Slick 60's

Wanted to see if the donor trucks engine was any good....
390 set up for propane
Figured out the clusterphuq of wires under the hood
And got it to turn over....
Took off air cleaner & gave it a sniff of either...
Fired up & ran for a second...
Well that's GOOD ! ..... Got spark and everything ....
Found me a BBQ bottle of propane and some connections
Hooked up the old hose....
Sniff sniff..... Must be a little leak somewhere ...
Oh well... It ain't that bad
Opened up the door to the shop
And cranked up a fan
Went back and gave it a try...
Started right up... Sounds good !!
Then.....
Then......
Big ole fireball. In my face....
Eyebrows... Some hair.... Arm hair....
All singed.... And that putrid burnt hair smell
I moved pretty fast for being 300 pounds with bad knee
I Assessed the situation quite quickly...
Running engine... Big 5 foot fireball in engine bay
So I walked over to the propane bottle and shut it off....
End of problem
And then I justed laughed
And had a " holy $hit ! Did that just happen ? Thought "
Sat down... Fixed the problem... Bad hose.....
Started it back up... Runs dam good... 50 psi oil...
Some people jump out of airplanes with parachutes
I work on old stuff... Nuff said
(I don't need any "quit being an idiot comments)
Hasn't worked on me the last 50 odd some years

I sheepishly admit that I have been a volunteer firefighter for 33 years...

According to rumors, a propane burner will be extremely clean inside and have less wear than a comparable gasoline motor.

Oh, quick thinking and dumb luck have been my guardian Angel many times. What's life without a little thrill.

Saw the video on FB. Sounds good.

Dan

do it again! i missed it. lol

Did it burn the hair up your nose Pat ?

Alan Mclennan wrote:Did it burn the hair up your nose Pat ?

No...just what was sticking out of it

Huge ball of flame right in front of me
But I jerked backwards pretty dang fast !
Eyebrows & lashes trimmed too
Hands and wrist hairless.


Just one of those things that could have been way worse than what it was
A great thing to tell a story about at night shift

My dad ran his construction company trucks on propane. They run extremely clean, the oil would never get dirty looking. I suspect you have a great engine. You also might have a market for the conversion parts - the carb and regulator. I converted a bunch of vehicles over to propane for him, real easy. Just disconnect the fuel pump, replace the carb, mount a tank and regulator and plumb. At the time in the 80's he was paying under a buck per gallon for bulk propane, when gas was at least 2x that. We used to use the grill tanks to get a truck back to the yard if someone ran out on the road.

Have to say a video of your experience would have been priceless!

I plan on keeping the propane carb on it
Already have found a tank I'm going to mount in the bed

I pulled the dipstick and the oil looks like it had just been changed
The inside of the exhaust pipes very nice looking
No use in fighting modern gasoline problems with a setup like that !

Just pulled apart a turbo 460 propane fueled industrial engine of indeterminate origin. It was unbelievably clean! Luckily the propane parts were missing, I'm kinda attached to what little hair I still have! Well, truth in advertising; maybe not so much the ear. nose, and back applications
Paul

What is involved in switching from gas to propane?

Mike

Mike this truck had it on it when I got it

No gasoline carb on it... Just a propane unit only (about same size)
A regulator that is the size of a headlight mounted under the hood
The regulator is also plumbed to the heater hoses
Propane tank (I'm mounting it in the bed)
And that's about it
I talked to a guy that runs several trucks on propane
Says he really likes it

Propane about 1/2 price as gasoline...
If I can get 8 mpg... That would be like getting 16 with gasoline

Hey Pat, welcome to the LP club......sounds like you have been initiated.
Later

Tanglefoot wrote:Hey Pat, welcome to the LP club......sounds like you have been initiated.
Later

Well... After our conversation we had.... I was kinda hoping you
Wouldn't have seen this post !

But you know the old saying.....

"Kids will be kids"

Saw the video. Favorite part was "I'm getting my a$$ back". Smart lady.

SPark

Good stuff. Thanks for the laugh.