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[Eddy Matthews]

After I buy an Omega, one of the first jobs on the list will be getting it converted to use LPG.... I hope to buy an estate, so what tanks are available, and where do they fit exactly?

I've heard of two - One that sits in the spare wheel well, and one that runs across behind the rear seat.... But that gives a problem - If using the first type, where the heck does the spare wheel go? I don't just want it dumped in the back of the car! And the second type of tank also presents a problem as it limits the use of the car to carry longer items with the rear seats folded down....

Am I missing something here, or are there other alternatives?

Regards
Eddy

[Craig_R]

Mate I would just buy one already converted here there is one on ebay for you to look at

And it only up the road from you in Darlinton that not 15 miles away

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-Omega-Estate-GLSi-2lt-16valve-LPG-Conversion_W0QQitemZ230092736205QQihZ013QQcategoryZ36678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Editied

And Another Little Bit further away from you

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vauxhall-omega-estate-3-litre-auto-LPG-converted_W0QQitemZ140086559436QQihZ004QQcategoryZ18206QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Craig

[Martin_1962]

Spare wheel well (Taxi Driver) or Tank in boot (me, Issunaz, JamesV6CDX eventually, Paul M)

[Craig_R]

Right On the Tanks

Spare wheel well Tanks good for not lossing any space but as you say you lose the Spare Wheel you can have your tires injected with some stuff that stops punchers and carry two cans of tire weld stuff, Also The Spare wheel well Tanks are smallish and dont hold as much Gas as the Normal Tanks in the Boot like my own.

Boot Tanks Hold alot more but as you say stops you putting long objects in the car which i have never needed to do so i am ok on that side.

You can also get Torpedo Tanks But I have only really seen these on big 4*4's slung underneth.

Craig

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks guys....

I don't want to compromise interior space, since I often have to carry a wheelchair etc - So it looks like my only option is the tank which fits into the spare wheel well....

That leaves me with the problem of the spare wheel - Or rather the lack of one! The last time I tried these tyre weld products (admittedly more than 20 yrs ago) they were crap!! And since I carry my disabled daughter, it worries me not having a spare wheel...  Have these products improved to the point where it's feasible to run without a spare? Or is there a kit to mount the spare onto the tailgate of an Omega estate (is that even possible)?

Regards
Eddy

[Craig_R]

This Might Sound Mad But My Mate Bought A Brand New HardTop Car 309cc i think anyway It never had a Spare Wheel he said that the Tires had been injected with something to stop them getting a puncher but he did say it never helpped if you had a blow out as the tire was gone or if the rim got dented and the air leaked out like that.

Also I my friend had an Estate and had the same worry about the seats going down and he had the tan mounted sideway down one side of the car lost space in the back but not loads

Craig

[Martin_1962]

Buying one ready converted - is it a good idea?

James LPG donor was not that well installed and I had issues with my last car.

I know a local chap who will assist and certify at a sensible rate (CIH IYKWIM).

It is not overly difficult, just need to be careful!

[lukie]

Just to add my 2p's worth, I know that a vertical standing LPG tank are poor, bad to keep, crap to use and are not very reliable, I know my saloon omega has a vertical spare wheel not sure about estate...., to try to keep your length space you could go for a smaller cylinder tank running from back to front on one side of the car.... have fun deciding !

My omega has a 90 litre tank sat across the back axel FUN FUN FUN

[highlorddave]

is it possible to get runflat tyres for the omega? i know some of the newer high end cars (bmw merc) have them as an optional extra. These tyres even when punctured retain their shape allowing you to get the car to a convient place for a repair, though i do think your speed is limited to 50mph when flat, though i may be wrong.

[TheBoy]

is it possible to get runflat tyres for the omega? i know some of the newer high end cars (bmw merc) have them as an optional extra. These tyres even when punctured retain their shape allowing you to get the car to a convient place for a repair, though i do think your speed is limited to 50mph when flat, though i may be wrong.

