune you could have to make your car a lot better on fuel, theres not much you can do to other then to make sure all plugs and leads are good, filters are clean, my Verada going by the computers averages 12.5 litres per 100 k's

Well you sound a lot like me lol
I used to get around 12 litres per 100 K's. I'm now getting around 10-11 depending on how I drive. Now that doesn't seem like much of an improvement, but, once you take into account how much fuel newer, smaller, 4 cylinder medium size cars we're doing not too bad!
Lets say both your engine and transmission last till 300,000KM, thats another 2-3 years of motoring for you. Do you plan on keeping the car post 300,000KM's? Because spending $1K-$2K on LPG isn't going to add any value to your car when it comes time to sell it. Either way, if you have to do a engine (although, these are really reliable engines if well looked after) or transmission you're still up for over $1K which is your LPG conversion right there. Then again, there have been Magna/Veradas that have gone way past 300,000KM... Its something thats pretty much your decision at the end of the day really... Its your money and your car. If it were me, I wouldn't do it. But as I said before, entirely up to you.

LPG Pros and Cons:
My wife’s TF sedan was fitted with gas as soon as we bought it. It has done nearly 200000 km on gas now with very few problems (my Pajero – 230000 km on gas - is much more sensitive to gas quality, spark plugs and lead condition).

The Magna petrol consumption is about 9L/100 km. Its gas consumption is about 11L/100 km. So for every 100 km it is going to use 9L of petrol or 11 L of gas. Depending on where you fill up, petrol prices are, say $1.35 per litre and gas say 70 cents per litre. Cost = $12.15 (petrol) or $7.70 for gas to go 100 km. Saving on gas is $44.50 per 1000 km.

Not sure what the conversion will cost these days, but when I had ours done, it was $1550. On that basis, you have to travel 1550 / 44.5 = 35000 km to recover the cost of the conversion. After that, every 35000 km returns you $1550. Not a bad investment… The break-even point when I had our vehicles done was about 25000 km for the Magna and 20000 km for the Pajero. Right now, the Magna is worth about $3000, so we could theoretically park it on the side of the road and walk away, knowing that it owes us nothing.

Not sure of where you live or regularly fill, but the price of gas varies widely wherever you go. We pay 92.9 cents per Litre in Cooma NSW, yet 110 km up the road in Canberra, it is 69.9 cents. Across the Nullarbor, it is probably $1.20 now (I am going that way soon, so I’ll be able to update prices over a large area of Oz), but even when the price is over $1, the petrol price at that place is at least 50% dearer, so you still win, although not as clearly as if you were in a major city.

If you live in NSW, you have to have an annual roadworthy inspection for any car. For gas cars it costs about $15 more than standard. The engine oil stays a lot cleaner with gas and engines reportedly last a lot longer when run on gas. The only limits are valves (if they are not LPG rated) and engine oil contamination (by the acidic condensate) if you do a lot of short runs. That one is easily covered by ding more frequent oil changes.

You lose a significant amount of boot space with the gas bottle. It may be preferable to go for one of those systems which sit in the spare wheel well, and then mount the spare somewhere else (awkward). There is only my wife and myself, so we have no problems with lack of space.

Regarding loss of power, forget it – I cannot detect any difference between petrol and gas. If anything, I think the car runs smoother on gas. I just had a new converter fitted to the Magna because the old one had a bad diaphragm.

My humble opinion – just do it…

I had LPG fitted to my TJII AWD at 170K and have done 60K since without any problems. Personally, I wouldn't bother with a second hand system unless you know the car it came off. I've got an Impco mixer system. This is the system Mitsubishi fitted to the factory dual fuel Magnas and the dedicated gas Magnas. It's a good quality system and should cost around $1500 after the rebate. I'm not concerned about the loss of performance as it really isn't noticeable in everyday driving. My car runs smoothly on gas and luckily for me I don't have to travel far to a servo that sells propane instead of the usual propane/butane mix.

If the numbers add up for you it's probably worth doing.

I'll add to this and say to avoid a 2nd hand system unless you know a thing or two about lpg systems and are able to fix it yourself.

Even, if you're able to find an installer (hard to do!) whose willing to fit your 2nd hand, you could have a real problem with the installer as it could be very hard to isolate if the fault is from the installer or from the parts. 99/100 the installer will just blame the parts you provided. This has caused alot of issues for alot of installers in the past and as a result, most (almost all) refuse to instlal 2nd hand parts. You'll also get charged labour ontop. In the end the savings start to diminish.

A good way to make back a bit of money is to get a second hand tank that is not fully expired yet. Head to your local wreckers and rip out a tank that is 1-2 years from needing to be overhauled. Most tanks fit in the enormous magna boot. You then get someone to inspect and overhaul the tank for around $120-150 and you saved yourself 100's. A tank with all the valves etc can cost over $700 so this way you could save around $500. Obviously the risk is that the tank you buy fails the overhaul but this is quite unlikely as these steel tanks are incredibly strong and can last for 30+ years. The 10yo overhaul requirement is just a precautionary measure. My current tank is a 1996 one fitted to a VS dunnydore and it is guaranteed and certified for use until 2021. I saved about $600 by using a 2nd hand tank. In the end I was able to get the conversion for the same price as the government rebate ($1500) which meant I started saving the minute I drove out of the workshop!

Another tip for LPG conversions: The original gas converter as fitted to my wife's TF was a Landi. It had the gas outlet hose at the top. Eventually, the diaphragm stuffed up, and you could see dregs of something seeping out. I had an OMVL converter fitted to replace it because the outlet was at the bottom and I was told that this allowed any sludge and crap to be readily sucked out and drawn into the engine, whereas when the gas hose is at the top, the sludge stays behind in the converter. Too early to say if it does this, but logic backs the idea up. Certainly I used to notice that when the car was running off peak performance, a good hard flogging brought it back to its usual form. Maybe it was sucking sludge etc out of the converter?