I had been tossing the idea of propane around, mostly for a little extra power and also to see if it will cause the WMO to burn better, the thought being better fuel economy.
So, I had most of the parts from an old project and I went ahead and put the system together. Got it together and wired up last night, right now it is just activated with a dash switch and that is working pretty well. I'm not sure yet what my final design will be, may use a boost switch or maybe a micro type switch on the throttle linkage for activation.
The way its put together is: 20 lb tank in bed, acetylene regulator on the tank set at 15 lbs, 12 volt solenoid valve attached to the outlet of the regulator and is wired to the dash toggle switch. 14 feet of 1/2" hard plastic line, inserted inside old garden hose to protect it, and that runs up under in front of the firewall on the drivers side. There I have a small 1/4" thread regulator to "fine tune" the system. From the small regulator I used 3/8" fuel hose to the top of the airbox right next to the filter restriction gauge.
I started at zero flow and kept working up from there. After fiddling with it for 30 minutes or so on the road last night and then more tuning this morning I am pretty close to having it set, will do more fine tuning with a load on it. There is a very noticeable seat of the pants difference in acceleration. I set it to where on level ground at 50 mph, holding the throttle in a steady position, toggle the system on and it will gain about 5 mph. I did back it off a little this AM as I could hear a very small amount of change in engine sound with it on/off.
I have a trip coming up in about 2 weeks where I am pulling my car hauler and an old truck on it for about 800 miles. Last trip I took like that was a week ago, with a similar load and was for about 175 miles. Had another truck body on the trailer and if I figured right I averaged about 7 - 8 mpg. So, I'm hoping the LP will make for a better burn (running mostly hydraulic oil right now, and I think that it's flash point is higher than motor oil) I will post up my results when I get back for the trip.
Now I hafta figure out how I can haul enough WMO for a 1600 mile round trip....:lol:
Next project is to get my pyrometer and boost gauges installed.
So, I had most of the parts from an old project and I went ahead and put the system together. Got it together and wired up last night, right now it is just activated with a dash switch and that is working pretty well. I'm not sure yet what my final design will be, may use a boost switch or maybe a micro type switch on the throttle linkage for activation.
The way its put together is: 20 lb tank in bed, acetylene regulator on the tank set at 15 lbs, 12 volt solenoid valve attached to the outlet of the regulator and is wired to the dash toggle switch. 14 feet of 1/2" hard plastic line, inserted inside old garden hose to protect it, and that runs up under in front of the firewall on the drivers side. There I have a small 1/4" thread regulator to "fine tune" the system. From the small regulator I used 3/8" fuel hose to the top of the airbox right next to the filter restriction gauge.
I started at zero flow and kept working up from there. After fiddling with it for 30 minutes or so on the road last night and then more tuning this morning I am pretty close to having it set, will do more fine tuning with a load on it. There is a very noticeable seat of the pants difference in acceleration. I set it to where on level ground at 50 mph, holding the throttle in a steady position, toggle the system on and it will gain about 5 mph. I did back it off a little this AM as I could hear a very small amount of change in engine sound with it on/off.
I have a trip coming up in about 2 weeks where I am pulling my car hauler and an old truck on it for about 800 miles. Last trip I took like that was a week ago, with a similar load and was for about 175 miles. Had another truck body on the trailer and if I figured right I averaged about 7 - 8 mpg. So, I'm hoping the LP will make for a better burn (running mostly hydraulic oil right now, and I think that it's flash point is higher than motor oil) I will post up my results when I get back for the trip.
Now I hafta figure out how I can haul enough WMO for a 1600 mile round trip....:lol:
Next project is to get my pyrometer and boost gauges installed.