Gas Injection Conversion Territory Ghia Turbo

[cobramad]

Heres the latest developments:

After modding the base program, she fired up first time and settled down quickly to a nice idle, as expected. There was one small water leak at the outlet under the thermo housing, from the o ring and I was spewing, to say the least. However, this healed itself after a drive or two, so I was most pleased. I have to say that the in-bumper air intake is effin noisy and lets everyone around you know then you are getting serious. So far, that's the biggest annoyance of the whole project and Im hoping to shut the thing up a little so my intentions are less obvious. Apart from slightly different piping under the bonnet, there is little to give the conversion away. My camera was in the missus's handbag which happened to be stolen in a smash and grab effort on our BF wagon, despite being buried under a mountain of baby gear, behind the drivers seat...curse those low-life mofo's..

A good mate and myself spend a couple of hours street tuning the Terry, logging and making changes as desired, only to find that the GSS 342 Walbro is not keeping up at higher rpms and boost pressures, beginning to lean off to low to mid 12's AFR's.. Come to think of it, the pump did begin to get noisy a couple of months ago so Im a bit disappointed that its crapped out with probably only 15ks of use and over a time period of maybe 12 months..

The upshot of all this meant that we could only use limited boost the harder we revved it, down to 11psi. Once the pump is replaced then we can lean on it a bit harder and see how it goes. At this stage if you plant it off the line, it smokes the front tyres and just pisses off. Seat of the pants testing is very positive so Im hoping for a trip to the Motorplex for some times. Even now, probably 3/4 tuned, its a ball of fun, great for flogging the VE V8 Brigade who really dont know whats beaten them, with not a visual clue, bar the bonnet scoop..

All this new-found speed had exposed shortcomings with the handling and suspension... Im running heavier King springs and standard shocks and bars, but now it gets the sways up much more, given the higher speeds reached, much earlier than before.. The only front shockies available for AWD Terrys are the Pedders Sports Riders, but I have had bad experiences with this brand and type before, so Im trying to avoid going there if at all possible. There are also uprated stabiliser bars available so theres another option.... Its just that Ive expended my available budget and trying to prise more cash out of the Financial Controller wont be easy, or a popular move! ha ha ha..

There is heaps of room to remount the gas converters and filters, with the gas ecu mounted on top of the factory pcm... sweet.. so theres the next thing on the to-do list

I would love to fit the LSD center that's in the shed but Im hoping it doesnt freak out the DSC or upset the traction control, seeing as it all works seamlessly at present.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Mal K

[cobramad]

OK, heres the latest update to the ongoing Territory saga. After the disappointment experienced in tuning for power and having problems with rising AFR's. I left things as they were and just remained discontented using it as a power limited daily driver. This was cool for a while then I began to notice performance getting doughier and softer, along with an ever increasing squealling from my highly suspect forum purchased fuel pump. Being a lazy type, I figured that now was the time to do something about it.

Lo and behold, the next day whilst hooking up a car trailer to the Terry, it just about stalled, something it has never done before. It recovered and kept on running but the writing was finally on the wall.

Back to VPW and after delliberating for a short time, I ordered an Aeromotive 340 Series Stealth in-tank pump, part # 11140. I chose this pump after checking out the specs and canvassing the opinions of the other Evo10 guys I hang with. At this stage, Im set to fit it next Sat morning then head out for a quiet time retuning. It would be nice to squeeze as much boost into the old girl as the pump will allow, of course with respect to safety and engine longivity.

[cobramad]

After a fully hectic festive season, I finally bit the bullet last Saturday and fitted the new Aeromotive Stealth fuel pump. Having to remove the fuel tank AGAIN was not the nicest way to begin the next round of mods and retuning, but unfortunately necessary in this case. The new pump is exactly the same dimensionally as the old shagged Walbro making the change-out more simple than the original swap. It is now heaps quieter than the dying Walbro and so onwards to a retune with more boost.

I jury-rigged a boost gauge and wedged it into the console for a reference when tuning so its time for the fun part to start all over again. Software, private closed road and AFR gauge and away we go! Here are a few pics of the job.

http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p534/cobramad/TerritoryFuelPumpPics/

[Para045]

Hey cobramad, can you tell me your thoughts on how the std Terra Turbo went after your conversion and do you feel it was worth it?

We've had a TTG for a few years now and love it, mostly the missus just drives it around town and as she only works part time the fuel costs aren't too bad. We do use it for holidays away down south etc and to Geraldton etc which it does with ease but with the price of fuel I was curious on whether an LPG conversion would be worth it We have an old EL ex cop V8 on gas and that goes well so was thinking about whether doing the conversion on the TTG would be worth the $$ and hassle Am I correct that you can't use the 3rd row seat with the conversion? What about a donut tank in the wheel whel as we contemplated one when we did the Falcon?

Edited 13/08/12 07:32 AM by Para045

[ratter]

With a JTG install, you can still use the third row seats, but they sit possibly 10 mm higher

[cobramad]

Hi Para,

If you are doing decent kms, then a gas conversion makes sense, however, I'd reckon that if you did less than 25-30K per year, its probably not really worth the hassle. Having said that, its nice to travel and take advantage of the cheaper fuel, Ive found that over the last 3mths, LPG prices have risen from 55c/pl to almost 90c/pl, taking some of the shine off having an LPG install.

I put my spare wheel on the roof, using a special roof rack that fits the wheel only when travelling away and using all the seats, otherwise it sits in the back for that unexpected moment.

I guess that it comes down to what you want, the versatility of dual fuel vs the cost of establishing an effective quality LPG system. The only way to fly these days is with a Liquid Injection System just like JTG do. Its state of the art in aftermarket LPG.

Hope this helps a bit,

Cheers, Mal K