Is it as simple as I think it is? Turbo LPG - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

carazy · 08-04-2002, 17:55

From the questions I've asked here and after a few questions to people like gas research and alike I have discovered something.
If you want a turbo setup for an LPG 6 all you need is the turbo, manifold and piping.
I am thrilled at this cause the only thing that was going to scare me about fitting a turbo was the electronics of it all.
So here are my plans....
1 get my car back and sell it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 REALLY REALLY Nice EA 5 spd or hopefully an EBII Sedan or wagon 5spd.
3 Brakes upgrade
4 lowered
5 EL gas prep head (lowers compression on the EA/EB motors to 8.2 from 8.8
6 Fit one of the gas systems I've got here at home with a Gas research throttle body and stick it on the car with my mechanical mates approval.
7 Turbo the sucker! (not much boost till I fit a bigger LSD diff)
I'm guessing this will take around 6 months for me to get the cash to gether for the mods and a lot of pleading from my missus.
Now Tell me where I'm wrong and crush my dreams ;-(

crzyxf · 08-04-2002, 18:02

well if you want to make sure your turbo runs well. you'll need other basic accessories such as a turbo timer, boost controller (if ur thinking of boosting the turbo) good idea also to get a front mount cooler.
There is an eb (burgandy) that cruises my area that is turbo and he drives it hard.... and i haven't seen or heard any problem wit it

Bass Crazy · 08-04-2002, 18:12

Almost everyone you speak to will tell you not to use an intercooler with a turbo lpg system. The reason is that if it backfires, the cooler can be filled with gas, resulting in a big bang. I personally don't see why it would be a big issue with GRA throttle body (due to the posioton of the release of the gas), but anyhow.
Another option besides an intercooler is water injection. It's aparently not very hard to set up, but I reckon it might get annoying having to have an extra water reserve in the car, depeding on how often you have to fill the thing up.

I would be greately interested in anything else you can find out about the whole issue because turbo 5 speed would be damm nice.

Good Luck.

xced · 08-04-2002, 20:06

you will be better off fitting the cooler - the engine will handle making a fair bit of power but detonation will kill it quick as!!
your fine with a cooler + LPG, as long as your running it in 'blow thru' configuration - ie, the throttle body is after the cooler. so theres no gas in the cooler ever.

also what size is your GRA setup? 425cfm would be the minimum you could use (a car in ZOOM was making 248rwkw with a 250 crossflow from a XF, with the 425cfm), and your gas converter will more than likely need a upgrade to flow enough gas.

other small things -
- clutch might need upgrading
- timing and dizzy will need to be recurved

good luck :)

Bass Crazy · 08-05-2002, 03:41

hmmm.. this sounds interesting.

What's the rough price on a reco turbo suitable for a I6?
Would it be around the $500 mark?

The GRA upgrade could not be worth too much, id say around $100 on the Throttle body, and $200 on the converter.. is this correct?

A cooler can be had for around $800, and the piping, well, if ya know someone, around $100.

Add an extra $500 for little things like wase gates, and a BOV, timer.

Thats a total of $2200.. not too bad!!!

dcstraight · 08-05-2002, 03:55

Bass : The GRA bits might cost a bit more than listed - I paid the following for my upgrade :

S400 EF Throttle Body - $400.00
Knockdown Pin - $2.00
Clamp Cable Bolt - $5.55
Misc Bracket - $7.38
GRA 'Cane Toad' Injection - $141.82
Idle Speed Control - $81.36
GRA TB Piping - $123.50
Converter Vracket - $10.41
B2 Converter - $124.09
Spring Kit B2-OHG X 2 - $15.00
Gas Lock-Off - $39.00
Associated Bits (Couldn't be stuffed listing the rest!) - ~$60

Think that's all around the $1K mark - and that isn't including installation. All up including installation, I paid $1450 for the complete upgrade. Hope it helps !

Cheers,
Steve

Bass Crazy · 08-05-2002, 04:04

FAR OUT!!!!!!! That's a hell of a price tag dc... I was very mistaken.

Bass Crazy · 08-06-2002, 05:38

Ok, I've got some questions.

There are two ways in which the LPG can be set up.

Suck through (Mixer before turbo)
Blow Through (Mixer after turbo)

Firstly, someone correct me if im wrong, but with the suck through setup(no cooler), does this mean that with a BOV used, there will be Gas released into the engine bay?

Secondly, with the blow through, besides the extra gas supply demands, does the converter need to be specially designed to be able to still release gas into the intake under boost? (say 8psi). Or will the ordinary converter still have enough pressure to work?

I have heard that IMPCO offer a cheaper alternative to GRA and still produce some impressive results.

Cheers.

Rollin · 08-06-2002, 21:32

1: yes

2:no, LPG is stored at very high pressures, it will spew out of the carby even under like 25psi

i noticed the above prices dont include the gas tank - do you guys already have one or didnt you think of that??

Bass Crazy · 08-07-2002, 03:16

Ok, I have been throwing around a few ideas here.

My current gas setup consists of a standard size converter, which is simply turned ON or OFF. There is no gas supply variation what so ever regardless of the revs etc.

If I were to install a turbo, would the following work, using a mixer after the turbo (blow through).

Using two standard converters. The first would be run like normal, as it is now, constantly on. The other would be connected to a variable vacc regulator.
As the boost increases, the vacuum drops, allowing more gas to enter, via the second converter.

There will be mixture adjustments on both converters, obviously within limitations. I'm assuming, it would run a little rich when it first hits full boost, and then lean out a little as the revs go up.

The exact details are obviously a little sketchy at the moment, however, does anyone see any major issues with what I have suggested, keeping in mind that there will be a need for some dyno tuning sessions. I am quite confident that with relatively low boost (7-10 psi) the car would not require twice as much gas as a stock motor, meaning the converters will cope with the demand.

Thanks guys.