propane questions.

broncomania

broncomania

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Location
ASHEBORO,NC.
im building a 74 bronco with a 90 model 5.0 mustang engine.
im not using the efi because of having to deal with a lot of hooking up everything. carbs suck for off roading so im thinking propane is simple and will be perfect for my wheeling machine. my concern is the power it makes. will it make power like a carb or efi ? i dont want to spend the money on it and cant run the speed limit with it. im propane LD so im looking for some good information on it. thanks, mike. :beer:
 
i can't tell you about highway speeds but i can tell you that i didn't even notice the difference in power going from a carb. to propane and it ran so good afterwards that i wouldn't have cared if i could tell a difference. i can still smoke the tires off from it and i am running a chevy 350 with 38 inch tires and 5.13 gears on fullsize framed buggy
 
ill be running hp60 and 10.25 full width , 4 link , 4.88 gears / lockers and 38" or 39" tires. late model 5.0 / c4 trans.
full cage ,sliders, beadlocks, 15,000 lb warn .:popcorn:
 
The 302 will run good with the propane system. I addressed most of your questions in PM, but with the set up you are posting, you will be fine.
A couple of recommendations would be to have that C-4 built or go with a C-6. A c-4 in stock form is just not as strong as I would want. But it can be built to handle power and torque you will make. Having enough fluid and keeping it cool will go a long way.

Keep the build up to date with pics!
 
If your carb is running at 100%, you'll lose power. Propane just doesn't have the energy of gasoline.

But since most carbs aren't, you likely won't notice a difference.
 
That is a good pint, when I switched mine I had had a crappy Quadrajet, also a Holly and a Edlebrock, so I reaped a positive experience when installed. Especially when I was on a hill and wanted more throttle and I depress the pedal, and it's there. No more coughing, no more spitting, no more sputtering
 
I am running on propane and will not be going that route again. If your engine already has the FI then go that way. The wiring is a pain right now. Filling propane tanks all the time will be a pain for years. At places like tellico the nearest fill station is 30 minutes away and open 8-5, right while you want to be on the trail.
 
Down&Dirty said:
I am running on propane and will not be going that route again. If your engine already has the FI then go that way. The wiring is a pain right now. Filling propane tanks all the time will be a pain for years. At places like tellico the nearest fill station is 30 minutes away and open 8-5, right while you want to be on the trail.
Click to expand...

Easy enough to resolve, take enough tanks to last your whole trip
 
That isn't always possible. I usually can only get enough time off to go for 2 days. Doesn't make sense to have 6-10 tanks if I almost always only need the three. Also, sometimes you might want to go and night run, well depending on how that goes you could need more tanks. Trails could be really long and use more fuel. It isn't the worst thing to deal with, but when considering going to propane I believe it is an important thing to consider.
 
& how much gasoline would you carry? maybe a 55 gallon drum:shaking:
 
I go with two tanks for each day. often I never switch over because I don't run out a whole tank. 8 to 10 hours of wheeling a day is enough for me. Lots of times, I don't get back until dark. Running that long, and then coming back to camp is all part of the experience. I figure night runs just dig into the next days wheeling should something happen. I have loaded 3 of the fuller partial tanks before to run off of no issues, gives me a day or so more wheeling.
 
if you hava all the fuel injection stuff you'd be crazy not to put it on there, lots of places will sell a stand alone harness or edit a factory harness to work. You'd probably have the same money in it as you would propane and no one will get sick behind you on the trail.
 
Good point... my stand-alone harness (OEM Modified by Jim's performance) has all of 4 wires to hook up, basically a ground, constant, switched, and starter. Toss in a ~$100 fuel pump & filter setup(e2000), and you're good to go.

If that engine is missing a ton of stuff though, it's more understandable.

Only bigwoody gets sick from propane.. :flipoff2:
 
BIGWOODY said:
if you hava all the fuel injection stuff you'd be crazy not to put it on there, lots of places will sell a stand alone harness or edit a factory harness to work. You'd probably have the same money in it as you would propane and no one will get sick behind you on the trail.
Click to expand...

X2

I could not find a place to modify my stock 5.0 harness though. I posted up on pirate, and nobody knew of anywhere that worked on them, so I had to do it myself. I've got more info on wiring harnesses and who sells plug and play ones etc. Pm me if interested.

Danny
 
drkelly said:
X2
I could not find a place to modify my stock 5.0 harness though. I posted up on pirate, and nobody knew of anywhere that worked on them, so I had to do it myself. I've got more info on wiring harnesses and who sells plug and play ones etc. Pm me if interested.
Danny
Click to expand...
pm sent.
 
pm'd ya back

DK
 
Jeff B said:
& how much gasoline would you carry? maybe a 55 gallon drum:shaking:
Click to expand...

Actually, there are new places called gas stations. You can go and insert a credit card and fill up. They are popping up all over the place. Propane fill stations on the other hand are not because now everyone just goes and exchanges their grill tanks. :shaking:

If I had a carb'd engine I would think long and hard about going propane or fuel injection. If I had FI I could save some braincells and keep it. Electronics suck, but sometime you have to think outside the 4x4 bubble and consult drag racers and hot rodders if you want to modify a harness.
 
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