Not sure on laws for retrofitting, but factory fit, there is a legal requirement for electronic tyre pressure warnings....

[Eddy Matthews]

is it possible to get runflat tyres for the omega? i know some of the newer high end cars (bmw merc) have them as an optional extra. These tyres even when punctured retain their shape allowing you to get the car to a convient place for a repair, though i do think your speed is limited to 50mph when flat, though i may be wrong.

Not sure on laws for retrofitting, but factory fit, there is a legal requirement for electronic tyre pressure warnings....

Two problems that I can foresee here - First, it's going to be a VERY expensive option replacing four tyres with runflat ones, and secondly (as TB said) how would you know they were flat without some sort of pressure warning device?

Regards
Eddy

[Taxi_Driver]

Another alternative is.....have a tank where the spare wheel should be (estate) , you will loose about inch or two, as the boot floor has to be raised to get a big enough tank in. And then get a space saver spare and sling it in the back  

[Paul M]

I bought mine already converted and it's always run fine, no noticable difference in performance compared to petrol even up to the red line. Only a little more expensive to buy compared with a petrol version of similar age/spec so it works out hugely cheaper than doing the conversion myself.

I have the full size tank in the boot, suits me fine as it gives a range over 400 miles which a spare wheel tank won't get anywhere near. I still have my spare wheel too, it leaves a reasonable amount of space in the boot but I appreciate this won't suit everyone.

If you go for the spare wheel tank, the options are either carry a full size spare in the boot, get a suitable space-saver wheel, or carry tyre weld. I think the latter is OK as a get-me-home type repair as long as it's a minor puncture. More serious tyre damage won't be repairable. Personally I'd say it should be OK, just make sure you've got breakdown cover and ensure they will help out for punctures as some of them will charge if you don't have a spare wheel.

[Danny]

while on this subject, do you just fill them up at normal stations?? what i mean is are most usual petrol stations equipped for LPG cars??

Mine isn't LPG but my next car will be!

[Craig_R]

yep normal Petrol stations but i have heard   that people can fill them from calor gas bottles and the big bottles outside peoples houses can have a convertion kit so you can fill your car and its ment to be mega cheap.

but saying that i have also heard that the gas from Calor Gas Bottles is dirty and give your LPG system greef

Craig

[lukie]

yep normal Petrol stations but i have heard   that people can fill them from calor gas bottles and the big bottles outside peoples houses can have a convertion kit so you can fill your car and its ment to be mega cheap.

but saying that i have also heard that the gas from Calor Gas Bottles is dirty and give your LPG system greef

Craig

My 2p's worth here again, I have ran many LPG cars and my current omega run's happily on it all day long, but back to subject there are many website and tomtom downloads to aid you to find LPG station, SOME and very limited forecourts have LPG pumps, you can find it cheaper at gas shops (those that sell bottled gas) but there are genraly only open 9 - 5, secondly filling your car out of a bottle is illigal this is because no road tax has been paid on the gas on the bottle (that's why it's so cheap) the way around this (only really to be used if you don't live close to a lpg station) if you aproch your gas bottle stockist you can buy a bottle of gas to fill your car with but you would have to pay the road tax on the bottle (not many place's do this as you have to mark the gas bottle accordingly) but if you can do a deal with them..... the second thing to consider is the pump, you need a LPG pump to fill out of a bottle, this can cost upto £200 for a cheep electric one (that don't have good reviews) a decent one I belive is around £500, don't bother with a manual pump ! been there done that and what a pain it is, what ever pump you decided on you then need to consider that the connection is probably diffrent to a UK fitment so you need to buy a converter around £30 all in all filling from a bottle is only cheep if you keep doing it

sorry for the waffle, LPG is a fantastic fuel, good for the enviroment cheep to run on, but can be expensive to setup, high milage users or low MPG users benifit the most from it

not sure if it's good or avarage my 2.2 auto facelift did 233 miles for £22 on a run avrage speed 65MPH (did hit near 100 mph on a test track tho   )

[Martin_1962]

All sorts of places do LPG. BP are common, some Shell, a few Morrisons, Calor seems most common.

