Who's still active?

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by red1 » Sat Oct 29, 2016 9:10 pm

I am on. Just posted an update in the "my rover" section.
Thanks to everyone who has helped me on this forum over the past 3 years. I can't contribute technically but have been helped greatly.
cheers all.

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Eric
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by Charles827si » Sat Oct 29, 2016 9:13 pm

Lovely car there Eric
Charles 'Yorks'
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by soundrediscover » Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:24 pm

Dickie524 wrote::lol: Hah - I'm up to 138,000!!
Still stealthily using the 827 Coupe daily to Coventry and back, nearly 136,000 miles.

Gradually getting it sorted the way I have always wanted it to be with a vitesse coupe being used as a source for spares - life gets in the way of an awful lot of the tinkering we would ideally waste our days on :D

As i am commuting more than I was this time last year I am seriously considering the merits of going down the LPG route, we shall see......

Forum wise I don't have the time I used to, but it is still my 'go to' research point.

Long may it remain
Rock On!

Ian

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scoobyh123
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:11 pm

Definitely worth considering an LPG conversion Ian! I converted my coupé back in May and although at first glance i appear to get less mpg (about 22mpg on gas), due to various calorific differences etc that works out to the equivalent of about 29mpg if i was running on petrol.
Now for the best bit! Round my way super unleaded that i always use in my cars is 124.9p/L - call it 125p/L to make the maths easier. At the same time, LPG is about 50p/L (usually 49.9p/L) so for every £5.63 ish that i put in the car, i get 55 miles on gas or to put it another way, the cost equivalent of 55mpg - quite an improvement on 29mpg on petrol!

I'm running a "single point" system that is effectively a mixer ring hung on the end of the throttle body (it's tight but i managed to squeeze it in!) with Lambda control so the mixture is always as near perfect for the conditions as possible. I have an LPG conversion planned for the Sterling as well, that will be an SGi system - Sequential Gas injection. It "piggy-backs" off the OE system so follows the original mapping and in use just isn't noticed. Even on my single point system, the way i've got it set up it's virtually impossible to notice it's on there.

Both systems start on petrol and changeover after a certain period of time depending on various factors which means you still need to buy petrol once in a while but it's useful to have that emergency back up and it helps keep the engine management system, the fuel pump and injectors etc functioning as they should.

One thing you will need as well as the LPG kit (which i'm quite happy to advise on based on my own limited experience) is either a new pair of heavy duty rear springs or some Grayston Coil Spring Assisters, basically big rubber donuts to fit in between the centre coils of the rear springs to keep the ride height correct and retain the suspension travel. That's simply due to the weight of the tank - i have a toroidal (aka donut) tank mounted in the spare wheel well with the filler mounted on an extra plate bolted between the towbar and towball. That means i don't have to have a huge, unsightly hole drilled in the bodywork!

Feel free to PM me about the LPG if you'd like to know anything. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by soundrediscover » Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:38 pm

Thanks Dave, very useful to hear your experience as it sounds very like my thinking - I think there is a relatively local professional fitter in Corby which is pretty close to me - I am thinking SGI with the donut tank and seperate filler not damaging the (admittedly not perfect) coachwork :-)
I hadn't considered stiffer springs however so that is a good pointer.
Any photos of the filler and spring assists?
Rock On!

Ian

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by CHR15E » Sat Nov 05, 2016 12:31 am

At the risk of being negative just make sure there's at least one local garage that sells it.

Round here it's not common so they charge what they like. 80p a litre last time I took any notice.
Chris
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:58 am

This is the filler Ian :

Image

No photos of the spring assisters mainly because i haven't actually fitted them yet but here's a link to them :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-Pair-Of-G ... SwEppUSQ6S

That was the best price i found on fleabay for the pair, many sellers are charging the same just for one!

Chris has a valid point about garages selling LPG, however if you're going into Coventry on a daily basis you should be ok. This site lists all the known LPG filling stations and is (usually) kept up to date on price by people that use it and/or the app that goes with it :

http://filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=home.php

If you go to that site and click the "LPG Map" link then type Coventry into the search box, you'll see how many there are round Coventry and also in the NW Birmingham area where i spotted one selling at 38p/L although in the main the prices are 40-50p/L with a few creeping up to 60 and one at 72p/L.
On the other hand, Chris isn't served so well in the Nottingham area, only 19 (unless i mis-counted) and more expensive as well! Still a lot cheaper than 122.9p/L that i paid for super-unleaded yesterday at Sainsburys in Thetford. :shock:
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by CHR15E » Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:52 pm

Just checked on there and it says 69.9p for the local place, so it must have come down.

This is the local area to me. I live just to the left of the 70 in the middle of the map. Aside the the 2 stations on the M1 which I'm not sure were there when I had my last LPG car. It just seems to be a bit of a black hole for some reason. Good business opportunity maybe? :D

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Chris
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08 Vauxhall Astra 2.0T Design Twintop
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:24 pm

That could be your day job Chris - selling LPG for 56p/L and undercutting your nearest rival by at least 20% and making a fair bit yourself! :wink: :D
Maybe something worth looking at for you? On a realistic viewpoint if there was a demand in your area i'm sure there would be more stations but then again, maybe they go to one of the others.

