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Post by indianajones on Aug 9, 2012 0:56:54 GMT
Another petrol price rise today got me thinking, has anyone ever convert a crab (or another BMC/BL car) to run on alcohol (I'm thinking Ethanol) fuel?
-Andrew
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Post by dave1800 on Aug 10, 2012 8:53:27 GMT
Brazil is the world leader with most new cars capable of using 100% ethanol. Here in Thailand E20 (ie 20% ethanol) is available at around 20% discount over the regular fuel prices and many people are using it despite manufacturers (quietly) warning it is unsuitable or all but the newer engines. Problems being identified on the older cars include lower performance and higher consumption resulting in lower than anticipated, if any, savings. The alcohol can also cause problems with plastic and rubber in the fuel system. The word on the street is if the car has a carb try and avoid ethanol (you and the car!). You may have seen the special "unsinkable" floats available for SU carbs to deal with the ethanol that appears to be being added to the "regular" fuel. I am unsure whether the ethanol causes problems for the diaphragms in the 1800 fuel pumps, but I guess it doesn't help. Given the 1800's relative lack of perfomance compared to modern vehicles, I would have thought that sticking to regular fuel as long as it is available is the sensible approach and should avoid unwelcome degradation of the fuel system. Remember the UK 1800 was designed to run on 99 octane 4 star fuel and the 1800S 5 star - 101 octane leaded fuel. Regards David Another petrol price rise today got me thinking, has anyone ever convert a crab (or another BMC/BL car) to run on alcohol (I'm thinking Ethanol) fuel? -Andrew |
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Post by kelsham on Aug 10, 2012 17:19:52 GMT
Try a gas conversion, I amtold by Tony Wood that Landcrabs respond well.
regards kels.
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Post by indianajones on Aug 11, 2012 2:32:43 GMT
Hey Kels,
when you say gas I assume you mean LPG?
-Andrew
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Post by dave1800 on Aug 11, 2012 9:39:44 GMT
I thought a gas (LPG) conversion costs over £1,000 and to do it properly you would need two ignition curves, one for LPG the other for when you used petrol as they are quite different. The break even mileage would make it questionnable. I believe Alexander may have some experience with this. Regards David PS logging in today was very difficult, I had to clear all cookies first.
Try a gas conversion, I amtold by Tony Wood that Landcrabs respond well. regards kels. |
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Post by kelsham on Aug 12, 2012 7:50:53 GMT
Yes I meant LPG, According to Tony the Landcrab runs well on it.
Once you were running gas you would only start on petrol. I suspect that you would set it up for LPG and it would warm up sufficiently to change over without requiring ignition adjustments.
I believe the changes to ignition are more theoretical than real.
OK I await replies telling me I am wrong.
Regards Kels.
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Post by dave1800 on Aug 12, 2012 12:38:47 GMT
Hi Kels There seems to be a mixed response on ignition timing that varies considerably from model to model. As LPG burns slower it can typically require up 10 degrees advance over the petrol. If you just advanced the distributor by this amount it could make starting difficult on petrol. Some engines seem to require less advance at high rpm running on LPG. I guess the 1800 may be more tolerant than most on ignition timing, so I would go with Tony Wood's observations as being a good indicator. So you're not wrong!!  Regards David Yes I meant LPG, According to Tony the Landcrab runs well on it. Once you were running gas you would only start on petrol. I suspect that you would set it up for LPG and it would warm up sufficiently to change over without requiring ignition adjustments. I believe the changes to ignition are more theoretical than real. OK I await replies telling me I am wrong. Regards Kels. |
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Post by kelsham on Aug 13, 2012 6:57:14 GMT
Not wrong? a bit of a novelty for me. I will live in the after glow for a while.
My Jaguar XJS uses a peculiar cocktail of solenoids and valves to retard the ignition at cold start.
The engine holds a lot of water, so warm up, and hence heater operation would be slow in cold weather. After the timer cuts out the advance is restored.
So perhaps a similiar effect would occur with a B series engine prior to switch over.
Someone running LPG should comment.
regards kels.
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Post by indianajones on Aug 14, 2012 22:58:27 GMT
Righto another price rise, now at $2.20/L (around 1.20 GBP I think)  So LPG you say? This could be a serious option as LPG has been popular in NZ in the past and still is somewhat. I believe our police Holdens run on LPG. But of course the flip side is the shear cost to convert and for the ammount of driving I do it wouldn't be worth it. Not to mention the worse MPG -Andrew |
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