I fill up at Calor or Flogas in Worcester, but have used BP, Shell, and little out of the way pumps. Last holiday the only place to refill a car in the town was the LPG pump owned by the camp site owners.

I have a book - well two copies and will be donating the second copy to Mr 3 injector OMVL

[Taxi_Driver]

while on this subject, do you just fill them up at normal stations?? what i mean is are most usual petrol stations equipped for LPG cars??

Mine isn't LPG but my next car will be!

Many garages arent.....and when you find one ....BP ...Shell...they tend to charge nearly 50p a litre now....so best bet is find a cheaper supplier.....i have an account with Countywide....they have quite a few refilling stations south west....and i pay 38ppl   So pays to shop around  

[Martin_1962]

Best is 20 average, worst is 11

I have not done any long trips with this one yet apart from holidays towing

Managed 11 towing through Cornwall, strong head wind and lots of full throttle, OK doing 70 up hill getting overtaken by a flat out Escrap who then held me up after the roundabout.

Of course doing 40 over a 2 lane exposed bridge was sensible, as soon as out of wind I booted it!!!!

[Danny]

these will seem like stupid questions but i am new to all this! Having LPG, do you find yourself never using petrol anymore? are there any downsides at all with it?

also, does it increase engine noise?

[lukie]

while on this subject, do you just fill them up at normal stations?? what i mean is are most usual petrol stations equipped for LPG cars??

Mine isn't LPG but my next car will be!

Many garages arent.....and when you find one ....BP ...Shell...they tend to charge nearly 50p a litre now....so best bet is find a cheaper supplier.....i have an account with Countywide....they have quite a few refilling stations south west....and i pay 38ppl   So pays to shop around  

I use a website called petrol price (google it) you can log in and find nerest cheap out let for any fuel but this is list dons't hold every station but good if your unsure of anything

[lukie]

these will seem like stupid questions but i am new to all this! Having LPG, do you find yourself never using petrol anymore? are there any downsides at all with it?

also, does it increase engine noise?

Depends on the conversion mate, all conversions will start on petrol, a cheaper system will flick over to gas the second you hit over 2000rpm (ish) and take load off the engine so a quick rev or gear change, the better systems will not change over the LPG untill the water temp is at normal temp I think that most systems can be altered however you want it (I think)

if anyone is thinking of LPG conversion my mate does then in st helens near liverpool but he genraly only ever use's tartarini which is a good reliable kit but is a little more than most other kits

cheep kits are never the best to go for, second hand kit's and tanks are very risky unless you can buy the donar car can see the items working and have all the certificates, a good conversion will produce 2 cert's 1 for the tank (which officaly needs a retest after 10 years) and a certificate of conformity to say the system is fitted by a garage (some will have lpga on them others simply a mock up on a computer)

[The Cambelt Kid]

Hey peeps, long time no speak...

I installed LPG in my 2ltr Omega back in autumn/winter 05.  It was a good project to carry out with my dad.  To be honest I don't think the job was that difficult at all, the most difficult part was fitting in the 80ltr tank behind the seats.  This took a couple of weekends (on and off).  The pipes/injectors and wire looms were a piece of cake too, providing you have the correct tools that is!  The easiest part was the wiring.  Also as you can imagine with a car of 5 years+ I did end up giving the car a once over as I did the conversion, while that’s off I’ll do this and replace that now rather than later…. Blah blah!

Also I should mention Mark DTM as he lent a hand by responding to a few questions here and there, Cheers Mark.

Once the kit was installed I popped down to Essex and paid the supplier £50 to certify the installation.

www.autogas-micromise.com < They supplied the whole kit and an 80ltr tank for £730 delivered, bargain!

As for the performance - dropped slightly and the car runs smoother and quieter too!

Well now i am ready for the move upto a V6, maybe a 2.5/2.6, so once i move up i'll be sure to give micromise a call!