Propane conversion????

[SVENG52]

I am considering a propane conversion for my 230. I must say I hate carburetors and I have access to forklift tanks pretty easily. Anyone have any experience with converting anything to propane? Im looking into a complete kit from a vendor on pirate. Kits seem pretty straight forward and propane burns clean as hell

[Flingarrows]

I ran propane on my CJ7 for a summer. It never ran better.

The big issue was that I was using forklift tanks until I found a permanent suitable tank. The price on propane in grill/forklift tanks vs. motor fuel propane is different. The motor fuel propane is cheaper and taxed differently.

The mileage is a bit reduced, so my range capability was diminished. Carrying around a spare forklift tank or two in the back seat was a real pain.

There are few motor fuel propane tank makers, Manchester and Sleeger come to mind. But new tanks are very expensive. I would see used tanks on ebay, but either was out bid, or they were large tanks designed for bed mounting in a pickup truck.

I ended up switching back to gas so that i could make my 700 mile round trip hunting in the fall. If this is an in town or offroad only truck, go for it, otherwise, find the tank first.

I bought the mixer ebay, and got the shutoff, regulator, hose, etc, from helmar forklift supply. They had reasonable pricing. Got Propane.com is a complete kit, but was 3x what i paid for mine piecing it together

[randyscycle]

I know Kaiser715 had propane on his SB Chevy powered M715 a few years ago. You may want to ask him too.

[RJBM715]

Just curious why would you want to run propane?

[Flingarrows]

Propane is a gas when uncompressed, so it atomizes completely, When I ran propane, my CJ never idles so smooth or had such smooth power. My old CJ idled like a brand new car. For an older carbed motor, it really brings it to life.

It is popular in the off road world because in off camber situations, you dont have to worry about a carb flooding or starving for fuel at extreme angles, or a fuel pickup in a tank sucking air, because the propane gas always flows

In illinois, if you have a vehicle converted to propane, you qualify for additional tax credits. The tree huggers favor it because of lower emissions over gasoline.

It is also supposed to allow an engine to last longer, because of the lack of unburned fuel that blows by the rings, contaminating the oil.
There are a lot of companies that run their whole fleet on propane. Schwans (ice cream and prepared foods) runs their whole deliver fleet on propane powered trucks.

I would have stayed with propane if the tank cost on a smaller vehicle was more readily available.

[RJBM715]

I have seen it in offroad applications, and I've always thought that it must be pretty dangerous. That's probably cuz I know nothing about it.

[RJBM715]

How do you keep the gas contained. I guess I now have something to look up

[Flingarrows]

How do you keep the gas contained. I guess I now have something to look up

It is a sealed system RJB. It goes from the tank to lockoff solenoid using a high pressure LP rated line (Expensive, sold by the foot). The solenoid is either electric or vacuum actuated.

From the solenoid to goes to a regulator, which does just that, it regulates the pressure. It is in the regulator that propane changes from a liquid in the compressed state, to a vapor, when uncompressed state.

From the regulator it goes to the mixer, which is like a propane carburetor.

If the system is installed correctly and leak checked, it works very well. There is an scent added to the propane, so that you can smell it if it is leaking, similar to natural gas. It is a fuel, so like gasoline, you want to protect the tank from damage/collision, and not have leaks. I guess the risks are similar to gas, just a different storage and delivery system

[ELB]

My father in law has ran propane in his caddy for years. He used a old tank from a motor home.
Flingarrows your right about how it makes the engine run so smooth you can barely hear the old 472 cid caddy run.

[RJBM715]

Is it a more fuel efficient way? How does it match up. I did a little research on it. I like the idea that propane can be stored for ever un like gasoline. also found some places that make kits to swap your motor over to propane.