V8 in a series SQUIRTED with LPG

[Huff]

Hi all.

I am going to put a 3.5l v8 engine into my 88" series (some of you may have seen the other thread on the series forum about making a bit of a mad mean machine but it would mean chassis cutting)

Anyway. I am going with the 3.5 because I am not going to need any bigger and I understand it to be the strongest engine?

I fully intend to squirt it (looking to buy one of the kits that come with the Megasquit unit built up with the EDIS8 kit) and I want to LPG it.

So what do I need? I understand that I will need a set up with switch-able maps for the LPG/Petrol side? But what about on the engine itself?

I am looking at 3.5l EFI engines on ebay, I haven't decided on who's LPG kit I am going to buy yet but does it come with a second set of injectors or does it just use the something attached to the throttle body (similar to LPG to carburettors?)

I have gleaned a few pointers for various bits but I just guess I need someone to tell me how it all fits together.

If anyone can help me with this?

Thanks

N

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Welcome to the wonderfull (Infectious) world of Megasquirting .

OK, few things

3.5 is not the strongest V8 IMHO - The strongest is a crossbolted 3.9 and the flapper system is truly vile

I would run a mile screaming from MS a Flapper, far far better to do it to a Hotwire system.

Yes it (Flapper Megasquirty) can be done, but a Pig can also be made to wear stocking & suspenders - but its still a pig

HTH

Nige

[bobtail84]

Huff, see HFH or myself for MS stuff but I would find a 3.9 hotwire to put in the motor or 4.2 or 4.6 for the right money... then get the MS up and running with the extras in the ECU again see HFH or me for that then we can sort out the LPG. I have and have fitted single point as it's simple and you can get home with out the MS ECU if you have a problem. I have 2 injected LPG projects on the go and MegaSquirt has no problem running the system but you will need to make another small loom for the LPG but that's part of the fun.

HTH

Jeff

[TheRecklessEngineer]

Mine's a squirted 3.5 in an 88, running a flapper manifold/plenum/loom.

As far as I can recall, the only real problem was the resistor pack. But there's no reason you can't just cut it out and join the wires together (turn on PWM current limiting in MS though!)

[FridgeFreezer]

There's not a huge difference (in the bits you actually keep) between flapper & hotwire. The flapper injectors are a bit naff in design but as reliable as anything else, as James says you can ditch the resistor pack and use PWM if you want, or you can ditch the flapper injectors & fuel rail and bolt a hotwire set in place. I paid £10 for the last set (complete inlet manifold) so not a big deal really! The ECU's and airflow meters you can ditch / sell. As long as the wiring loom is in good nick that's the main thing, and where flapper falls down is all the looms are that much older now.

See Nige or Jeff for an ECU, I know Nige also has all the brackets for coil packs & trigger wheels and whatnot, not sure what Jeff's got?

There's a load of internet balls talked about which V8 is "best", they all have pros & cons but ultimately there's no substitute for cubes, the bigger ones make more power and the later ones are stronger as long as you don't get one with a slipped a liner. By now most that were going to fail have done so & been binned or fixed, doesn't stop people blaming liner slip for every possible fault though. Bang for buck the 3.9 still looks like a good bet as there's enough rusty 3.9 classics out there.

LPG kit wise, I'd look for 2nd hand bits as they seem to be pretty cheap. You either want a basic one which can run independently as per Jeff's setup, or an injection setup which you can run from the MS (so you can ditch the native ECU and associated tomfoolery). The trouble is most LPG kits are designed to bodge their way round factory ECU's and usually end up ruining the entire system by splicing into all the various ECU wires and performing tricks like cutting the injectors out and replacing them with a dummy load to keep the factory ECU happy. Even if done really well (which they usually aren't), it's adding loads of extra points of failure to the system, but with MS it's totally unnecessary and you can throw a lot of the components of the average LPG kit in the bin.

I don't know where you are in the world but it may be worth speaking to Martin @ Range Rover Recycled Parts (07885 025782) as he will have good engines, EFI bits and probably take-off LPG kits for sensible money. Could pay you to just shop round on eBay for a complete rusty classic on LPG.

[ThreeSheds]

In my ever so humble opinion, a serpentine 3.9 V8, with a simple LPG system and Megajolt would tick all the boxes, and save on money and setup time too...