Anyone out there running on propane?

[Canada20]

I know I know, it's not exactly hot-rod material but I'm halfway thinking of making the switch. I want to get the fuel tank out of my cab and it looks like the head on my 292 is going to need some attention anyway so I thought I might go to propane while I was at it. Thanks in advance,

Greg

[tom hand]

I don't think I would convert a truck to run only on propane. Most systems for street driven vehicles will run on gas or propane so you would still need a gas tank. On the plus side engines run on propane tend to last forever,the biggest thing that kills a gas motor is contamination of the oil with gasoline.

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72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail
Olive Branch MS

[slam33]

I'm working on it at this time. I'm looking to do some performance tests as soon as I get that motor finished

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71 basic C-10 350. The only option is the rust.No nothing on it, but thats all about to change. <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html?1004806705410

" TARGET=_blank>http://www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html?1004806705410

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[bouncytruck]

One of the fastest cars I have ever been in was old time hot rodder, Ak Miller's, Mercury Capri with a Turbocharged Boss 351. It ran on Propaine. He's big into alternative fuels. I was only 14 at the time so I don't remember too much.

Here is an article I found on a propain burning turboed Willeys http://www.truckworld.com/4x4-OffRoa...rboWillys.html

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'69 K-5 Blazer - 350/TH350, 6" lift, 35" tires
Bothell, WA

[Canada20]

Good replies folks, keep 'em coming (and thanks).

Turbo propane huh? I'd been curious about that. I'd love to be able to hot rod the thing a little if I could afford it. I understand you can easily run 12:1 on propane without any trouble but of course, the dual fuel possibility is out then (I'm not paying big bucks for one tank of high octane fuel so I can put dirt cheap stuff in the other...heh).

How's the power compared to gasoline? I thought the main reason for the dual setup was availability in which case, it's not so much a problem as there are lots of stations that sell LPG in my city (which is honestly where the truck is probably going to spend a lot of it's time for now).

I'll let you know what I'm up to here as well; the truck will be my driver and my wife gets the Honda. I'm not going to be towing much with the thing yet so I don't need monster power and I'd like the cleaner emissions of propane/natural gas if possible as well as being plenty cheap compared to Gas.

Anyway; I'm rambling again....sorry

Greg

[tom hand]

From my experance the main reson to say with dual fuel is that propane will give you no warning before you run out.Most gauges I have seen to tell how much was in the tank dont work very good.

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72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail
Olive Branch MS

[Cameron]

What does it take to convert to propane using the "dual" system? Is Propane more cost effective?


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[Canada20]

Tom: good point. I think I heard that one somewhere come to think of it...

Cameron: From the little bit of looking I've done so far, it doesn't cost any more for the conversion than it would to replace the same parts (if you use some "previously enjoyed" stuff in there like the tanks). The gas is frequently 1/2 the price/gallon and supposedly gets nearly the same mileage (a little bit less). Also the oil lasts 10,000 - 16,000 Miles and since the fuel burns cleaner it doesn't cause buildups and acidic compounds through your engine.
To me, for a driver and on what limited knowledge I have of it at this point, it looks like a great fuel to run and apparently it can run with a Gasoline Carburetor installed so dual fuel isn't hard to do.

Greg

[bouncytruck]

Just about every taxi cab in the Las Vegas area runs on Propaine. I don't know if they run dual systems or not but I would think that knowing when they need to fill up is crucial. I have also seen a lot of city vehicles running on natrual gas. Once again, I don't know if they run dual systems.

Do a search for Ak Miller on the web. He developed a lot of propaine powered vehicles. Of course, almost everything he did was turbo charged.

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'69 K-5 Blazer - 350/TH350, 6" lift, 35" tires
Bothell, WA

[RONAN67]

The 350 4 bolt I'm building was out of a propane delivery truck. Don't know the amount of total miles but it wore out the origial truck and was on its second when I got it.Lots of miles.It had very little wear in the cylinders. Not even much of a ridge to worry about.I could'nt believe that when I saw it.The guy at the machine shop said thats usually the way they are when ran on propane.It ran on strictly propane all its life.It was plumbed into the huge delivery tank.I guess he would never run out of fuel.

[brennecke]

You could probably clock your hours and just make sure to refill after whatever the lowest amount of time before running out would be. it means installing an hour meter off a boat or four wheeler, but it should give you an estimate to go by.

