kicking an idea around and am wondering if anyone has done a turbo on a 370 first, or a trubo propane? do you have any pics? is the 370 stout enough to handle it? thanks

 

From my very limited 'knowledge' of Propane, one of the problems of gaseous fuels is they displace the same volume of air that they take up. That means less Oxygen is avaliable in the intake charge. If you spray liquid Propane into the intake it will rapidly expand and take up a lot of space that would normally be air. SO U can add more air (Nitrous) or more turbo to achieve max performance.

 

Do you want to just run propane? or turbo and propane? 370 is the same block as a 429/460, so it has plenty of wall thickness. Schwann's foods ran all their home delivery trucks on propane till about 2 yrs ago. They had ford's and gimmy's running.
International offered propane on their trucks as far back as 1950. I believe that it has a higher octane rating, like 100 and that you can up the compression, cause those truck motors only run 7.5 to one compression. Propane is only liquid while in the tank, and turns to vapor when it goes through the fuel regulator into the manifold.

 

I converted my Toyota Camry to propane. I installed a sequential injection and it runs as good as gasoline for 40% the cost. Propane will prefer higher compression that the turbo would supply.

I have a 88 Ford Ranger with 347 and 12:1 compression. I am planning on converting it to propane as soon as I can get the time.

 

well my 370 is already on propane just want to add a turbo, just wondering if the 370 gasser is tough enough

 

Given the fact that lot's of 370s had forged cranks and massively strong blocks, I wouldn't worry about it much. A 370 uses basically the same block as a 460, and they have been known to make massive power.


You biggest enemy would be pinging and you can prevent that with proper tuning.

Sam

 

Isn't the octane of propane like 100? I don't think pinging would be a problem unless there is to much advance on timing or way too much boost.

 

The problem of leaning out propane is it becomes like a torch very hot and damaging to valves, spark plugs and head gaskets + pistons. A change in spark plugs is usually recommended for long term usage. Total tune is necessary for timing and mixture changes. Propane requires an advancement in timing compared to the same operating conditions of gasoline. URS would have some timing changes available but with the turbo things will change radically. Most of UR mod is strait forward, but the tune, that is the important thing before usage. UR real concern at this time is will your convertor/fuel regulator support your mods need for fuel flow. Most are thought of as horsepower needs and ur redical change in HP is worry some that way with the old systems using air flow PSI calibrations while the new systems LP gas fuel inject, combining both Air Pressure and electronic timing of the injectors. I believe there are some work on liquid LP fuel injection out there but not yet available for automotive.

 

i dont have fuel injection, its a propane carb and I would just make it pull through, i know it is done and has been done just wanted to know strength of engine, are they know to be durable or piece of crap motors

 

Being basically a de-rated 460 block, I'm sure its got good strength. Ford typically runs a 7:5 compression on truck applications to add life to the motor. That's good for a turbo application, cause you get good grunt off the line, then a boost to the power band at higher rpm's.

 

If U have Impco U may need some parts added to your carb to calibrate for the increase in air flo. Don't know a lot about the Canadian or Asian LP systems. Probably not touchable as far as mod changes to them. I do know the internals of the regulators are very touchy to corrosion and usually are really messed up after several years of operation while the carbs flexible parts get hardened and mess up the mixture. I installed a Century system on a F150 with a 460 in the early 70's for my father-in-law. Big tank in the box. Started on gas and switched over. Had a range of 800+ miles, then they started road taxes on LP a few years later. It became mostly a waste of money then. UR Mod really depends on the mechanical soundness of your engine currently. If old and worn, not so good an idea. REBO it first and put in chrome piston rings.