Can you strip out the LPG to make way for CNG?

[CNGBiFuel]

I'm new to Bi-fuel Volvos and was initially attracted to a V70 by Volvo being the only brand selling CNG cars, and 'sides, I like them. I have Homefill, and run my Land rover on it, so LPG is not really for me.

So, methinks CNG is the kiddy, but it would appear CNG Vs are very rare animals, and if I did get one, likely as not, if factory LPG posts on here are anyhtingto go by, I'd have to spend money on the factory-CNG anyway, or rip it out.

Thus my logic goes liek this. Why struggel to get a CNG V70 when i can get a LPG V70 easily and get a specialist, to rip out the LPG and swap out to CNG. So my question is, will this be viable? I appreciate almost all of the LPG kit goes, including the tanks.

I'm thinking I can get a LPG V70 + say £1500ish and I have my CNG V70 at last. Does this fly?

And if it does, who fits CNG?

[capt jack]

Got to be worth an email to Chris Wise at Autogas 2000:

cwise@autogas.co.uk

They're a long way from you in Thirsk, N Yorks, but they've looked after my V70 LPG conversion since fitting it 8 years ago, and I've come to think that if anyone knows anything about gas power then these are the guys!

Interestingly, the LPG solenoids on my car are very clearly marked 'LPG/CNG' - and these are brand new, supplied only last month by Autogas 2000 to replace the originals fitted 215,000 LPG miles ago!

Tartarini Auto, who made the LPG system fitted to my car, also make CNG systems - and Autogas 2000 are the main Tartarini agents for the UK. http://www.tartariniauto.it/index.ph...=en&Itemid=179.

Good luck

Cheers

Jack

[CNGBiFuel]

Yes , it looks mor and more like I've got to convert. What i want and what I can get and all that stuff.

Thirsk is a bit of a stretch, but then I've been talking to classicswede of this parish and he is in Wales, which is far enough. So hey-ho....

[capt jack]

When I wanted to cut my fuel costs 8 years ago, I first looked at diesel cars, but at that time, there weren't so many to choose from in my price bracket, and those that were had old-fashioned truck engines on the whole!

So I started to think about LPG, but again, not much to go at ready-made, but to have the conversion done meant that I could go shopping for a petrol-engined car. This in turn meant that I had plenty of choice of low-mileage one owner petrol cars, all comfortably within my price bracket.

I needed an estate for the job I had then, so I bought a one-owner 50,000 mile 1997 V70 auto from a Volvo main dealer for £3500 plus a knackered old Honda Accord (great engine, shame about the rest it!).

The LPG conversion cost me £1700, which I reckon to have recouped in less than six months in saved fuel costs.

I still have that V70, now at over 270,000 miles up and it has been and remains by far the best car I've ever owned. And it still returns the equivalent of 50+mpg, it's just passed the MoT, and the only big bills I've ever had had was £650 when the rear main crank seal blew out at 220,000 miles, and £320 for a new exhaust.

I do most of the servicing myself - I'm no mechanic but it's an easy car to work on, superbly engineered and bolted together.

Good luck with finding the right car for your needs

Cheers

Jack

[CNGBiFuel]

Absolutley see where you have gone with that. LPG makes sense, and CNG too, for the same reasons.

I can't quite see why its quite usaul to spend the thick end of £25-30,000 on a car when they intends to do 100K+ miles. In your case, far more, why do they not look at fuel cost?

That £25-30,000 car will costs in deisel, once it has £120K on the clock, nearly the price of the car again, whereas LPG has saved roughly £10K. Now £10K is a lot of money to all but the richest of people, and most will do 250,000 in a car at some point, if not as quickly as you, so why does no one see LPG as an option? I think LPG has saved you at keasst £15,000, more probably £20,000.


Have you looked a CNG? At 250,0000 it will thrash even your impressive LPG for savings...

And the Homefill pump has asset value at the end, whereas, if you tried to show me any asset from your LPg, I suspect all you cna show me is a large pile of filling stn receipts.
Am I wrong, what am I missing here!

I'm glad the mass market doesn't see it, because if they did the governmetn would close it down!

[volvobaggen]

Isn´t CNG a heavier, more complicated and more expensive system than Lpg? Dont you also need to refill more often?

I dont understand why CNG is superior to LPG, exept that it is more enviromentally friendly.

Also, many modern cars seem to experience problems with premature valve wear when driving on cng/lpg. Diesel engines tend to last forever even if you abuse them, have lots of power on low rpm´s and are very economical.

[cookie]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

Yes , it looks mor and more like I've got to convert. What i want and what I can get and all that stuff.

Thirsk is a bit of a stretch, but then I've been talking to classicswede of this parish and he is in Wales, which is far enough. So hey-ho....

worth having a search for problems with 'Classicswede' before taking to much advice from him, although I think he's banned now

[volvobaggen]

Originally Posted by cookie

worth having a search for problems with 'Classicswede' before taking to much advice from him, although I think he's banned now

What´s the point of going off topic and posting crap like this? Grow up.

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by volvobaggen

Isn´t CNG a heavier, more complicated and more expensive system than Lpg? Dont you also need to refill more often?

I dont understand why CNG is superior to LPG, exept that it is more enviromentally friendly.

Also, many modern cars seem to experience problems with premature valve wear when driving on cng/lpg. Diesel engines tend to last forever even if you abuse them, have lots of power on low rpm´s and are very economical.

CNG needs to kept under hefty compression, whereas LPG doesn't. Also I think that CNG fill times can be very long, whereas LPG is much the same as petrol. CNG is methane and LPG is propane, and I'm sure there are clever chemical types who can explain the pro's and con's of each.

LPG is only cheap because it's not subject to tax like petrol. And it's only taxed that way because the Govt made a rolling commitment at some international summit (Rio?) to maintain tax advantages for LPG as a 'greener' fuel.

Some engines can suffer from premature valve wear on LPG/CNG, although it is possible to engineer your way around this. Volvo redblock engines, and the early Volvo whiteblock 5 and 6 cylinder engines - as fitted to 850s, early 70s and 960s - are well capable of withstanding the rigours of LPG.

Later Ford-based motors are not so tough.

I'd have to disagree that diesels last for ever even if you abuse them, and are more economical. Diesels can go bang too if you don't look after them!

My 270,000 LPG converted petrol engine is just fine, and pence per mile, costs around 12p to run. That's easily as good as any equivalent diesel!

Cheers

Jack

[CNGBiFuel]

Let us be clear:

CNG is only superior, and cheaper if you fit into the following:

1. Have Homefill and space for it, and have other vehicles use it too.
2. Have piped gas. For years i lived where there was none.
3. Make 95% of you motoring within range of your CNG tank.
3. Do above average miles.
4. Feel going against the tide is a virtue.

The above forces a narrow segment. The high front-end cost does not help. Many would spend this on a more prestigious car instead, but all of this is a very good fit for me.

if you don't fit into the above, next choice is LPG.

CNG is definitly not for all of you. I heard there are less than 200 CNG cars registered with DVLA, so CNG is far form sweeping the nation, and that frightens most, and wait... most of those are dustcarts! Without Homefill don't even think about it.

If you are a low milage user or don't keep cars long, or want a convenient path, then follow the crowd, deisel is for you. For the crowd, for the Microsoft Windows user, for those that need to ask, I can see why CNG, even LPG, is a very very bad idea.