Alternative Fuels

Hey! Went to visit my brother in eastern BC in in early May, and he got on my case a bit about not posting my results (he hates it when guys do that - he as a point...), so here goes... First, I appreciate all the input from you guys, it helped alot! I was determined to get the gen 6 assembled and i...

what is the harm in connecting the lockoff to full manifold vacuum? The VFF30 needs very little vacuum to operate, so manifold vaccum over-stresses the components inside the lockoff. Over the years working in the industry, however, we did see many vehicles hooked up that way, and operating just fin...

It should not keep feeding fuel after the engine stops, no matter where the lockoff's vacuum source is. The mixer sends a varying vacuum signal thru the large dry gas hose, acts on the the secondary diaphragm, opens the valve, and fuel begins to flow. Once the engine stops there's no vauum signal, a...

Progress Report : I've been gathering intel and choosing parts for my project. Will begin assembly of the Gen 6 454 this week. So far, here's a couple of things I've learned : Building the Gen 6 inexpensively and with high compression is proving to be a challenge (I'm now realizing I should have use...

Hey, thanks for the info - very interesting!
Been stripping down my L29 big block and found some issues, but nothing I can't deal with. Might take a bit longer than I hoped to get it in the vehicle, but at least we're finally making progress.

dayzed, This sounds like a great project! Propane + boost is a great combo and you will no doubt be pleased with the results. And I agree with gottago, you've asked good questions. +1 on the idea of starting with a single mixer/converter setup and seeing where you are at. I doubt you will be disappo...

Hmm. I think I didn't explain my theory very well. I understand velocity is important, and going to a very large port isn't the best idea for a street driver, no matter what fuel is used. What I meant was maybe a bit more volume in the port might be a good thing to allow 'room' for a mixture that si...

Here's something I've wondered about, and it relates to what we've been discussing. Propane vapor occupies a greater volume of the intake charge. It was awhile back that I researched this, but I never did find a definite answer to exactly how much more, but compared to gasoline 'mist' from a carbure...

Hey gents... Been tied up with life, and then this website seemed to be down too so I haven't on for a while... storm, I was re-reading your Dec 24 post. You made an interesting comment pertaining to port velocity : "a small head vs a slightly larger head will not make much difference if air speed r...

One challenge with the L29 Vortec 454 heads is getting the compression up to the 11:1 range we've been discussing. The engine is rated supposedly 9:1 stock, and some gains could be made with milling/gaskets, but I doubt it would be anywhere near that much. The shape of the chamber will interfere wit...

Wow, great discussion everyone! I just complicated the hell out of my plans tho. Strolled thru my nearest Pick n Pull recently and (holy crap!) found a 212km '97 Vortec 454. I'd never seen any brand big block in that yard before, but I was back the minute they opened the next day to pull it! So now ...

The experimenting you and your friends have done has confirmed some of what I've learned from 30+ years of propane experience. AND completely blown some of it out of the water! Good for you! I don't think I've ever heard of that combination of economy/performance in a V8 propane street vehicle, so y...

Oh, no worries at all, you've been awesome! I thought the impression I'd given was kinda funny, that's all. Thought I should clarify. Nowadays, I tend to drive with awareness of the "fusible links' in the stock drivetrain. With my 77 Stepside, the supercharged 396 & 44" tires tested things to the li...

First off, Still totally appreciate the input from all of you, and it's kinda cool to be hearing things from one guy who must live within 2 or 3 hours from me, another who's down in Australia, and another from Netherlands. Gotta love the internet for that! BigBlockMopar, It sounds like there are sev...

Wow, thank-you guys for being interested enough to continue discussing this! storm, My apologies for the confusion earlier. I had the thread going over on Speedtalk and some here were posting on it, so I kinda picked up the conversation from there, but once cam entered into it, you might have been l...