I am all gassed up

[Bradtot]

Well after many hrs of work My 89 vogue is on gas with the gas tanks underneath . It took me 15hrs to fit the bloody things as the rear of the efi Rangies is different to the carbie models.
I had to purchase another tank cradle to fit but nobody told me or wanted to tell me if there were any mods to do on the body....well I found out the hard way having to fit the tanks up and down over 15 times. I started at 10 in the morning and finished at 2 am the next morning.
I had to grind/hack away the rear of the crossmember where the original fuel tank was removing bit by bit until I could get the tanks up as far as they could go before I was able to drill the new holes in the side chassis rail.
Many thanks to Peter O'donell for the pics he sent me of his cradles and mounting. I ended up with a very similar cradle as Peter's from lpgas 1 Victoria this bolts to the original tank mounts in the front but not the rear the rear are bolted to the chassis rail on each side.
I also had to modify my towbar.
I also mounted the convertor and when this was done took it to the gas guys who did the rest and all the plumbing and wiring.
Total cost so far inc parts and lab not including my lab was $893....and ...and a big and I also get back 500 from the govt here in the west.
I was told that it is not illegal to mount the bits but u are not allowed to do any pipe connections without a license this is how I was able to get things done a little cheaper, besides the gas guys are so busy that there were weeks on the waiting list and I am going to Broome next week.
I will post some pics soon On what I have done. The car drives just so nice now and there is no diff on pet or gas. I have adjusted the timing to run on petrol just pinging and on gas is good. My 89 uses the flapper airflow so I am a little worried about backfire so have loosedned the 2 clamps holding the tubing from the airflow to the plenum so if it does backfire it should blow this pipe off. I will fit a backfire valve later when I come back. I already have a spare ecu and airlow meter that I will carry.
I also have fitted long range petrol tanks under the car and fill from the original filler neck. Something I did not know was the orange low fuel warning light works off the fuel gauge not from the sender unit in the tank. My 82 rangie works off the sender in the tank, what this means is due to me using my original fuel gauge as my gas gauge and fitting a sender unit in the gas tanks when I am low on gas the light will come on. The only bad thing is I could not get an exact resistance to suit the original fuel gauge so when my gas is full it shows 3/4 and when the gauge shows empty it is actally 1/4. I will fix this at a later date, so far I am more than pleased. I was worried when I fitted my springs from my 82 to the 89 that it was going to be too hard but as I am adding weight..ie gas tanks towbar, spare wheel carrier everything is getting lower and more comfortable, I also have koni's fitted as well so this also stiffens the rear.
I have been working on this swapover for more than 6 months now and it is coming to an end. Soon all I have left to do is fit my front arb locking diff with my new 24 spline axels( all the plumbing is done) and transfer my Maxidrive to the rear and I will be one very happy boy. As I said soon I will post pics of the beasty. I am unable to raise it any higher as it scrapes the garage door now with the ali roofrack on.
I have it insured for 24 grand AGREED Value at a cost of $582 per year with TCIS Insurance ANYWHERE in aust
Not bad considering the base price last year was 11 grand, as thats all I could insure it for!!
Have more fun
Brad [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

[CraigE]

Nice one Brad. I got new gas fuel gauges from somewhere company now escapes me for the minute. The damage was not great. They are led bar type gauge. All you need to tell them is the resistance which should be on the gauges on the tank itself.
How much and what size were the tanks you used and were they new?

[MacMan]

Well done!

Thankfully our Disco was already converted when we bought it, but one thing that gets me is that I know so little about LPG setups and it makes me a little nervous for bigger trips.

Looking forward to pics.

Mike

[Michael2]

Good one Brad, I can only advise you to fit the backfire valve ASAP. Then when it does backfire you can smuggly smile and say - "just paid for itself."

And thanks for the heads up on the insurance.

[101RRS]

Hi Brad,

Did you buy a kit or acquire the different parts as you went along?

Thanks

Garry

[loanrangie]

I am about to fit VDO senders to my twin sill tanks the correct resistance for a rangie (240 - 20 ohms) to work on the original gauge and i have a combined dual fuel switch/ lpg gauge in the dash close to the binnacle which is a neat fit. A simple twin pole switch selects tanks and the sender for the tank selected.

[LandyAndy]

Hi Brad
Welldone.
On my Ser3 I have a VDO lpg gauge to read the LPG tank only,saves trying to match gauges and switches.
You can avoid LPG backfires by starting on petrol then switching over,could save a hassle whilst on holidays.
Enjoy the Broome trip.
Andrew

[RichardK]

Hi Brad,

Good idea to fit the backfire trap ASAP, I did 2 AFM's on the '86 RR before putting one on. There is a place in Vic Park that repairs them but I don't remember their name but could find it if need be.

I solved the backfire damage problem by installing the Wolf 3D which did away with the AFM and it rarely ever backfires now.

[Bradtot]

Originally posted by CraigE
Nice one Brad. I got new gas fuel gauges from somewhere company now escapes me for the minute. The damage was not great. They are led bar type gauge. All you need to tell them is the resistance which should be on the gauges on the tank itself.
How much and what size were the tanks you used and were they new?

Gas tanks were from my 82 rangie that were brand new 2 years ago they are an apa make and are 45 litres each with 40 useable from each A66 was model from memory.

Craig I want to use the original fuel gauge for my gas as I have a VDO gauge installed for my petrol sill tanks. I had this setup from the last Rangie and was more than happy
I can change the sender unit on the gas tank but need to get closer to the original on the rangie fuel tank in resistance ..I will do it soon as I repair electronic equipment for a living....just need some time
Thanks for the comments
Brad

[Bradtot]

Originally posted by MacMan
Well done!

Thankfully our Disco was already converted when we bought it, but one thing that gets me is that I know so little about LPG setups and it makes me a little nervous for bigger trips.

Looking forward to pics.

Mike

Mike my previous Rangie has covered 512000kms Mostly on gas many miles from nowhere I would not be afraid to go or do anything . It has never let me down in over 12 years
Pics soon
Brad