Factory lpg owners
 

Folks, I hope people could help me.

I'm on look out for a factory lpg kit for a kv6, however as part of that I'm hoping people could maybe shoe me their factory lpg kits and aftermarket installs.

It would strictly be a spare wheel setup not a large boot tank.

Also I'm keen to hear mpg, anyone who's used conversions or done a DIY.

Part of my v6 rebuild may do it all at once.

I’ve got the original MGR lpg course notes somewhere..... I’m fairly certain it was only a factory option on the 1800 though

Could swear I was looking at a factory fit 2.5 a couple of years ago on eBay - I only remember as I would have loved to buy it. It did say it was extremely rear mind.

I've considered buying a V6 and putting a system in myself as I'd love a 75 with a true Rover engine. I had an old Jeep Cherokee with LPG and did a few repairs on it a while back - they don't seem all that complicated but getting your work signed off does if you're fitting a new system yourself. The other thing to consider is that LPG is about half the price of petrol but only gives two thirds the efficiency with the older, more affordable kits. When I worked out how long it would take to cover the cost of the kit it hardly seemed worth it.

Mate Mark has a v8 he's gonna be rebuilding I think factory lpg also, was the famous one someone stripped and left as a mess.

When I did the model launch course in around 2003 I think I’m certain it was 1800 only, that may of changed afterwards? Although a ‘factory’ option they were converted after the car was built iirc but sold as an option as it was converted within Longbridge. Any cars converted after purchase would potentially look similar as a well known kit was used by Longbridge. They were an incredibly rare item and the dealer I worked at only ever sold one. There’s mention of lpg on one of the service sheets I think as the plugs were changed at different intervals.
I could be wrong of course as it was a long time ago....

I'm also pretty sure I've read before that "factory" lpg conversions were only offered on the K series engines and not the KV6. I bought my ZT V6 180 auto with a BRC kit already installed which initially worked well, although it's non-operational at the moment. I'm planning on re-commissioning it soon. It's correct that the efficiency of lpg is less than petrol and hence the mpg is less. I get a fairly steady 29 mpg on petrol overall (with no particular concession to an economical driving style) and when it was working I calculated that on lpg it was 24 mpg. However, the half price of lpg does definitely make it worth having and I reckoned that the overall fuel cost of running the car on lpg was pretty much equivalent to the cost running a diesel engine.
I have a 60 litre "toroidal" lpg tank in the spare wheel well. The boot is big enough to make carrying the spare wheel loose not too inconvenient most of the time.

Well you're tickling my fancy with those figures...

I've said it before, but will say it again. I converted to lpg in 2000 with a kit on my Sterling, which I transferred to others later. In 2007 I got my 1st 75 (KV6). I bought another kit, more modern this time, with 6 injectors rather than feeding gas into the air intake. More efficient, withe the newer system I get the same mpg on either fuel. The older system had around a 15% drop in mpg if I remember correctly.
The kit cost me around £650 back then. It took me a leisurely 3 days to fit, 1 day was fitting the tank (don't ask - tried to drill through the towbar!). Ignoring that error, biggest job was removing the inlet manifolds (thus immobilising the car) to drill and tap them. Not difficult, any home mechanic should be capable. Lots of wiring connections, easily explained in the kit. (And I can help if need be), Ihave TinleyTech reasonably near who are good for advice and spares too.
Been running on it ever since; odd failure of parts (but over a high mileage/long period) fom which I've learnt a lot. The system is really simple to understand, and though the fault finding I've learnt a lot - even proving some of the "experts" wrong!
Current mpg (which I keep an eye on by simple checks, with occasional more accurate ones) give me up to 32mpg on local trips; on long journeys around 42mpg (sometimes more!). These figures seem the same as petrol when I occasionally have had to use it. However my local Morrisons currently sell at 57.4p/l so it really is a no brainer.

Stewart

Yeah, when I was considering doing a conversion on my v8 there was a couple of issues:-

1. The fuel intake and the looks of it.

2. Still having to have fuel to start.

3. Having to use the spare wheel well for the lpg tank which would necessitate the removal of electrical un its/wiring to another location.

4. My local Tesco stopped stocking the fuel.

5. Other headaches!

Kev

correct. realistic petrol m.p.g is around 27 to 29 max for the kv6 2.5 maybe a bit more for on motorway use only. the factory options were i think for the 1.8 models but i think you could order the kv6 as such from new with lpg fitted but i understand these were done after leaving the factory sub contract by the dealership before delivery. the cost of v.e.d on the lpg vehicles opens the gap between diesel and l.p.g especially on the later £500 + per year cars that are 2.5 kv6. you still have to pay the new emmisions entry fees that have come into operation recently even though your emmisions dont stack up. you will need to re register the car with d.v.l.a who will ask for a certificate of approval and issue you with a dual-fuel new log book.you must do this to alert emergency services in case of fire/accident driving or explosion risk at the site of incident/accident. some insurers wont insure without a certificate of l.p.g some will but some ask for more due to modifications which in this case you need to disclose. oh and it will need a tune up every so often/filters/plugs/nozzles/maint etc .im happy with my l.p.g conversion and i would do it again if the milage warranted it. .... food for thought ..;)