[68 Suburban]

I have all the parts to convert my burb to dual fuel, except the tank. I think I will do the conversion when I do my Vortec heads. I am going to be prepared when gas prices sky rocket

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[dubie]

I had a couple of them that ran on propane. I guess it kinds helps when your dad has been in the business for almost 40 years. We had a 73 Mercury Meteor with a 400ci that ran gas and propane. The propane is about 1/2 the cost of gas, and the mileage is a lot better too. But I would definatley go with a dual fuel set up. Gives you peace of mind, and it's supposed to be beneficial to your engine to run with both. The only draw back is propane doesn't burn as quick as gas does, and because of this, your HP is decreased bye 20% while running on propane. I had thought of this conversion, but with a 250 inline, I need all the HP I can get. You might wanna drop an e-mail to Protrucks. He's a member here but doesn't post very often. He has 2 , 67-72's that run on propane, as well as a newer Dodge pickup and his riding lawn mower that are all propane driven. His name is Jeff and you can reach him at info@campravenwood.com . he's a great guy and will probably be able to answer any questions you might have on this subject. Here is a pic of his propane powered 69 flatbed



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72 C/10 LWB 2wd
250 inline 6, 3 speed column shift. Soon to have a total facelift.

[REPO1]

I ran a strictly propane system on my last truck. ('81 Chevy 4x4 35" Tires) I had 0 problems with it. It was damn near the same as having fuel injection. I even installed a remote start on it, and it would start within 3 revolutions. I loved it, and wouldn't have a problem with having a vehicle on it. Only thing now is the cost of the conversion, and the high price of propane now. When I did mine, propane was nearly free.

As for the sending unit, if you get the right one for your vehicle, (yes there are a bunch of different ones) you will have no problem. Mine was dead on acurate. Never once ran out of fuel.

Reid


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Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada

1970 Chevy C20 Custom Camper
#s matching 402BB Turbo 400 trans.
Air conditioning, power steering, manual brakes.
73,600 Original Miles!!

[sam's 72]

I agree with one of the other post. All the vehicals that are running on propane or natural gas is also running on gas. Not every place around sells propane, you might get your self in an area that don't have it then your screwed!
Sam

[GMCPaul]

We have a complete propane dual fuel set-up for these trucks that includes everything but the lines from tank to the unit that mounts on top of the carb, it includes a 80 gallon in bed tank. $500FIRM to anyone wanting to do the conversion. You do NEED hardened valve seats in your heads so if you are still running stock heads that do not have hardened seats you will need to have them installed. ACTUAL HP loss when running on propane is supposed to be less than 10% and in most cases is not noticable.
GMCPaul

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[REPO1]

Actually you are not screwed. All you need is a 20 pound bottle (BBQ bottle) and a adapter hose. Its like using a gas can. Most propane places (around here anyway)offer these hoses. All you do is hook up the hose to your fill spout, then to your BBQ bottle and open the valve, and put its contents into your truck. Then you will have enough to get to a filling station.

Keep in mind, there is no reason why you should run out of fuel. Not sure how big of tank you are going to be using, but I had 1 of those large tanks that goes in the truck box. I think it was aroun 55 gallons. I used to get a month out of one of these, just driving back and forth to work. I could take it on a road trip, and make a 12 hour trip on the one tank.

So if you cannot find time to fill up in a month,or 1 time in a 12 hour trip, its your own fault.

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Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada

1970 Chevy C20 Custom Camper
#s matching 402BB Turbo 400 trans.
Air conditioning, power steering, manual brakes.
73,600 Original Miles!!

[Canada20]

GMCPaul: Is that with a dual fuel setup or straight propane? Part of what's got my train of thought running this way in the first place is that I think my head needs some work anyway so why not get it set up while I'm at it? Where are you located?

REPO1: I've heard that some places don't have propane as easily available as we do here in Alberta...have you encountered that? Just curious as I'm hoping to do a little touring around in this thing at some point. good idea on the refill bottle too....

Greg

[Dim]

One bad experience with propane will always keep me away from the stuff. It was VERY difficult to run durring the Canadian winter months. If anything make sure you have gas also, MANY problems starting in the cold. Most people that i've talked to (i work at a gas station) they say that the only way they start thir trucks in the cold is by swtiching to gas, let is run for a few minutes then switch to propane. Maybe it was just my bad experience, but i would not recommend going 100% prop.

D!m

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BlueStreak 69 Chevy C10 -
(Under Construction)
pos_8@hotmail.com

[REPO1]

I never had a problem finding it. Any place that fills BBQ bottles, can fill your truck. Just got to get used to watching for that tall skinny propane tank, that they have at their stations. Abviously not everyone sells it, but I can tell you that nearly every town has it, at one station or another.

