Propane festiva

[JoDan]

Has anyone ever thought about converting their festiva over to propane? I mean its just a thought, but the idea of having probably the most fuel economical car ever would be awesome.

[red stiva]

Thought about it. Far as it went. Guess I don't know what the purpose would be when you already have an economical car, especially with propane high as it is.

[Tommychu]

I've put quite a bit of thought into this. I imagine the B3 would take very well to propane.
Main issue is fuel storage. LPG tanks + hatchback = sketchy at best. Possibly legal, but I wouldn't do it.

I like the idea of a diesel Festy. That's about as far as I'd ever venture into something other than gasoline.

[91_festy_Gl]

If a festy was to get into a wreck with a propane tank in it... I doubt there would be anything left of the car or driver. It would deff have to be illegal.

[deathegg]

As far as I know, (at least here in PA), propane conversions are legal. There's a company right down the street that converts cars and trucks to propane.

[batstiva]

Switching a Festy to propane would not make it the most fuel efficient car ever. MPGs with propane are in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 percent of MPGs with gasoline. Having said that, there are benefits to using propane. First of which is the complete lack of engine deposit build ups that come with gasoline. I've seen engines powered by propane taken apart after 100K miles, and they look freaking pristine.

I had a 91 F250 that ran on propane a couple of years ago. The truck ran awesome, unless it was really cold out (I'm talking below 10F) then it was hell getting it started. Mine was an old municipal truck that the town I bought it from got big federal tax $$ for doing the conversion. Propane is higher octane than gasoline, but produces fewer BTUs. Therefore, MPGs will be lower.

Having said all that, if you are just talking about putting a removable tank in the back, it's not a bad deal. My truck had a permanent tank where the rear gas tank had been. So there were not too many places that could fill the tank in the truck.

The good news as far as cost, when gasoline was 4 bucks a gallon, propane was 2.50. The bad news, when gas dropped to 1.50 a gallon, propane was 2.50.

I think for MPGs, diesel would be the better choice.

P.S. I doubt it would be illegal to do it. And I would be less worried about the propane tank rupturing in an accident than I would about the gasoline tank. Because of the pressures involved in keeping the propane in liquid form, the tanks have to be damn tough.

[Tommychu]

Propane conversions are perfectly legal. No fear of a propane tank rupturing either, I was more referring to the fact that a cyllinder in the stock gas tank location is somewhat impractical, if you can find a tank that actually fits. Thus, it would likely need to store the fuel in the passenger compartment, being a hatchback. I don't particularly like that concept. Especially since I smoke lots of cigarettes.
And I don't trust all the lines and fittings that much. Just sayin'.


But yes, a diesel festiva=win. *Nods to FB71 and Resuwrecked

[blkfordsedan]

One definite advantage..........you could steal the 20Lb bottle off your neighbor's BBQ grill and drive for a week! Most of the farmers around here have large LPG tanks in their yard to heat their house. With the right adapter, they refill the tanks on their pickups. I'm sure there's an issue with "road tax" if they get caught.

Better yet, how about a turbodiesel Festiva with LPG injection! It's like N2O for a diesel. I've seen it done on a Powerstroke before. Here's a link:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/23481_turbodiesel_propane_kit/index.htm

[fastivaca]

We used to have an older Suburban on propane and had looked into adding more fuel storage. It had a 100 litre tank in place of the gas tank. (Don't you find it ironic that a gas tank doesn't really hold gas but a liquid.) We looked at putting it in the rear of the passenger compartment but balked at the cost of having to build an air tight compartment that vented only to the exterior.

That was a number of years ago but I don't think the rules would have changed much so to put an LPG tank in the back of a Festiva it would have to be in a sealed compartment therefore taking away the advantage of it cargo carrying capacity.

Just thought of something... poori12 from Iran has CNG (compressed natural gas) in his car... check out this thread