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Author Topic: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2  (Read 1774 times)

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D

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LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« on: 13 June 2012, 00:06:31 »

As a follow up to my last post. Did a good bit of research and with all the positive help from here had decided on a few things that I was not going to compromise on with my lpg install. The lpgforum was also helpful in identifying various lpg installers and their attitudes per se. LD was helpful in suggesting a few installers, as I had very little idea as to where to start from.

The first recommended chap I contacted was at Gastech in Southend. Predominantly BRC and Prins systems. Approx £1700 + VAT, 3-4 days to finish. I was not too happy when I was told with certainty that the manifold wouldnt be taken off, because they had been doing it that way for a long time and there would be no issues. More worryingly there were threads on the lpgforum where they seemed to suggest that the filings would vapourise on starting the engine. Now I am no metallurgist, but vapourisation wasnt a property that I associated with alloys. The second issue was that he was insistent on fitting the filler in the rear panel and I really did not want that due to rust concerns etc. Lastly I was keen on a torroidal tank and he completely rejected the idea. So much for the fact that the customer was always right. However his work must be good as he seems to be well regarded on the forum and his advice generally seems sound. However given the above points I wasnt too keen on rushing into to commiting with this company. I did find out a while later that they could/would take the manifld off if I asked but I would have to pay labour costs for it, approx 2 hrs @ 70ph.

Then LD suggested Tubbs on the lpgforum. Gave him a call and straight away I felt at ease with him. Quite relaxed, did not overwhelm me with stuff that I did not/could not understand. Not overtly opinionated. Did not put down any of my ideas or wants/wishes. Used Emer, an Italian multipoint system. I was even more reassured when he said that it was near impossible to get injector placement right on the omega without taking the manifold off. And at £1250 inc VAT was a lot cheaper. so after a few more calls and discussing various options with him, decided to commit to a LPG conversion with Tubbs.

Very helpful regarding times/leaving the car with him a few days earlier/pick up later etc. A week later I picked the Omega up and I was really pleased with the install. He had done everything promised. All new holes created had been undersealed. To my newbie eye, it all looked very neat and tidy. The car did throw up a EML during the test run, which eventually turned out to be a faulty coil pack rather than the lpg itself. Poor Tubbs spent a long time with me to make sure the problem was not lpg related and even though it wasnt, he was not too happy letting me leave with a slight misfire. This has since been corrected with a new coil pack. And a full tank of gas too when I left him.

I have since the install done nearly 2k, it has been faultless, cheap motoring. And I love the smug feeling when a full tank costs just £41.

Front end pictures.







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ozzycat

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #1 on: 13 June 2012, 00:11:47 »

 :y :y good for you exelant result :y :y
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Lazydocker

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #2 on: 13 June 2012, 09:24:10 »

I'm pleased you're happy with it D. It's always a gamble when you put your neck out for someone you don't know, although I did make that very clear when I made that recommendation.

To add to this, I was impressed with Tubbs because (even as a Professional installer) he wasn't too proud to ask for some pointers! He contacted me, thanked me for the recommendation, and then asked for some general pointers. Coolant feeds and component placement were discussed at length and he also spoke to me about the miss fire. He was, as D said, very upset about it but I suggested that the coil packs were of an age that they were likely to be at fault ;)

The only thing he did which I wouldn't, although I know he's done it properly and tidily, is fit the ECU under the scuttle near the pollon filter. That said, it looks from the pictures to be a very good, tidy installation and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him again if someone were unable to DIY :y
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Dishevelled Den

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #3 on: 13 June 2012, 09:33:50 »

Splendid news and it's always nice to feel that any work has been competently done and that value for money has been achieved. :y
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omega3000

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #4 on: 13 June 2012, 10:05:40 »

Nice job done  :) £41 a tankfull bonus  :y
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D

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #5 on: 13 June 2012, 11:13:02 »

Thanks LD. I have to agree. The thing about Tubbs was that he just did not have the usual air of mechanical superiority that a lot of installers nowadays carry. It made it a lot easier to discuss my options with him and he has gone out of his way to help me.

For eg, my thermostat was faulty and he just changed it for me. I suspect most installers would have charged me extra for that. But he just said, "with everything apart, I might as well just change it".
Plus he wasnt ashamed to admit that he looked at the guides (on OOf) to help with the change. In fact that reassured me more.
Other points of interest:
He is the only one who works on the car and no one else meddles.
He keeps the car for 4 days at least to sort out the install. I think that is very important as anyone who installs in a day will not get my custom. In my short experience it would seem impossible to install LPG in a day in a neat and tidy fashion, underseal everything and calibrate the whole thing. You just cannot do it and I suspect a certain "done in a day" company in S Wales probably uses OBD correction to keep problems at bay rather than good tuning/mapping.
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Kevin Wood

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #6 on: 13 June 2012, 12:10:20 »

Agreed. We've done enough DIY conversions among us to know that there's no hope whatsoever of doing the job properly in a day.
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sassanach

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #7 on: 13 June 2012, 13:34:20 »

firstly i must point out that i have no connection with "a certain lpg installer in south wales", however i did spend the best part of a day down there a couple of years ago on a lpg related matter(concerning my cadillac).anyway i watched them install a system on a 4wd,it was neat, tidy, and it was definately not rushed,i do not know for the life of me how they do it they just seemed to plod along.Andrew the chap who ran it(polish) seemed to have an endless supply of patience.i would conclude that if you spent your entire career fitting lpg you would be pretty quick too.
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Lazydocker

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #8 on: 13 June 2012, 14:55:13 »

firstly i must point out that i have no connection with "a certain lpg installer in south wales", however i did spend the best part of a day down there a couple of years ago on a lpg related matter(concerning my cadillac).anyway i watched them install a system on a 4wd,it was neat, tidy, and it was definately not rushed,i do not know for the life of me how they do it they just seemed to plod along.Andrew the chap who ran it(polish) seemed to have an endless supply of patience.i would conclude that if you spent your entire career fitting lpg you would be pretty quick too.

A couple of years ago they were actually pretty tidy but they have let the standards slip from what I have seen & heard :(

They can do a good job on a basic motor but when it gets more complicated they don't seem to do as well ::) Additionally, the after care support has been very poor recently. Search the LPG forum for posts by a member called Dai Fish and read his woes with a Frontera (3.2) that they couldn't get right >:(
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D

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #9 on: 13 June 2012, 16:35:24 »

firstly i must point out that i have no connection with "a certain lpg installer in south wales", however i did spend the best part of a day down there a couple of years ago on a lpg related matter(concerning my cadillac).anyway i watched them install a system on a 4wd,it was neat, tidy, and it was definately not rushed,i do not know for the life of me how they do it they just seemed to plod along.Andrew the chap who ran it(polish) seemed to have an endless supply of patience.i would conclude that if you spent your entire career fitting lpg you would be pretty quick too.

Thats good to hear. But once up and running and mapped, where do they find time to let the engine get cold and check how it changes over? Leak testing? Undersealing? Letting it dry? All this takes time. Maybe I am just a pessimist. But the prices they quote for 4 people working on it are too cheap to be true. Either the owner is a slave driver and pays his workers nothing or they have to cut corners (kit/finish/location/quality). Some of the filler locations in their gallery are interesting to say the least. The S type Jag is an absolute gem.
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waspy

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #10 on: 13 June 2012, 19:11:15 »

PM sent D :y
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D

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Re: LPG for those who are not good at DIY Part 2
« Reply #11 on: 13 June 2012, 20:02:28 »

Replied.
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