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Finaly Straight Gas!

Started by _73LJWhiteSL_ , Dec 06 2005 01:25 PM

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#1 _73LJWhiteSL_

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Posted 06 December 2005 - 01:25 PM

gday all,

I picked the LJ up from the gas place yesterday. I've got a 90 litre gas tank in the boot, and am running Gas Research carby of 350cfm on a Redline Torker II inlet.

And i reckon it goes way harder than it did even on 98 PULP. :D B)

Still got a few bugs to iron out. Its a little hesitant under very light throttle, and the gas filler isn't quite where i want it (4" to the left of the factory petrol one) because we couldn't fit it where the petrol filler was because of the boot lock. I wil try and take some pictures this week to show you all.

Steve

#2 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 10 December 2005 - 06:13 PM

Glad to hear you are up and running. Sorry, if youve posted it elsewhere, can you let us know where you eventually got it done, where the parts came from and the costs.......
90litre tank, thats total - 72L effective capacity? Where did you put that, the biggest that fits in the UC between the wheel arches is 80L - effective 64L(leaving some room for the speakers poking down off the parcel shelf.

A holden changed over from a basic stromberg will always go better on a good gas setup.
Just a tidbit here, lpg has only about 70% of the energy of petrol per litre, thats why most people assume you lose power with gas. It depends how you measure what you pay for, in fact lpg holds more energy per kg than petrol. (density of lpg is close to 500g/L)

Its really nothing to do with either of the above, its just the amount of energy in a vaporised portion of lpg at atmospheric pressure is slightly less than that of petrol vapor.

Edited by devilsadvocate, 10 December 2005 - 06:17 PM.

#3 Heath

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Posted 11 December 2005 - 10:06 AM

How did you get that 90L LPG tank in there Steve? I think the one I have is 80L and it only just fits between the arches of the LX

#4 _73LJWhiteSL_

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Posted 11 December 2005 - 10:21 PM

Sorry people, a correction with the tank, its a 86 litre (68 usable) Tank. The tank is mounted in the boot.

Total cost was $3,000 and i got it done at Smithys in Bayswater.

I was meaning to take some pictures this week, but it hasn't happened... hopefully this week i will take some and post them here. :)

Steve

Edited by 73LJWhiteSL, 11 December 2005 - 10:21 PM.

#5 knoath

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Posted 23 December 2005 - 08:14 AM

Welcome to the Straight Gas Club!! How's it running? Noticed any drop in anything?
Execpt your fuel bill!

Got any pix of the tank install?

#6 _MediuM16A2_

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Posted 23 December 2005 - 11:31 AM

yeps go the straight gas toranas...

anyone got a mild 308 on straight gas?? pm me please..

cheers.

#7 YiriSS

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Posted 24 December 2005 - 09:03 PM

mine was a straight gas on a mild 308

Edited by YiriSS, 24 December 2005 - 09:03 PM.

#8 _ToranaGuy_

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Posted 30 December 2005 - 11:52 AM

Nice gas setup there! Those GRA carbies are pretty good arn't they?

I've got a 80 lt 68 usable tank in my LH and damn it's big for the LH. When i get the car running again it will be straight gas this time, and turbo'd with a 440 GRA.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

#9 _The String_

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 02:14 PM

I've got an 80LT tank(i think) in my boot for my 308 sedan. Just fits between the rails that run under the boot. It's sunk halfway through the boot so I have half the tank in the boot and half outside.
It is a big tank and does take up some room, but I can still fit stuff in there, like a baby pram, etc.

Would recommend the GRA setup to anyone, my car starts straight away and runs just as well as when it was on petrol.

Edited by The String, 04 January 2006 - 02:15 PM.

#10 Heath

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 04:10 PM

Could you get some photos of that gas tank sunk down into the boot? If you don't know how to post them, e-mail me at [email protected] and I will upload them for you; I'm very keen to have a look at the setup.

#11 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 04:14 PM

Would recommend the GRA setup to anyone, my car starts straight away and runs just as well as when it was on petrol.

Just in my usual role here.......I know that GRA has come along way since their very amateurish beginnings in the early 90's, but my thoughts are that their product is still way overpriced(purchase several impco systems for same), which was why I didnt purchase it, despite all their claims about exact mixtures and tuning that you couldnt get with other stuff.
I went with straight impco stuff on 3 of my UC's. Cant fault the stuff, only minor repair to a mixture diaphram or something on one of the vehicles. I know from dyno/emissions that its mixtures are right on, for cruise, idle and full power and wonder what could possibly be gained in a GRA setup.
Anyway, those are my experiences-which are limited to basically standard red motors, perhaps others can post about problems with straight gas non GRA stuff with other applications.

#12 _The String_

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 05:36 PM

Just emailed the pics to Heath, I havent figured out how my webspace works yet..

devilsadvocate, I had a look at both Impco and GRA when I had this installed back in 2001. I chose GRA because they spent a LOT of time with me emailing and phone calls, back and forth as we discussed what I wanted, and how they could achieve it for me, so I rewarded good advice and service.
It was a one stop shop service. I was living in Sale, Vic at the time and I drove it up to GRA HQ in Melbourne one weekend, left it with them, and the next weekend picked it up.
All up it was around $2500 installed, including tank, carb, guard for the tank and upgrading my ignition system from points to electronic and recurved to suit gas. Its a single carb, single convertor, but the gas supply is big enough to support dual carb/convertor ops if I want more flow.
I've done about 10,000km with it since(it was in storage for a while) and in 4 years it has never failed to start, never coughs or lags, and uses about 18 litres of gas for 100km. I think the consumption is a little high though, and am going to get it tuned this year, (havent done it since installation!)

