alternative fuel question
 

How difficult would it be to convert a Subaru engine to LPG, natural gas or methane? Any ideas would be great. Thanks

So far as we are aware there are two [well at least two] converted SVXs in England using LPG.

There is also a recent member in Germany has a converted car.

I once looked into getting my first SVX converted to run on LPG, but I did not proceed with the conversion. The conversion requires a certain amount of hardware, which is capital intensive.

You need a tank. If it is the cylindrical shape it will take up half the boot space and stop you from gaining any benefit from the rear seat folding down. A better solution is a toroidal [doughnut] tank in the spare wheel well. These are excellent, but hold less liquid gas than the cylindrical shape.

You need the filler mechanism and you need the feed pipes up to the engine. In the engine bay there is a convertor to turn the liquid into a feed for the injectors. Depending on the complexity of what you buy there is usually a control valve system which can incorporate a switchover mechanism. It is normal to start the engine on petrol, then switch to gas.

The cost at the time was around Euro2000, which is about $3000. The economics of the change-over did not add up.

Joe