Hello from IRAQ, As some of you know...I bought a fresh 1954 Chrysler Industrial 331 Hemi and thought of putting her in my 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer my brother and I are restoring for our Grandf'. Our thought is the Hemi ran it's life on propane so why not keep that all intact and put a road unit on and keep running propane. 1. Does the Propane runner loose or gain Horse Power vs Gasoline. 2. Cost effective to run on propane. 3. I know you can buy road units but any suggestions on Dealer(s). I included a pic of our car and as you can see we have plenty of Mafia Trunk space to install a tank. I use propane on my 1999 Ford F-250 as an injection into the Diesel Power Stroke for tremendous Horse Power. Any how I'd like some pointers from some of you and I know the car isn't in the same Cat. as most of you still a cat though. Thx. http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/100_0633.jpg http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/100_0634.jpg http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/100_0646.jpg http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/P1010180.jpg http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/P1010179.jpg http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n175/TASKFORCERANGER506/100_0641.jpg
Now you're talking right up my alley. I have a complete propane system for my truck waiting on the bench. I'll start from the begining and try to cover your questions, and then some. First, thanks for serving! It means a lot to be able sleep knowing you are out there looking out for us. Propane makes 5 to 10% less power, but this isn't noticable. In the old days, a propane fogger was put on top of a gas carb to run dual fuel. This had a more substantial power loss for one simple reason. The carb was rated at say 600 cfm. It doesn't know the difference between air or propane. If you displace part of the air with propane, it resulted in less air being inducted into the engine, hence less fuel to go with it. Gasoline didn't displace any air because it was introduced to the air stream inside the carb. Now days, a dedicated propane carb, called a mixer, can be ad up to 900 cfm, so you can flow all the fuel/air you need to overcome the lower power produced. Propane prices tend to run about 60% of gasoline in most markets, but, they don't fluctuate with gas prices. Propane is a by-product of natural gas production and is primarily used for heating, so prices swing with the seasons, much like heating oil and natural gas. The buzz about alternative fuels and high gas prices have driven propane up a great deal lately, but nothing compared to $3 a gallon gas. You'll get almost the same mpg and have more stable fuel prices. Propane is harder to come by on a road trip and most stations in Tx are only open daytime hours. A complete fuel system will cost between $500 & $1000 depending on options, power desired and how much you get used. The tank is by far the most expensive piece and hardest to locate. I do have a source in Austin for used tanks, but transport regs mean local pickup only. Here's a collection of links for parts and info. I really like Hendrix Systems for new parts. Ebay is not bad for used. Any of these links that sell parts are really helpful and Franz Hoffman is one of the most knowledgable guys in the country. http://www.hendrixsystems.com/ http://fuelsforum.rasoenterprises.com/index.php http://www.bazuin.com/ohgx450.php http://www.woodward.com/engine/gaseng/gaseng2/streamline.cfm? http://franzh.home.texas.net/ http://www.propanecarbs.com/ http://www.hybridfuelsystems.com/ http://www.jasperengines.com/index.html http://www.lngplants.com/carbturbo.htm http://www.propaneguy.com/ http://www.topfuelers.ca/propaneconversions_.htm#Gann%20Products%20Company http://cars.rasoenterprises.com/index.html http://www.sleegers.on.ca/index.htm http://www.wps.com/LPG/index.html#INDEX
By the way, I did the project. It will run forever on propane. Being a gaseous fuel, it doesn't contaminate the engine oil like gasoline which means longer between oil changes and less wear. Also no fuel pump to fail. The only build considerations are: hardened seats are preferable and valve guide seals intended for the higher combustion temps are a good idea. You can get picky about cam grinds if you want, but gas cams work fine. Ignition curves should be tailored to propane. You can read about that on the web. Did I leave anything out?
Yep. I know propane likes turbocharging, but I'm not that far along yet and one of the best mixers is made by MM, X-450, right? You go Kurt!
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