Back in the mid 70's there was lots of talk about propane conversions. That's when gas went up to .75 a gallon no one would pay much more than that for gas. 

Well now T.Bone Pickens is talking about converting cars to natural gas. Could one of these cars (Y blocks) handle such a conversion? I really now nothing about natural gas conversion, but propane was supposed to be a clean burning and really clean for the motor.  Just wondering...Gerry

Lake Forest California  5th inf 77 Armor Div. VN 68/69

If you put your town and state in your signature

help might be closer than you think.

gerry:

About 10 years ago the local university, due to some federal regulation, had to convert half their fleet of cars, trucks, and buses to liquified natural gas.  They installed a compressor in the shop that would take the gas from the pipeline and compress it to liquid in a tank installed in the trunk.  No filling stations had this capability, so the vehicles retained their original gasoline tanks and dual fuel capability so when they took the vehicles away from the city they could get back.  Fuel mileage on LNG wasn't good.  Expensive modification that didn't work out.  The guy in charge was a member of the local car club and took us on a tour of the operation.  He's retired now, I have no info about whether they are still using this system.

John in Selma, IN

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

My Grandad had a Ford 600 tractor in the mid fifties that he converted to run on propane. I was maybe 10 at the time but we used it for several years and it did a good job. I can still remember that rotten egg smell when he filled it from the storage tank.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

I lived in Casper, Wyoming for lot of years and there was (and continues to be) considerable oilfield, gas, and energy development activity around there. One of my neighbors worked for Chevron - and he once remarked that they (Chevron) had made considerable studies of energy consumption - and the escalation of consumption versus supply.  He said the proven gas reserves of Wyoming equaled the US energy requirements for motor fuel, home heating and electrical power generation for about a 100 year period. And......that other states (and Alberta) had similar supplies - and there were many offshore sources of gas that dwarfed the liquid forms of petroleum. This is not the only time I heard this story ......from other connections in the industry. This is probably at the root of Pickens' "future" energy development policy. Chevron would not be the only company looking at this....

I have heard the story related by John - and others like it - about the difficulties of using LNG. It just ain't convenient for motor fuel - but it might fly aircraft (probably the biggest single consumer of liquid fuel in America), will easily run locomotives and ships and then both heat and light a zillion homes. It could make our dependence on oil based fuels much different. And let us keep our cars mobile for quite a bit longer.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

My earlier comment about fuel mileage with LNG was a wrong comment.  Mileage wasn't the big issue, range was.  The tank has to have a heavy wall to stand the pressures involved and meet government standards for safety.  This limited the size tank that could be carried in a car.  I would think the heavy tank would also be a detriment in an airplane, but not something that could not be overcome.  The fact that this technology is not being pursued aggressively makes one think that liquid petroleum supplies are not as limited as they want us to think.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

There were a lot of ranchers in Texas in the 80's with dual LP and gas modifications. They would use gas to start off and LP after that. LP was really cheap then and it seemed to work for them. They all claimed good mileage and much lower cost of operation. Also with the Dual system you don't get trapped between LP stations. Can't you also fill these rigs at RV parks etc.? Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Chuck:

You are correct about filling LPG tanks.  The tough ones are the Liquified Natural Gas ones.  Hard to find a place to fill them, the fleets that used it had their own filling equipment to take the gas out of the gas line and pressurize it into a liquid  and into the vehicle's tank.

At my shop I used to service a local LPG company's bulk truck.  They ran it off the big tank on the back of the truck.  The engine stayed clean as a pin inside, but the exhaust manifolds had to be changed regularly.  They would be reduced to crusty, rusted junk in a fairly short time.  The oil drained at change time would be just as clean as when it was new.

John in Selma, IN

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"