101 Forward Control Land Rover pages

LPG installation

Having fitted the replacement engine, the vehicle was so much better that we decided we'd like to use it more. However, it's a very expensible vehicle to run, and really LPG is the only sensible way forward. We did a lot of research on the various options, and it soon became clear that Tinley Tech are really good, so we got the kit from them.

Tinley Tech's helpfulness during the conversion was fantastic - they come back with answers to e-mail questions straight away and if you get in a muddle they will talk you through the problem on the phone, and they are knowledgable people, too - we can thoroughly recommend them. Also, if you need further supplies, their on-line shop turnaround time is fantastic!

Once the conversion is finished, it needs to be certificated to LPGA CoP11. CLS Dual Fuels in Durham did that for us. They were really helpful, too - offering advice before the actual certification inspection which saved a lot of hassle, and the registering it on the LPGA website. Again we can thoroughly recommend these guys.

The pictures and words below chronicle the story!

What the manual doesn't tell you:

• The cradle needs to be adapted if you undersling the tank because there needs to be a minimum of three straps when underslinging and the middle one comes right where the box is. Tinley Tech advised that with a large tank, four straps are better. You have to drill new holes in the cradle for the two middle ones. The strap supplied for the middle has to be drilled at the end and bolted into a new hole at the back of the cradle and fitted in the standard way at the front in another new hole. They also supply a fourth strap which is fixed in the same way. (See below for pic, but see the note about the way the strap needs to be fastened.)

• Assemble the cradle and tank on the bench and pre-stretch the straps before trying to do it under the vehicle. I had the warm them (to expand them a little) first, too, because it is sub-zero here at the moment. Once you stretch them by tightening them (I left them overnight), you can then take the tank off, mount the cradle and them re-mount the tank relatively easily.

• Knock up a cradle for your trolley jack so that you can use it to jack the tank in to position. This is especially important if you're working on your own (Lois has far too much sense to go out in the cold!) The tank is heavy, very ungainly and needs to be positioned accurately.

• Because the petrol system is recirculating, the petrol pump runs continuously. However, part of the modification is to fit a solenoid valve in the main petrol line. I didn't think it would be a good idea to have it running against the solenoid (actually, no need for it to be running anyway), and Tinley Tech advised fitting the relay to switch it off when running on LPG. The LPG/Petrol changeover switch isn't really up to switching a big load like the petrol pump.

• The water T-pieces provided don't fit the 101 heater pipes. The ones provided are too small. However 22mmx15x22mm copper plumbing T-pieces with short legths of copper pipe soldered in make ideal alternatives. I also fitted a bleed valve so that the vapouriser didn't end up with an airlock.

• Running the sensor wire to the coil negative didn't work for me - the gas stayed on even with the engine stopped (which it shouldn't). However, a quick phone call to Tinley Tech came up with the suggestion of wrapping the sensor wire round the coil HT lead - which works a treat!

The stages of the installation:

Preparation
First job was to remove the battery box. The LPG tank will be fitted in its place. I has already removed the air tank which normally goes behind the battery box.	This is the new position for both batteries - just behind the driver's seat. It's very handy for the alternator, so cable runs are very much shorter.	This is the complete kit (except tank and cradle) from Tinley Tech. They include pretty well everything, except basic stuff like nuts and bolts to fit the cradle, and wire.	This is the tank. 110 litre, four hole.
And this is the business end of the tank, with the unions for filling and supply, the level unit and safety valve	Here are the main connections to the tank. The gas connections (on the left is the take-off and on the right the filler) and the electrical ones too (the lpg cutoff solenoid on the take-off and the level gauge).	These are the alterations necessary for an underslung tank - the two straps are fitted to the cradle (see above)
Installation
This is the cradle in position, located where the battery box used to be...	...and here are the load spreading plates and board. It's not clear from this pic, but the floor is reinforced with 3/4" exterior ply, then the spreader plates are on top of that. I used angle iron as the spreader on the left-most bolts so that I can put in a locker divider later - the spare wheel is destined for elsewhere anyway because it takes up too much internal space.	Here's the tank installedwith the filler fitted and everything tidied. You can see the Eberspacher heater exhust re-routed and coming out to the rear of the LPG tank. Note that the additional strap, fixed just behind the grey box, if fitted wrongly - the spare bit should run under the strap, not over it at it's shown here - I had to change it.	Here are the engine compartment solenoid valves and the relay. The LPG solenoid valve is bottom left of the picture, and the petrol solenoid is at the top right, beside the fuel filter and plumbed between the sediment bowl (which isn't in the pic) and the filter. At the bottom right of the picture is the extra relay that controls the petrol solenoid and the petrol pump.
Here's the vapouriser, plumbed in to the water system. The copper thing to the right of the picture, above the vapouriser, is an air bleed valve - not included in the kit -but the place I put it is high and therefore begs for an airlock! Below the vapouriser you can just see the copper T-piece fitted to the heater pipe, providing hot water in.	And here is the T-piece plumping the vapouriser in to the heater return pipe. This is near the bottom radiator hose.	The mixers are fitted here, and you can just see the power valve and its T-piece.	Here's the changeover switch - it fits nicely in to this gap.
And here's the finished job.