There may have been cheaper ways to do it, and looking at the pictures, they may have found ways to make the tank sit lower since 2001, but overall I'm quite happy.

#13 Heath

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Posted 04 January 2006 - 07:15 PM

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That setup is very nicely done, but I'm still not sure whether I'd prefer that, or the same thing just shoved up against the back seat as hard as possible, lol.

It's done awesomely and it does save space but I'm not sure what shape of boot room is more practical if you get what I mean...

Edited by Heath, 04 January 2006 - 07:16 PM.

#14 _ToranaGuy_

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 12:13 AM

Very interesting tank install there! I still think it would be better hard up against the seat, and then fit a fakie drop tank to " lower " the boot floor somewhat, for some extra space.

I also choose GRA for my turbo setup as other's have used the hardware in turbo setup's and they work rather well. I used to have a amos ring setup in the torana years ago when it was first converted, that really sucked for fuel economy, but it was still about 70% cheaper than running the torry on petrol. I've had an impco 300a setup in my pano when i first bought it, and it's being replaced with a Sprint gas system, which seems to run better on my g/f's bro's 253 HX, so i'm putting the same gear into my 253 HZ. The 253 in the HX feels and sounds a lot more responsive running the Sprint system, couldn't tell you dyno figures tho.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

#15 _devilsadvocate_

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 06:11 AM

There may have been cheaper ways to do it, and looking at the pictures, they may have found ways to make the tank sit lower since 2001, but overall I'm quite happy.

Im sure all gra stuff works well and people are happy with it(I have heard of the need for regular tweaking(not as fussy as an Italian triple carby), but that was not what I was interested in, specifically i wanted to know about problems that occured with straight gas on Impco or other setups(ive heard some of the other brands are not well regarded).
Interesting setup there String, did you go that way so you could get a bigger tank in? Personally it doesnt look very user friendly,(spare, where is it?) small items dropping behind tank, and not much depth. I also have some comfort in having the tank over the axle with the protection from both rear impact and from the side with the axle/diff tubing/casing providing strength.
18L/100km, I take it thats cruise at 100kmh? That doesnt sound too bad for a v8(maybe could improve 10%), best I get with my 6's is 13L/100 at cruise.

ToranaGuy, agree with your comments retank, but if you are to retain a spare, mounting it under the floor in place of the petrol tank will get you back about the same amount of space as you would achieve by cutting out the floor.

#16 _The String_

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 08:28 AM

yeah, spare is an issue, you can see it laying on the ground in the rear shot, where I removed it for the photos. It usually sits on one side of the tank, and I either jam gear around it,or strap it down with ?okey?(sp) straps(those elastic ones).
I'm trying to remember, but I think mounting the tank through the floor gave me a bigger tank, than could be put up against the back seat.
18L/100km is mix of highway and city, might get a little better on highway, not much though.

#17 _The String_

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 08:46 AM

Just remembered why I wanted a big tank. One of my requirements was 400km highway cruising range with a future installed 355 or 383 engine. I was concerned about doing highway k's and gas availability.
I was also going to transfer my subwoofers from another car into the Torana, and so wanted space behing the back seat to do so.
Still havent gotten the bigger engine and the subs are still in the storage box.....

#18 Heath

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Posted 05 January 2006 - 12:32 PM

hahaha oh well, when/if those things do happen, you'll be happy you didn't install it the standard way I guess.

#19 _ToranaGuy_

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Posted 06 January 2006 - 12:10 AM

Still havent gotten the bigger engine and the subs are still in the storage box.....


hahaha oh well, when/if those things do happen, you'll be happy you didn't install it the standard way I guess.


Definatly!

It's a good thing to try and stick to some sort of a build plan, but if some of those things take a long time to manifest, atleast when they do you were prepaired and not screwed by not being prepaired....

I can relate to making plans and it taking a long time to manifest. I bought half of an air con setup for my torana when i was 19, thinking it would be nice to fit in about 12mths time from then, but i put it off because once i put the turbo setup in i will be limited to where and how big a comp i can run for the air con, so that is still yet to make it in. 4 years on, and it will probably be another 2 yrs before the torry get's air con. Then there is my panel van project that i thought would take 18mths, was just a quick tidy up, it's getting close to 3 yrs and the end is now in sight, but only just. Car buildup plans, man i am yet to know someone in person that their plan goes to plan inc the time frame!

I picked the large LPG tank i have for range, and with the GRA setup, i can make a lot more HP and should still get 400kms from my 68ltrs, some decent cruising range. I was lucky to get 400kms from the stock 173ci & amos ring setup. It really sucked for economy, but lpg was so much cheaper than petrol i still saved a heap. :D

Cheers

ToranaGuy

#20 Heath

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Posted 06 January 2006 - 10:09 AM

You should open up a CarDomain account, I've only seen your mock-up GT Falcon but I'm interested in the panno, mightyboy and a bit more of the Torrie too. I know it's filled with advertising but it's great for letting people see your cars without having to do anything :)

#21 YiriSS

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Posted 06 January 2006 - 11:14 PM

Im sure all gra stuff works well and people are happy with it(I have heard of the need for regular tweaking(not as fussy as an Italian triple carby),

my system has been in the car for 9 years

first on the mild 308, now on the 383

all we have changed in that time is the metering rod to accomadate the 383.
once a year i take it to GRA to dyno tune it.

never missed a beat.
i think that whoever told you that regular tweaking is needed is wrong, its never happened with mine.

now i have bought a twin set up , cant wait to fit it up
i have nothing but praise for the GRA set up. :spoton:

cheers

mick

Edited by YiriSS, 06 January 2006 - 11:19 PM.

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