Propane powered VW

[jrsroadhauze]

Has anyone converted a water cooled 1.8 liter vw engine to propane?

[franz]

Yes, I used two Impco series 55 mixers with two Century G-85-A vaporizers. Worked well. The Century G-85-A is out of production now but I think Impco has a suitable replacement.

The G-85-A will provide fuel for about 75 bhp each and need a warm airflow to keep them from icing over. They are an air to liquid heat exchanger.

Franz

[C3H8]

Franz. Why use air cooled regs on a water cooled engine? Model J's or Cobras would work as well and ensure proper vaporization without worrying about air heating.

[jrsroadhauze]

Thanks Guys, the car is a 88 VW Cabriolet with a weak 1.8 CIS engine. I have a 86 Golf GTi with 10 to 1 compression ratio and a knocksenser which controls the spark timing via a controller box. I want to completely eliminate the Bosch CIS fuel injection system and run propane only. The stock throttle body is mounted side ways on the intake plenum. I was thinking of fabricating a adapter to use a Impco 200? to the existing intake manifold.the GTi engine is not installed in the car yet so fabrication of parts will be easier. Any ideas would be great.

[franz]

Oops, I dont know what I was thinking, for some reason, I had the flat 4 air cooled engine in my mind.

Back to serious stuff. I think you may find that the 200, although it will run fine on top end, may be a bit oversized for that engine. Its worth a try though. Use the Cobra or J vaporizer, or the L can be adapted as well, its about twice the size of the J.

Franz

[alehander]

A CA100 mixer and J or Cobra reg should be enough for a 1.8; I ran this setup on a 1.6 w/o trouble up to 6000 RPM.

I'd also recommend the mixer->adapter->intake approach, as long as it's a metal adapter & not a hoaky rubber boot.

If you're really adventurous and have good insurance, try plumbing the (liquid) LPG to the CIS distributor in place of gasoline - I disposed of my Scirocco motor this way, and some of the car, too