Hello, I am a new member to this forum, and have a few questions. I am the owner of a 1978 F250 "camper special", with a 460 v8 under the hood. With recent gas prices, and the truck only getting 7 mpg at my last calculation, I am pondering alternative fuels. I do not want to get rid of the truck, but it needs work. Before I can think of any of that, how hard would it be to convert it over to propane? Ideally I would want to retain the two fuel tanks on board, and mount the propane tanks in the bed, and have the option to run on either propane or regular gas. Is this possible? What would the initial costs be? could someone perhaps point me to a good parts source to do the job? I would rather do the conversion myself, if possible. Thanks in advance - Jared

 

Welcome to the site !

How much is autp propane in Wyoming ?

I have 77 F150 SC 460 on Propane.. Guess what LP is only about 18 cents litre less than Regular Gasoline.

A propane conversion these days is hardly with it as a propane engine requires about 10% more fuel to run.

 

I'd have to agree with Dennis. The cost of propane is not worth the expense, as well as the power loss you'll experience on LP. Not to mention the loss of bed space for the tank. I don't know WY laws, but here in MO you have to have the vehicle certified for LP, and it's getting harder to get your tank filled when you need it. This is just my .02 here, but I think you'd be better off tuning up the 460, then buying a Yugo to drive daily...! The other option is putting a diesel in it, then making your own fuel from WVO. Just a thought.

My '78 reg cab 4WD was run on LP most of its life until I got it. I stripped it all out and pitched it. Wasn't worth the hassle to me.

 

There are restrictions for insurance companies as well.

If a propane vehicle is parked in a garage and the garage burns up as a result, coverage is denied. some parking facilities (parkades) don't allow them either.

 

Hadn't thought of that one! I do recall something about the "Garage rule" here.

 

Thanks for all of your suggestions, there are alot of pros and cons to consider. While I am not too concerned about loosing bed space, I am alarmed at the rapidly rising costs of regular gas. Propane, last I checked, is staying relatively stable at around $2.37 a gallon. From what I understand, consumption only increases %10, while the octane equivalent is around 100 to 110 octane, and is somewhat more "green" than typical gasoline, although I dont have to worry about smog regulations, as long as I steer clear of California. However, while alot of the feedback was towards the negative side, I still didnt get some other questions answered. Does anybody produce a carburetor that can at the flick of a switch change between propane and gasoline? My primary goal would be to retain flexibility in fuels, if I end up somewhere that doesnt have propane, I cant switch over to gas until I find a town that does. What are the insurance issues on such an item? Parking the truck inside is not an option, its too long for most garages, and has never been parked indoors, and I have no intention of doing so. I know the engine is worn, but I do have plans to rebuild it, which would thus bring up my MPG along with proper tuning. Until then I am looking into an alternative fuel, and putting a diesel power plant in it is not an option, Im going for keeping the 460 engine. Thanks - Jared

 

I believe that if your not running a fuel injected engine, you can't switch between gasoline and propane. You must use one or the other, or you will have carb trouble all the time.

 

Not true Buck. My '78 Reg Cab was capable of running either. Simple flick of the switch. The older carbed engines are a little easier in fact to set up for propane. Sorry I didn't answer that question earlier Jared! You can buy the set-up needed from most auto parts stores (special order for most) but it can be done. I believe you can also purchase it from a propane supplier. It requires a special apparatus that mounts on the carb that is plumbed into your heater hoses to allow the propane to remain a vapor.(Propane can be carried in an open bucket if it's cold enough outside)

In a nutshell Jared, yes you can run both on your truck. An engine that has run on propane exclusively will be cleaner inside, and less wear and tear over time. You will want to run gas thru it from time to time to keep the gaskets from drying out.

 

there is a lot to it as far as equipment and setup....best bet would be to get a pre-installed setup that has been removed, as a lot of these were installed in the late 70s and then later taken out as gas got cheaper and bed space was desired.....these were always dual-fuel setups, and the propane tank was simply removed.....

in fact i have recently acquired a 78 250 with 460 and propane setup....there's quite a bit of gear associated with the propane setup, including a fueling port with locking door installed into the bedside....i also got a large bucket of extra parts with it.....

 

It actually is nice to be wrong once in a while because I thought of doing the same thing and the few mechanics I talked to said I would have Carb trouble, hence is why I said "I believe". I guess I should have talked with more people. Thanks for the correction. This is what it's all about. I could have misunderstood or the mechanics misunderstood me when I was doing some research. Either way, it's nice to know that it will work.

 

When I bought my last 79 it had a dual fuel system. But the cost of propane was higher than gas so i removed the system. There were no mods to the carb with the system I had. It had it's own breather system that sat on the carb and had a injector unit in it that shot the propane right through the carb into the intake,inside the breather was acable activate valve that opened or closed off the propane sysem to ther carb. It had a 12v solonoid in front of the fuel line to shut off the gas going to the fuel pump. It was a really neat setup and the truck ran surprisingly good on the propane. It had a 250 LB tank mounted in the bed and twin gas tanks in the box. Loss of bed space was the biggest drawback. The real shock was when I tore the engine down , absolutely spotless inside. No oil sludge at all, no bearing wear and minimal piston ridge even. Never seen an engine so clean with 120,000 miles on it. All the lifters were removed just by using my fingures to lift them up. Now with the price of gas I wish I'd have kept the kit around.

 

Buck I can show you pics of most of it because, I have this set up on my 77 F150

 

Wasn't trying to be rude or anything Buck. I have learned since my last post on this issue that EFI units are easier to run dual fuel set-ups on, according to my local LP supplier. Not sure exactly what he meant by 'easier' but that's what he said. My old '78 was a model for KISS as duste said. Just a unit that sat on top of the carb in place of the breather with a few other hoses and the vaporizer unit. I'm not an expert on gas engines by any stretch, so I'll leave it to the guys with the knowledge.
I only wish I'd kept my old LP tank. Would've been nice to run on my Cummins...

 

It's all good. I just hate it when I post some information that turns out to be wrong, but then again, sometimes a wrong answer gets a right answer.

 

Check the legal requirements in your state first. In Australia the conversions have to be done by licenced LPG fitters, and periodically inspected. Fitted cost is upwards of two thousand dollars. I've done a couple of conversions myself on 351s for about 300 dollars, with secondhand parts. But (obviously) these cars now can't be registered... It's not a complicated job though.