Fitting LPG to my car

[Simon]

Seem to recall a thread on this but I cannot find it.

Do we have any LPG experts here?

I have a 11 year old VS Commodore Wagon. Has 190 000km on the clock but drives fine. A couple of outstanding jobs to be done but otherwise a perfectly serviceable family car.

Have been thinking of upgrading it to a later model and running the new one on gas. I read in yesterdays SMH that with the current fuel prices good value late model commodores are freely available.

Or should I keep it and run it into the ground over the next five years? If I do this would it be worth converting to gas and getting the $2000 grant? Is it worth fitting to a wagon - I think I lose a lot of cargo space? Is it safe to have it in the interior of the passenger area?

What does a gas conversion cost these days? I imagine the demand is high atm.

Is Gas better for the environment than petrol?

 

[House_Keeper]

At 190,000 km, that a bit much to convert to LPG. It would work but would the car last long enough to justify the conversion?

It should cost no more than 3k to convert a commodore wagon.

With the conversion, you will lose some boot space. There is plenty of space in a commodore wagon. If you want to keep the same boot space you have to get rid of a spare wheel. It's a matter of what you are comfortable with.

LPG burns cleaner and releases less pollutants that petrol, but a bit more greenhouse gases due to higher fuel consumption.

Cheers,

 

[Simon]

At 190,000 km, that a bit much to convert to LPG. It would work but would the car last long enough to justify the conversion?

It should cost no more than 3k to convert a commodore wagon.

Even if it costs me $1000 after the Govt grant?

Does that change your opinion?

 

[Rolf Latham]

Hiya

Those Buick V6s, will generally do mid to high 3s before needing rebuilds, and even then,, they are so commonplace youd just buy a second hand unit and fit that.

i had a Falcon Wagon that was Gas Only, and the tank was below the storage area, but the spare wheel was then in the load space. At 270 ks it was still going strong.

The later model Dunnydore is a bigger car, and would likley work better, but if you are after low cost motorting, gees, it would be hard not to stick with what you have and do the connversion, and run the engine on synthetic oil.

ta
rolf

 

[Simon]

http://www.lpgautogas.com.au/index.cfm?action=Convert

A neat calculator here which gives payback period for fitting LPG.

 

[Tizzy]

This was the other thread Simon. Its still virtually impossible to get a fitting booking in Perth for months, at least at the places I was advised to try.

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27296

 

[House_Keeper]

Even if it costs me $1000 after the Govt grant?

Does that change your opinion?

With the Govt grant the LPG conversion should pay itself off within a year.

If you are confident that you car with last longer than that, then go for it. It depends on how well it has been maintained.

Cheers,