Anyone here done a natural gas swap?

[kirtondog23]

I am seriously considering doing a natural gas conversion to my LQ4 as natural gas is like .80 in my state and the government will repay half of the expense.

The conversion I am thinking about will let me retain all my gas stuff and toggle between NG and gas depending upon need.

I think with my own labor it will be like 3k for the conversion and then I'll get 1500 back around tax time.

Has anyone done this before?

[Rodder]

Last time I did one was '93, and hopefully the technology has improved a little since them...

[99c5vert]

I've done about 1000 of them - literally. Had a shop that did them on fleet cars in the early 90's. You'll lose some power, while on NG.

Also, evaluate your options carefully. Back in the day most kits mixed the gas with air near the throttle body. On engines with large intakes, that makes for some fun backfires. You'll soon know how much air cleaner housings cost

If you do go with one of those kits, the things to look for are careful routing of anything that has to do with air management. Things like idle air bypass, etc... Not sure what - if any - issues there might be with the LQ4.

If you get a nice running conversion, you'll be pleased with the results.

Have you considered propane?

[jeejee]

with a good setup you can get the same or more power on propane then on petrol but NG has less power ...
not sure if the filingstations are plentyfull for both in the states ?

[Pinky93]

I work for a company that transports natural gas, actually work on the gas fired turbines that we use to drive the compressors. Natural Gas has less BTU than gasoline, thus the less power. I am not sure how many filling stations are around though, I haven't seen many in Florida.

Re-fueling would be the biggest hassle, although if you have Natural gas at the house already, it would simplify things alot.

[99c5vert]

Back in the day, there was a company called FuelMaker that made a home filling station. It was a slow fill - overnight, but VERY convenient. I used one for 3 years and never had any trouble with it.

Not that I'm suggesting that you do this, but if you come across one, it means no road tax :leaving:

[Bo185]

There were factory CNG packages for the LQ4. I don't know if they were GM made or aftermarket. Might look for one of those and see how they are setup.

[99c5vert]

Originally Posted by Bo185

There were factory CNG packages for the LQ4. I don't know if they were GM made or aftermarket. Might look for one of those and see how they are setup.

Dedicated or bifuel?

[kirtondog23]

Thanks for all the responses. I have not looked at propane, nor did I realize I could have backfire issues as I think the kit I was looking at was ported into the TB.

I will have to do some research on the NG LQ4 set up.

Anyone have any leads on possible propane kits? are these kits that run both gas and propane at the same time or just propane?

Thanks

[philntx]

Here's one link to a CNG conversion

http://www.mycngkit.com/?gclid=CKCGp...FRUdsgodlBS3Dg

These two places do conversions:

Commercial Propane Inc
8750 South 300 West
Midvale, UT 84047
801-568-0923

Motion Technology Inc
1185 South 300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
801-466-4445

[99c5vert]

Originally Posted by kirtondog23

Thanks for all the responses. I have not looked at propane, nor did I realize I could have backfire issues as I think the kit I was looking at was ported into the TB.

I will have to do some research on the NG LQ4 set up.

Anyone have any leads on possible propane kits? are these kits that run both gas and propane at the same time or just propane?

Thanks

Most kit makers who make NG kits make propane ones as well. If it's a carburated kit like an Impco, the main difference is jetting and the first stage regulator as far as fuel management stuff goes. Also look for GFI... I don't know if they're in the market anymore - back in the day, they offered an electronic control (as opposed to regulator based) system.

With propane, most kits are gas injection... i.e. heat propane up with engine coolant to vaporize, then regulate it. There may be some stuff in the market now with liquid injection (high pressure, keep it liquid to the injector, like gasoline). Dodge released a liquid injection van in the mid 90's. If you can get your hands on a kit like that, it's the way to go. If you can find a liquid injection system (i.e. the mechanicals such as injectors, pump, etc...), I suppose a traditional programmable fuel injection system could be used. That'd be an interesting project, although definitely not just plug and go.

Any way you go, make sure your ignition system is up to par. NG has an octane rating of roughly 130. Propane is around 110. So both are harder to ignite than gasoline.

[99c5vert]

here you go... looks like GFI was acquired by Teleflex a few years back, but they're still around:

http://www.teleflexgfi.com/af_engineman.php

[WayTooManyToys]

Sorry to threadjack...

Originally Posted by jeejee

Do you know what car destroyed that driveshaft?

[kirtondog23]

Originally Posted by philntx

Here's one link to a CNG conversion

http://www.mycngkit.com/?gclid=CKCGp...FRUdsgodlBS3Dg

These two places do conversions:

Commercial Propane Inc
8750 South 300 West
Midvale, UT 84047
801-568-0923

Motion Technology Inc
1185 South 300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
801-466-4445

That link is the kit I was initially thinking about. Good finds regarding the local conversion places. I called one a while back, not sure if it was one of these and they wanted like 8-10 grand for the conversion.

I will call these guys and see what they have to say.

[max_holland]

There is also a new business that does conversions. I've talked to the business owners, and they are really going to be ramping up soon ( CNGOutfitters.com ). They are full service - natural gas conversion kits, tanks, and installations.

They are located in St George, but they are expanding through local distributerships. GO CNG! 64 cents a gallon!