LPG transplant

Sooty Zooki · Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject: LPG transplant

I drive a carbed Suzuki Samurai which has gotten rather poor on fuel at road speed (15-20 mpg). This is due to large tyres, suspension lift, and some extra weight. Nothing wrong with the engine or state of tune - it runs like an expensive watch... Offroad when it is not permanently floored, it uses relatively little compared to other 4x4's, but driving longer distances to pay & play sites is a real killer on fuel (costs more than the entrance fee).
Recently found a LWB Samurai with LPG already fitted to its standard carb, and is available at a reasonable price, but I know nothing about LPG systems and what is involved with swapping and what kind of problems I need to look out for. I am capable mechanically but have zero experience in LPG.
Some pics of the donor vehicle are below. This has a standard Aisin carb, whereas mine has a Nikki (1st pic), so may have to swap carbs? Latly mine has a bit of engine work - Kent hi-torque cam, 25 thou head skim & ported, Janspeed manifold with free flowing custom made rear...
Any advise given gratefully received.

Nigel Head · Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:15 pm Post subject:

No experience of LPG either but can't be too difficult to swap the Aisin back in for now as basically no real mods were made to fit the Nikki.

Should be possible to 'adapt' the LPG kit onto the Nikki I would have thought unless it is carb specific???

Best of luck,

Nigel.

bigbadtonka · Just got MTs Joined: 17 May 2004 Odometer: 492

Hi

I have done a swap before on a range rover, and I am now in the middle of fitting a new kit to my disco. Remember to be totally legal you have to follow the government fitting guidelines, have it checked and tell your insurance company. Boring bit over.

Now fitting the kit is easy you already have a great photo instruction book just take some more notes on how it is fitted as you will forget! parts can easily be bought on-line that are not reusable.

It looks like you will need a new filler the are virtually impossible to unscrew once the weather has got to them. New hot water hose pipes, new front-rear gas pipe, new filler pipe and some other cheap parts that you will not want to use again. All these items are not expensive check out the www.tinleytech.co.uk website for parts. they also do a full new DIY kit suitable for your zuk for Â£440.

PM me if you want more advice.

suzukishrek · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:26 pm Post subject:

Sooty Zooki · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

The Nikki inlet is slightly different to the Aisin (different diameter - I think Nikki is bigger from memory). You can't tell by the pic of the Nikki carb, but the plenum chamber is modified by grinding off the standard smaller lip and welding on an adapter then sealing it. Probably would be easier to revert back to an Aisin initially.
Sent you a PM Graham - making slow progress at this end!

suzukishrek · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

wouter · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:11 am Post subject:

You can also try to find a LPG mixer that fits your nikki Idea

suzukishrek · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:41 am Post subject:

Sooty Zooki · Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:23 pm Post subject:

Just a quick update for anybody who is interested (there are tumble weeds flowing through this forum, LOL!)... Laughing

It took three of us about half a day to remove the system from the donor vehicle and fit it to mine. The hardest bit by far was removing the old thick copper pipe from the donor chassis, closely followed by refitting it to the one on Sooty! Cheers Phil - top lad I owe you one. Wink

The rest was pretty straightforward:- solenoids, wiring, hoses, etc.

We ended up keeping the Nikki carb as the mixer seemed a reasonable fit for the OD, but there is no central bolt for keeping the plenum chamber on the carb, so had to bodge it for the way home with a piece of zip tie to keep the plenum chamber on the mixer and the mixer sat ontop of the carb! Shocked

Sounds worse than it is, but I don't think it is really gas tight, so hope to have brackets made and the three pieces sealed together at the week-end. Also still need to get some new P-clips to replace some of the broken ones which keep the pipe fastened to the chassis rail. I also still need to mount the switch and gauge so it looks pretty in the cab (i.e. not dangling of the passenger grab bar!) Rolling Eyes

The best bit was the drive home. I was absolutely astonished at the performance gain! But have done some reading and apparently LPG responds really well to tuning: especially skimming and performance cams. This is mainly due to the 110 octane rating which gives better resistance to pinking than regular 95 unleaded or even 98 super, so you can seriously up the compression ratios and advance the timing further. Well, I have done both a 25 thou head skim, and got a Kent hi-torque cam, ported head, Nikki carb upgrade, and Janspeed exhaust. Instead of slip-streaming lorries which I had to do on the way down, I could use 5th and just sail past them! Does not sound like much, but to anybody who has driven a lifted zook on the motorway - they will know what I am talking about!

I wanted to say big thanks to Graham (aka Suzukishrek) for sourcing, help in fitting and also performing the initial set-up so I could drive home on LPG. Top bloke! Applause