A big hello from Scotland

Discussion about the Register (and V8 powered vehicles other than the Stage 1)

Moderator: glencoyne

chinny
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:30 pm
Location: Southend, Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland

A big hello from Scotland

Post by chinny »

:) A quick note to say hello to the rest of the forum. Does anyone know how the plans for the new V8 club are progressing? Also how does £850 + VAT sound for an LPG conversion for my 1984 110 CSW 3.5L with twin Strombergs? I am in dire need of the LPG conversion as petrol up here has reached £1 per litre! Is there anyone else in the forum who lives in Argyll. If so please feel free to get in touch

Cheers
Chinny
110 3.5 V8 CSW
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

Hi Chinny,
what was the specifics of the conversion quoted ! they do differ quite considerably so the question is very vague
Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
chinny
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:30 pm
Location: Southend, Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland

LPG

Post by chinny »

Hi Eric

:?
I do not know too much about the conversion yet. However it will be a single point injection vapour type system, with the tank mounted in the rear load area. I do not know how big the tank will be - the company are looking into the options. The price of £850 +vat includes fitting and testing of the system by a reputable company. I have phoned around and have prices up to £2000, so this seems reasonable

Cheers
Chinny
110 3.5 V8 CSW
User avatar
Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

I dont know how many places youll be able to fill up at up there, but if its anythuink like wales there will be too few! I have a 50l tank and get about 100 miles on it. Mine is mounted where the petrol tank used to be, but i have seen others with two tanks, one under each of the sides by the doors.
I have been thinking about adding more tanks, cos 50l aint very much!!
1988 V8 110 CSW.
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

The price seems very good especially if the system comes with certification. I also agree with Tom about the tank sizes I have two 40 litre underslung tanks on my XS Disco and that usually gives me around 140 miles with my heavy right foot. One major point to remember is that the tanks/valves are designed to give 80% fill so 80 litres of tank gives around 64 litres of lpg. Another point to note is that the vapourisers vary also personally the best one I,ve found is the omvl R90 which is a two stage tandem vapouriser I have this set to switch over on the first rev of the engine and you wouldn't know, even on the coldest of mornings it behaves flawlessly. F rom experience I can tell you that with some other vaporisers you would have to wait till the engine is warm for the gas system to function ok. Other points to note Is that the ignition system has to be in tip top condition to get the best out of lpg and for the v8 (especially if it is an efi v8) to do this you need a good set of HT leads I'm currently running a set of 10mm formula power leads I got off ebay but have run with Magnecor in the past. Another weakness in the stage 1 ignition department is that the dizzy has points which in my book can be a major disadvantage on two counts: 1) because the cam for the points has eight lobes on it the distance between the peaks and troughs is minimal compared to the profiles on a 4cyl engine, this means that even slight wear in the distributor can lead to a large variation in indvidual cylinder ignition timings and dwell. 2) electronic ignition can open circuit (equivelent to the points opening) in an incredibly short time, this is crucial to inducing a greater ammount of power into the secondary windings on the coil which in turn gives a bigger spark.
If your distributor is not worn I would at least recommend fitting a kit succh as the velleman one available from Maplin electronics for around a tenner (you'll need a soldering iron but it will be fun!) or look on ebay for an electronic range rover dizzy. The advance retard curve may not be perfect but it willprobably be far better than a worn points dizzy anyway.

Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
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Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

Mine has a nice new dizzy, but i still have some problems getting it to start from cold on gas if its been a bit damp.
I have heard that the ignition really need to be advanced a bit to get the "lost" power back? I dont really know how to do it, so can anyone tell me how??
1988 V8 110 CSW.
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

Apparently with the gas having a much higher octane rating than petrol it burns in a more controlled manner, i.e. longer. Due to this the ignition needs to be advanced (the spark fires sooner) so that the profile of the longer burn time better suits the position of the piston to give maximum power. In theory a twist of the dizzy by XX degrees (don't know the optimum) to make the spark fire sooner is all thats required. The problem then arises that when switching back to petrol you risk detonation or pinking which can quickly damage your motor. I've seen units advertised that electronically shift the timing to suit either fuel. Check out this website: http://www.rpiv8.com/electrics-1.htm#Poweramp
I would hazard a guess that the problem you have lies with the vapouriser though. I have a single stage one on my 3.5 EFI Range Rover/discovery hybrid and frankly it's a cow to get to run on gas from cold. I have found that for some reason it runs very rich and the engine chokes and the only way round it is to rev the engine repeatedly and letting the revs drop to see if it's going to tick over, funnily enough as soon as it finally ticks over it will then run fine even though it's still cold.
Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
User avatar
Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

The strange thing about mine is that it is normally fine, it was just this one instance where it would not go on gas, and was still reluctant to go on petrol. So i was just putting it down to damp.
1988 V8 110 CSW.
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

Hi Tom,
When you say difficulty getting it to start on gas from cold when damp,
does the system initially fire up on petrol first ?
Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
User avatar
Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

Well its always kept in a garage, and i always start on gas, and up tll then hadnt had a problem. I was away and it had spent the night in a large barn,and on trying to start on gas as per usual, she wouldnt even fire. Switched over to petrol and let the pump fill the carbs, and even then she was very reluctant, it kept firing then stopping. Eventually got it going, but it felt like it was only firing a few cylinders, then a few revs got it going normally.
1988 V8 110 CSW.
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

First of all apologies to Chinny! think we have digressed!!
If you are startingand running on gas all the time without any major probs then your setup must be reasonably ok!!. The problem then arises that by definition that means you hardly run on petrol, but then the problem is that petrol has a 'shelf life' so to speak so if the petrol has been sat in the float chambers for ages then you may as well pee in them after a nigt out on the razz as thats probably more flamable.
Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
User avatar
Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

Oh.. I was told when i bought it that to change from petrol to gas i had to switch off both fuels until the carbs had emptied, then switch to gas or id get backfires. So then the fuel cant go stale as there isnt any in there?
The fuel in the tank is about a month old, and there didnt seem to be any problem runnig on that.
1988 V8 110 CSW.
ERC4558
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 1:33 pm
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire

Post by ERC4558 »

The advice seems right but I still suppose there will be fuel in the feed line that is open vented through the carbs? When the pump switches back on for the first time this would get pumped into the carbs first I think.
Eric
1983 109v8 county SW (undergoing restoration)
1986 v8 auto Strange Rover (Discovery/R/Rover Hybrid)
1997 Discovery XS v8 auto (4 sale soon!)
1996 Discovery ES v8 auto
User avatar
Tom G
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 8:21 pm
Location: SW Wales

Post by Tom G »

Ah yes.. good point, i never thought of that.
1988 V8 110 CSW.
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dennis
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 5:38 pm
Location: Pembrokeshire

Post by dennis »

Going back to the original query.. I paid just over £900 inc VAT for my conversion using 2 x 45 ltr tanks. Mine are stowed in the jerry can lockers of my ex MOD.

unless its very cold mine starts on gas OK. If I don't use the petrol for a while she will splutter like a goodun' and burn very rich but she soon settles down. I've advanced my ignition a fraction and its given more power on Gas without affecting the petrol.

The lead (and LRP mix) in 4* acted as a preservative and stopped the benzines evaporating. This unleaded cr8p is far more unstable, it can flash over a lot easier than 4* and is far more carciogenic 'cos of the benzine.

I had a lot of dizzy trouble until recently. I got a new dizzy I found in an old White CSW i found parked in a barn in Brecon..so I swapped it :lol:
Dennis & Eryl
Ex RAF V8 110 Soft top
Dual Fuel
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/de ... 010002.jpg
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