As for starting in cold weather, my truck was not a dual fuel setup. It was on propane only. I used to live in Fort St.John, British Columbia. (For our US friends, that is located on the Alaska Highway) It got damn cold there in winter. Propane still flows up until -45*C

If your system is functioning properly, you shouldn't have a problem. What I did, is I installed dual block heaters. One one each side of the engine. My truck started and ran everytime. That is what the evaporator under the hood is for.


Reid

[GMCPaul]

C(anada)20 its a dual fuel one and we are in Rockville, Indiana 1 hour due West of Indianapolis ( If you drive the speed limit)
GMCPaul

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[Rod]

My 72 tow truck runs on propane... its a 402 BB with the hardened valve seats.I have owned a previous vehicle that ran on propane also...I also drove a taxi at one time....in the cab I did have some days the piece of junk would not run on very cold days... not that it wouldn't run but it wouldn't start. Very little maintenance to keep the propane system opertional... jus changed filters every once in a while.
I may make it a dual fuel system one day. There are a few taxi's at the wrecking yards around here. Maybe I can figure out what it will take.
Propane is 30% cheaper then gas right now here.
Some times in the winter some stations dont sell enough propane to keep there systems operational so they shut them down in the winter... makes it a little more dificult...in the city I probably would not have a problem finding a propane dealer ... but Im rural now and it will be tougher. Got a big tank anyway. My tank has a guage on it...but the fuel tank guage insde former owner said did work but Ive never ran it low enough to see if it does....I think because of the size of the tank it reading overfilled now.

[Chevyman69]

If you are going to run propane remove the exhaust valve rotators off the valves, or your heads will end up with no seats left in them, hardened or not. I am different in the sense if you want one dedicate the vehicle to propane or dedicate it to gas, not this half ass dual fuel crap. More people cause more problems with dual fuel by running it and not keeping up on it. They either leave the gas fuel system to long and when they want to go back it won't run. Or the carb is wrecked from having propane running through it for so long. And the other is they don't set the engine up for it. Another consideration people do not take into account is timing. The timing curve for a propane engine will not work with a a gas motor. You should have full advaqnce sooner in the curve on propane due to gas or you end up with a real gutless wonder, so when you go back to gas all it will do is knock like hell cause gas hjas no where near the octane of propane. Without having the heads set up that motor will self destruct in no time. I say run one or the other but save the hassle and not try and run both.

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69 CST 10, 402, steel crank, heavy rods, Federal Mogul Forged Pistons, 9.9:1 compression, polished ported 781 heads 2.19/1.88 manley stainless valves, Crane Powermax Hydraulic roller 288/296 and .587,.610 lift, hardened pushrods, Crane Roller Rockers, Weiand Action Plus, 750CFM Rochester QJET, MSD HEI, MSD 8MM Wires, Dynomax Ceramic coated headers, should be about 500 H.P. 700R4 2500 stall, pretty nasty shift kit, 373 Auburn Pro Series Posi, buckets/console air/tilt/tach 4wheel discs

Daily Driver: 92 Chev Reg Cab LWB Silverado 4x4, loaded, 350 Accel filter/cap/rotor/coil/AC Delco wires/AC Delco RapidFire plugs, Edelbrock intake and headers, 180 degree thermostat, Hypertech Thermomaster Chip, true duals 700R4 with B@M Shift Kit for now!




[This message has been edited by Chevyman69 (edited March 29, 2002).]

[JoetheMobster]

Not true Tom Hand, "accuracy of gauges". I have a digital gauge in my truck, that's part of the switch, to switch from gasoline, or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and it's very accurate!

I love having dual fuels, CNG is dirt cheap, but I also have the benefit of running gasoline when the CNG equiped gas stations are few and far apart! Propane is everywhere, CNG is almost nowhere, YET! I have 2 x 60Kg tanks on my truck, and it costs about $13.00 to fill em. This will last for quite a while, and I've noticed no degredation in power. I've had NO problems starting the truck in the minus weather with CNG, as a matter of fact, sometimes I've had LESS hassles with CNG, than with gasoline!

Don't go straight propane though, do the dual!!

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1970 GMC 1500, 350ci, 3 in a tree

http://members.tripod.com/~Jungleman_2/1970GMC.html

Vancouver, B.C.

[Canada20]

The idea of dual sounds pretty god too....I'd almost think it would still be way cheaper to keep alternating fuels; use the propane 'til empty and switch to gas until empty and so on.

One thing though. With the lower risk of detonation of propane, can't you make back that 10%-20% loss and then some by bummping compression and timing up? I assume it responds to hot-rodding the same way as gasoline would so the extra compression would realy make a difference, wouldn't it?

Greg

also, why get rid of the rotating of the valves? i thought one of the risks was burning them and wouldn't that reduce that risk?