hi all,
i can pick up a virtually new gas system for my magna with a donut tank for $300.

what i want to know is there a big saving on these motors and is it worth it. for a full sized car i already get very acceptable town and amazing highway economy (around 15+ k's to the litre last trip) but im cheap so if it would be worth it ide defiantly do it. the car has at least 5 years in it so its worth it from that perspective too.

so do others think its worth it, especially considering the price of gas v's petrol atm.
thanks
jay

What is the price of LPG in Victoria at the moment? its been way too high in Qld for a while (was up to 90c up till about a month ago)

How much will it cost to fit, are you planning to fit it yourself (is that even legal?)

Do it right it will run realy smoth even with out balance shafts, but it might not beable to handle both lpg and petrol since u are ment to use different plugs and a bigger gap, ive been wanting to expermante with lpg assisted petrol

they did make disel and lpg varents of this engine for the clark forklifts

http://www.gasresearch.com.au/

Lpg in victoria is currently very cheap. It's cheaper than before the lpg excise was introduced in December. I can get lpg for no more than 54 cents per litre. If I have my coles/woolies discount docket it could be as cheap as 49-50cents/litre so an lpg conversion is well worth it.

OP the real difficulty you're going to come across is finding an installer willing to do it. If the parts were brand new and never used then it'd be a lot easier. However if they have been used then its gets very tricky for installers when things go wrong. How can an installer be held responsible if the parts are not theirs? You can have serious issues with trying to isolate what and who is to blame for the issue. If they install their own parts, then if anything goes wrong in the warranty period then they can be held responsible. Also - what happens if they bodge up the install and stuff up the parts? Again - how can you isolate who is responsible?

I spoke to about 5-6 installers about fitting 2nd hand parts and they all said outright they would never do it again. The usual battle that goes on is ridiculous. As you can imagine both parties don't want to pay if they don't have too, so serious problems can arise. I only spoke to one installer who was willing but still hesitant and told me clearly that he would make me sign a paper to void his liability in the matter and of course offer no warranty on the install and the parts. I didn't really like this as it gave him free reign to do anything he wants. I trust people but it still went through my mind that he could purposefully stuff things up so I would go back to him and pay him to fix those problems he made.

If you can find a good installer willing to do it then I would say go ahead and get a conversion done. Try and do lots of research on how a mixer system works. Know the parts. Know what can go wrong and what can be to blame. Talk to the installer and explain that you understand the difficulties that can come with 2nd hand parts and you will not hold them responsible if the parts are found to be faulty. If you know the compoenents of a lpg system well and know how it works, then if you have problems you'll be able to better isolate the issue and not want them to find and fix it.
Also - get a receipt from the person you're getting the parts from and then you can claim the lpg rebate ;) - If the install costs $800, you pay $300 for the lpg parts then the whole lpg system would cost less than $100 out of pocket after the rebate. However only do this if you plan to keep the car for the next three years as you cannot claim a rebate for 3 years.

I Had a TR 4 Cylinder on LPG, Bought from pickles for $177 - Yes that is correct, wasn't written off, just needed a new headlight.

Registered it and drove it for a period of 3 months, Boy that thing was slow! O.K I admit that being mated to a 4 speed auto wouldn't of helped one bit, but If i remember correctly me and a few mates timed it once for the lols, i think it was around 18-19 seconds 0-100.

In terms of economy, it used to do about 100ks to $10 worth of gas, I can't remember what the cpl of LPG was at the time (Was around June to August last year)

Went to Melbourne in it on a tank of LPG, from Millicent To Hoppers Crossing, filled up somewhere near there, $30 and got home on that! (Which is around 400Kms)

Still, It was torquey, well as torqey as an astron gets, towed a few trailers with it fine.

In your situation, it depends how much its going to cost you to install, a mob near here said that I could install all of it bar the liquid line, as they must connect and and use a new one ( was looking at transferring it to another magna)

Another thing to consider is are you eligible for the LPG rebate? Could make it worth while.
Well end of the essay, I hope this has provided a little insite into things.

Lpg in victoria is currently very cheap. It's cheaper than before the lpg excise was introduced in December. I can get lpg for no more than 54 cents per litre. If I have my coles/woolies discount docket it could be as cheap as 49-50cents/litre so an lpg conversion is well worth it.

I. Hate. You.

Why the hell would there be such a difference - 68c here today - its not fair :(

"I. Hate. You.

Why the hell would there be such a difference - 68c here today - its not fair"

You poor thing! I live in Cooma and gas is around 89 cents per litre here!. 100 km up the road in Canberra it is 69 cents. Anyway, we had a TM magna (it had a carby) and at 235000 km had it converted to gas. It used around 11 L/100 km on gas instead of about 8 on petrol. The only thing I would recommend is to consider using some form of valve lubrication. we didn't, and didn't have any problems with it until we sold it at 345000 km. I last saw it at 375000 km and it was running fine. although I don't know its service history after I sold it. My wife still longs for that car. Yes - you could notice a dorpoff in power on gas, but not that much. We have a TF magna now on gas and really, I cannot detect any difference between gas and petrol (except a considerable decrease in running costs). Sadly, I am having to travel to & from Canberra twice a week now and we are getting a bit over 10L/100 km on gas.

