To further the discussion on propane (LPG) powered MORGANs, Steve is close to
the truth on the history. It was never a question of whether a gasoline
powered Rover V8 with Catalytic Converters could pass the EPA standards. One
has only to look at the numbers of privately imported (Gray Market) MORGANs of
the period to verify this.
It was, as Steve said, the amount of testing necessary to certify the gasoline
powered car which drove the conversion to LPG. A secondary consideration was
the fuel tank placement. It was doubted that the fuel tank placement behind
the rear axle would pass the DOT requirements. For various reasons (including
the life expectancy of 1970s fuel cells) a fuel cell was not considered a
viable option at that time.
Bill Fink / ISIS Imports worked closely with the MORGAN Works to develop the
necessary under scuttle roll hoops and the door beams with reinforced hinges
and latches as well as the other DOT requirements. In fact, most of these
modifications have become either standard on new MORGANs or are now options.
It is interesting to note that when CANTAB was formed in the mid 1980s, their
stated purpose was to provide gasoline MORGANs in the U.S.A. They soon became
bogged down in the bureaucracy and also went to LPG conversion.
In the late 1980s California, one of Bill's largest markets refused to accept
the EPA exemptions for LPG and required just about the same testing as for
gasoline. At this time Bill "bit the bullet" and conducted the necessary tests
(including crash tests to certify the fuel tank placement) and has had MORGANs
certified for gasoline for several years now. I believe CANTAB has as well,
but I do not know for sure.
So the bottom line is as Steve said. The LPG issue was never to do with
cleanliness, but was all to do with bureaucracy.
Gerry Willburn
P.S. My son's wife Lynn has had a propane 4/4 since new in 1978 and is quite
pleased with it other than the need for a bit of discipline in planning fuel
stops.
------------------------------
Date: 12/17/96 3:14 PM
To: Willburn, Gerry
From: Steve Manwell
............................................................. The whole
point (as I
understand it) of setting up Morgans imported to the US to run on
propane in the late '70's and early '80's was that EPA required very
extensive testing on gasoline powered engines with catalytic
converters before they would approve an engine for sale here.
Under EPA rules at the time, a car could be run on propane with out
adding the catalyst and associated controls and testing requirements
were less extensive.
Whatever one may think about emissions from propane engines, I have
heard from reliable sources at the Morgan factory that they are happy
that Bill Fink/Isis Imports kept them in the US market with the
propane conversion before Rover re-entered the market with an approved
gasoline engine.
--Steve Manwell
smanwell@xenergy.com
'54 +4, '64 Rover 3 litre, '68 2000TC
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