vanagon on lpg

Rick_t3 · Post by **Rick_t3** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 10:07 pm

Hi
THe other day while buying a shot t4 i came across an 85 Vanagon than runs or ran on lpg. Im asuming its got the t5 in it. The bloke only wants AUS$2500 for it but one of the cilinders has no comp. Its a realy tidy van and i rekon ill buy it, fix the head and drive it.
Are the type 5 motors a good motor? Can u get them to be reliable on LPG? Will i save money in the long run putting a suby or other motor in it?Its a great van...
Cheers

By the way a lot of cars run on lpg in Australia cause its about half the price of petrol!

Wally · Post by **Wally** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:47 am

Hi Rick,
Little off topic but: In my country the price of LPG is 1/3 that of petrol!!
Plus 25 year old cars are exempt from 'road' taxes. I run my 1600dp Type 3 square therefore on LPG hehe. Runs fine, maybe 5-10% higher consumpsion.
Here a lot of wbx's run on LPG and do so for 250.000km's or more!
A suby engine is therefor not s/th I would recommend other than more (economical) power with the 2,2 or turbo versions...
Good luck,
Walter

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:41 pm

Thanks for your comments walter.

Looks like i'll but it and fix it. Just waiting on work check$. That type three of yours sounds interesting. How did u get an air cooled to run on lpg or is that watercooled ? I was planning an off road t3 square with warm t4 but dont have a garage to work with and this van came up, all too easier.

Cheers Richard

Wally · Post by **Wally** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 2:22 pm

Hey Richard,
Its just an stock 1600 type 3 aircooled engine. The vapourizer works on exhaust heat instead of the warm engine water as is usual with water cooled cars. The lpg in gas form is than split for both carbs which are fed by a adapter block that is fixed (screwed) onto the top of each carb.
The lpg tank is fixed on top of the original tank in the front and lines for the liquid lpg run along the sills to the rear where the vapourizer is in the engine bay. Its a rather flat tank that fits nicely under the front hood and I can run both on patrol or lpg, activated by a dash mounted switch.
Easy, Huh?
Haha, I plan on a nice 2,2 ltr type 4 with high compression, possible because lpg has an octane rating of more than 100 RON !!
Greetings,
Walter