If you go gas, change your engine oil regularly (about 5000 km), especially if you do a lot of short tuns because LPG creates a fairly acidic blowby into the sump (wghen it is cold). You can use special LPG oils, but if you dump it at 5000 km, you shouldn't have any problems. Our old TM didn't.

hi all,
i can pick up a virtually new gas system for my magna with a donut tank for $300.

what i want to know is there a big saving on these motors and is it worth it. for a full sized car i already get very acceptable town and amazing highway economy (around 15+ k's to the litre last trip) but im cheap so if it would be worth it ide defiantly do it. the car has at least 5 years in it so its worth it from that perspective too.

so do others think its worth it, especially considering the price of gas v's petrol atm.
thanks
jay

im running gas in my tp elite and i couldnt be happier. mainly because its way cheaper than petrol. my economy currently is approx 450km out of a tank. with a decent tune i think i could get better. personally i would go for it if i was you. its cost effective and if you're not all about power than its a very good addition to your vehicle.

wow is that all i get 500km a tank on petrol with my ecu and thats not driving like a granny, seems low consedring my mates au is 4L and gets 600km a tank

wow is that all i get 500km a tank on petrol with my ecu and thats not driving like a granny, seems low consedring my mates au is 4L and gets 600km a tank

:S any ideas to fix?? lol

what plugs and gap? timing?, also there are youtube totorials on how to tune up the gas my mate did it to his so it must be eazy.

ive put ngk double platnuims for gas in, and the optimal setting is 0.9mm but it wont like that on petrol

what plugs and gap? timing?, also there are youtube totorials on how to tune up the gas my mate did it to his so it must be eazy.

ive put ngk double platnuims for gas in, and the optimal setting is 0.9mm but it wont like that on petrol

all good i cant run petrol atm, lines r blocked. i whacked ngk plugs and top gun leads on recently but deffs needs a tune. i'll give it a suss

the engine in my car had the exact system running on it, and still has the same plugs it did with gas and the distributor timing has never been touched since. it use to run fine on both gas and petrol.

honestly i cant see any mystical dark forces with the system that wouldn't allow a general person with reasonable knowledge to fit it accept running the line, something which i will probably get done. as far as wiring and mounting goes ill do it. im confident enough and have stuffed around / fixed enough of them to fit it and tune it.

so at the end of the day it seems like its worth it. ill still run petrol through her to keep that side of things in good working order and if im towing or doing something that needs the power ill just switch it to petrol.

the system has only seen about 10,000 use anyway so shouldnt see any problems with it unless sitting dry has harmed it?

and ive never had a flat so the spare wheel can stay behind accept if im going on a long run

thanks,
jay

Think about the legalities of fitting it yourself. You must have a certification plate. Even if someone runs up the back of you and there is an incident (flameup), the first thing they will look for is the plate and if you don't have it - no insurance and the whole collision (even though it wasn't your fault) will be on you. Same if you are over the limit with incohol - if someone runs up your ass, you get tested and your insurance and everything else goes out the window.

Having said all this, I reckon it is a great opportunity to get a cheap system running - do it.

there is the certification plate from the gen 2 it was in but obviously that has different fram numbers. as far as ive been told as long as you have the lines run and fitted by a licensed fitter then its legal, is this right?

"as long as you have the lines run and fitted by a licensed fitter then its legal"

I doubt it. You should have a certification plate appropriate for that vehicle. To get that, you need a certifier and he probably weants a lot of money to put that plate on. You should be able to do the installation yourself, but you must get it certified by a licensed certifier. This should be doable - provided you do your homework first and arranged it in advance. Anyway, you will need to set the system up - exhaust gas mixtures, idle speed etc, so you will probably have to go to someone anyway. Just tell them you are going to fit it yourself and get them to certify it and do the tuning and they will probably come to the party.

If you install it the system needs to be checked over by a licensed LPG mechanic to get the compliance plate. I know a great guy who may help if you wanna pm me I'll give you his details and I'm sure he can give you more of an idea of what he would need you to do and how much he would charge for him to finish it off legally.

"there is the certification plate from the gen 2 it was in but obviously that has different fram numbers""

To place the system in a new vehicle you MUST have a -new- cert plate put on it. No engineer I have ever met will do this on a second hand system put in by anyone but a qualified LPG mechanic.

"as long as you have the lines run and fitted by a licensed fitter then its legal"

Incorrect, the entire system has to be placed in by an LPG mechanic, they have a part by part checklist that must be submitted to your vehicle compliance governing body.

"honestly i cant see any mystical dark forces with the system that wouldn't allow a general person with reasonable knowledge to fit it ""

Go to the burns ward, all those dark mystical forces are hiding there. It takes very little to set one of those systems off and if the tank has been sitting for a while, theres probably a good buildup of vapors in there, drop one +12V line on the tank and get an internal spark..

I'm not trying to be an ass, just trying to show you, even those of us qualified to work on motor vehicles aren't allowed to touch LPG systems, I cant even do the pink slip inspection on an LPG car without being qualified. It's not worth the risk, the impossibility of ever renewing your registration, the cost (fines and bribes to engineers) and if you do manage to find enough dodgy people to get it in, get it plated and get it renewed, the plain risk, can you do ultrasonic crack testing? who knows what might have happened to it in an environment it was not made for.. Don't risk it bro, I dont want a forum post saying ÄMC member mourned