I don't know how to get a screen shot like that but mine wouldn't be that different to yours in the great scheme of things other than the fact that where they stations are located are on my usual routes (or very close by) so it's not a great problem for me that they're not 5 minutes down the road.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by CHR15E » Sun Nov 06, 2016 12:14 pm

I dare say it could be a viable business, though as you suggest I have no idea on the demand these days.

I don't anyone personally these days that runs anything fitted with LPG.

For a screenshot I just use the windows key and prt sc (print screen) buttons held down simultaneously. Your screen should dim slightly and it'll save a copy to your pictures folder. Just upload it as you would any other picture for sharing then. Handy every now and then for silly things like the above.
Chris
19 Vauxhall Astra 1.6T SRi Nav Estate
08 Vauxhall Astra 2.0T Design Twintop
02 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4.7 V8 HO

Previously owned 57 800s 2000-2012
Relapse of 1 in 2021 Now Sold

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Nov 06, 2016 2:07 pm

Isn't it easy when you know how!

Image

Scary how few there are near me really! :shock:

That said, if i can manage in an area like this, i'm sure others could as well. Go back 40 years to when filling stations only opened 9am - 5pm monday-friday and the same for supermarkets, restaurants (slightly different but not much) and so on and there weren't that many filling stations around and people managed then.

Thing is it's all become too easy for people these days, everything is either on an app or a half-mile down the road so adding one in a location like yours could be a winner. You never know, there might be 100 people in your road that would all gladly have an LPG conversion if only there was a closer station..............
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by soundrediscover » Sun Nov 06, 2016 6:29 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:This is the filler Ian :

Image

No photos of the spring assisters mainly because i haven't actually fitted them yet but here's a link to them :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-Pair-Of-G ... SwEppUSQ6S

That was the best price i found on fleabay for the pair, many sellers are charging the same just for one!

Chris has a valid point about garages selling LPG, however if you're going into Coventry on a daily basis you should be ok. This site lists all the known LPG filling stations and is (usually) kept up to date on price by people that use it and/or the app that goes with it :

http://filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=home.php

If you go to that site and click the "LPG Map" link then type Coventry into the search box, you'll see how many there are round Coventry and also in the NW Birmingham area where i spotted one selling at 38p/L although in the main the prices are 40-50p/L with a few creeping up to 60 and one at 72p/L.
On the other hand, Chris isn't served so well in the Nottingham area, only 19 (unless i mis-counted) and more expensive as well! Still a lot cheaper than 122.9p/L that i paid for super-unleaded yesterday at Sainsburys in Thetford. :shock:
That's a neat solution.....
Following the conversation on, I think it is the initial cost of conversion that limits private owners making the switch rather than the lack of filling stations and the frequency with which people change their cars.
In reality it is just a 'hybrid' technology, like electric/petrol, bio diesel and so on.
The trouble for me is that I have too many demands on my time which then means I can't do everything I want to at a time that it would serve me best - I first considered the lpg conversion back in 2008 - who knows what the saving on petrol costs would have been over that period.....
Rock On!

Ian

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scoobyh123
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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Nov 06, 2016 7:11 pm

Who knows indeed! Oddly enough i first considered it about then as well. You could always fit it a bit at a time like i did with mine.

For my Sterling conversion i've got a spare manifold that i'm going to drill/tap for the gas injectors to make life quicker/easier when it comes to doing that part of it.

Part of the reason the coupé took me so long to do (about 2 months) besides weather/health considerations is that a lot of the fitting was "experimental design" - i had no patterns to follow, just ideas to work from and then i went through all of them to find the best. I also had some problems with the mixer and getting it to run right, eventually solved by boring the mixer out to 36mm which gave me a good compromise across the rev/load range. Obviously this isn't a problem with SGi installs but useful experience nonetheless! :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by traineefarmer » Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:13 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:Isn't it easy when you know how!

Image

Scary how few there are near me really! :shock:

That said, if i can manage in an area like this, i'm sure others could as well. Go back 40 years to when filling stations only opened 9am - 5pm monday-friday and the same for supermarkets, restaurants (slightly different but not much) and so on and there weren't that many filling stations around and people managed then.

Thing is it's all become too easy for people these days, everything is either on an app or a half-mile down the road so adding one in a location like yours could be a winner. You never know, there might be 100 people in your road that would all gladly have an LPG conversion if only there was a closer station..............
I'm sure that maps not 100% accurate. I thought one of the fiveways/barton mills stations served LPG.
Tom.

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Re: Who's still active?

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:40 pm

You'd think so wouldn't you? But no, not even the recently built (about 18 months ago) Shell station. It's on a major arterial route as well, think of the business they're losing!

I think the Esso one opposite did for a while but stopped some time before i even got the Jeep, never mind converted the coupé so quite some time ago.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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