Potential buyers are often frightened by LPG – but a good, professional installation is nothing to worry about. A few extra holes are drilled for the tank, regulator and so on, but the gas filler nozzle (often set into the rear wing) can be mounted on a discreet bracket under the car for painless removal before resale.
LPG’s a viable proposition if you cover a high mileage. It produces less power than petrol, but the engine runs more cleanly, which means less carbon build-up and better emissions. Do your sums carefully though. If you cover 5000 miles per year in a car that returns 25mpg, you’ll save around £300 by running on gas rather than petrol at current fuel prices. It’ll therefore take you a very long time to recoup the £2000-or-so it’ll cost to get the car converted.
Carburettor cars take well to conversion if you can live with the loss of power, as do sophisticated fuel injection models if fitted with a good quality system. However, certain engines from the early days of catalyst emissions control can be a nightmare to convert well. Mechanical fuel injection cars are also a no-no. LPG is an unleaded fuel, so make sure your car has hardened valve seats. One final consideration is the significant weight of the tank, which can have a dramatic effect on the ride and handling of smaller classics.
Only use an installer that’s approved by UKLPG (see www.uklpg.org for a list). You’ll need to declare the conversion to your insurer – and this is likely to require a UKLPG certificate to show that that the job’s been properly done.
TECH TIP
LPG works best on high compression engines.
I had a new factory converted 2004 1.8 ltr Astra Coupe and the power loss is only circa 3% so is completely undetectable. LPG gave me petrol performance with diesel running costs
I like the idea of a cleaner running engine. Also could be better than E10 petrol for classic vehicles.
I've got a Range Running on lpg and a problem here in Essex is that there are very few garages selling lpg
I find the blog post very interesting and moreover very informative. Thanks for sharing the informative stuff.
Can I convert my MGB GT V8 to LPG?? Thanks & Regards Alfred.
Where do you get this "loss of power from??" I have run my Jaguar S-type 3 litre V6 on LPG for the past 16 years and the auto change over from petrol to gas is virtually seemless! My tester tells me I have a very clean engine and at 68 pence per litre for LPG my return is better than petrol!