98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

[Nuddy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nuddy]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

just out of interest how much was it to do the conversion?? I'm a bioer but always asking questions (knowledge is power).
Cheers nick.

Since Fitian radically undercharges for his labour it would be misleading to reveal how little I paid for the entire conversion.
I understand that the major components are available from various sources at various prices. So best to just list the major components and leave it at that.
So we have 2 heat exchangers with insulating covers, 1 filter with priming pump, pollack valve, start-up tank, switch, led lights, fittings, hoses, brackets, hose clamps. I think that's it, have I missed anything.

[RODEONICK Too Busy To Bio. Find all posts View Profile Close RODEONICK]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

well rough componentry prices just a ball park??

cheers nick.

[geewizztoo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close geewizztoo]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Look them up on Ebay

[froggo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close froggo]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Hi RODEONICK,

I'm doing my conversion at the moment and all I can say about the parts list is it can change greatly between diff types of vehicles.

I'm doing a Toyota HJ45 Troopy and the difference between this vehicle and 98 Troopy is very different. After looking at Fitians toyota conversions I thought it would easy but not so.

The simple price difference between a brass 1/2 inch straight barb and a 1/2 inch elbow can be as much as $10 depending on the quality of products used. When you then spread this over 2xfphe with 4 fittings each. The cav filter has two. If you are using a pollak or ball valve[ball valve will use 3 extra fittings]. The tank setup of vehicle, I needed two 1/2 inch elbows here. The fuel line required. I used 6 metres of 1/2 inch insulated fuel/oil pressure line to get from my tank to engine bay at a cost of $60. One of Fitians Toyota conversions did not require this part.

I'm by no means an expert of any kind but I see the wisdom of not giving a price until the system has been designed for your individual vehicle/purpose.

The only way to get a set price is to buy a kit conversion but they don't always include fittings because they are aware that each vehicle is different.

Froggo.

[RODEONICK Too Busy To Bio. Find all posts View Profile Close RODEONICK]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

you guys all seem to be mis-understanding my intensions. it was purely for knowledge i'm a bioer and not planing to change. i wan't an average price to convert is it say $500 or $2000 ??? i really have no idea.
sorry i didn't make myself clearer.
cheers nick.

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Budget around $2000.

Yeah sure ... I wish.

that would have been nice.

I can try to get the car to do the dishes and maybe work as a part-time microwave for $2000 .

Thank you Paul, David, geewizztoo and Froggo. I do appreciate your input and your kindness.

Cheers

[Nuddy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nuddy]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Look them up on Ebay

Or have a look on Marcus's site (vegicars) and check out his kit prices, although I'm not sure that the kit includes everything you need as his kits are not make/model specific. That means that you can't just buy a kit and expect to get everything you need (hoses cut to length, brackets made hose clamps supplied etc.).
If one wanted to do an exact copy of, say, my conversion, I guess Fitian could supply a 'true kit' and could give a price for that kit.
I am hoping to do a conversion myself for my son some time in the future and when I do I will source the parts that I need for the best prices I can get which will probably be through Fitian. He appears to be able to supply at slightly lower prices than the other suppliers I have seen.

[Guest Close David]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

From What I have seen, the kits on that site are ridiculously expensive for what they are and the individual components are probably worse. There are filters being offered on there for 3 times the price you can buy them from retail Auto parts suppliers and things like HE's are easily 50% more than Fitian sells them for. I'm not sure what the freight charges are from the site but you can bet they match the rest of the pricing structure.
Some of the kits IMHO would also be very dubious in their ability to provide reliable and long IP/Engine life and given the instructions for running them, would be unnecessary on some vehicles anyway!

If one were considering a kit for a Proper 2 tank conversion rather than a quick and questionable stick on job, From the DIY kits I have seen, it would be the same cost or precious little more to have an installer supply and fit everything for you. That of course doesn't even take into account the Experience someone that has done so many cars has in knowing what traps to look for and the soundness in their overall engineering that I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't be up to in their own fabrication skills.

There are also a lot of variables from car to car that would always leave some amount of modification being necessary. For those not comfortable with doing their own conversion from scratch, I think in many cases a kit would give them a lot of grief anyway. The beauty of an installed conversion is that certain aspects can be tailored to different peoples driving habits, location conditions and preferences of how they like the thing to be set up.

It pays to shop around for kits and components even on Ebay where there can be a big difference in price and quality of the various Veg related parts on offer. Even shipping charges can be a big variable.

[RODEONICK Too Busy To Bio. Find all posts View Profile Close RODEONICK]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

thanks for that info guys.
Fitian i have no doubt that you could actually make a car into a microwave. The attension to detail i keep reading about is amazing keep up the good work.

a bit off the topic would a heat exchanger be of any benefit to a bio vehicle. some ebay sellers are saying that they are for bio cars too????

i already have 1 heat exchanger but that is for my bush shower.( the missus loves it)
cheers nick.

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Fitian i have no doubt that you could actually make a car into a microwave. The attension to detail i keep reading about is amazing keep up the good work. .

Thanks Nick for your kind words mate.

a bit off the topic would a heat exchanger be of any benefit to a bio vehicle. some ebay sellers are saying that they are for bio cars too????

i already have 1 heat exchanger but that is for my bush shower.( the missus loves it)
cheers nick.

I personally can not answer this question in depth. I am sure Dr. geewizztoo can give a good answer.

From experience with using bio. It can get thick during winter and it would be good to gently warm it up.

A twin coil heat exchanger can be great for this job. You can use one coil before the filter and the other coil for the return line "if your engine have a return to tank" if not then use the other coil for either after the filter or for a shower/hot water source when you go camping. It is very compact.

I do have some in my stock at a surprisingly low price. $120 ea.

See photo.

cheers

[RODEONICK Too Busy To Bio. Find all posts View Profile Close RODEONICK]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

I find some statements made about HE's and Bio very questionable at best.
I saw one ad a little while back that said the installation of a HE on a bio fueled Vehicle could help with cold starting.

I don't know whether that statement came from someone who has no clue what the heck they are talking about or they are just trying to come up with some rubbish to push their wares on people but it is obviously illogical and completely misleading!

i agree but what grates at my nerves is that certain members of this great forum are the culprits of this misleading drivel and they would obviously know better.
The cold starting statment was what i saw on ebay, What hogwash.


any way if bio is warmed and retured to the tank isn't that the main contributing factor in scum building up in tanks??? Or is that only for the vego cars??

cheers guys and thanks as always for your valuable knowledge and opinions
Nick

[tbird650 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tbird650]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

a bit off the topic would a heat exchanger be of any benefit to a bio vehicle. some ebay sellers are saying that they are for bio cars too????

There's a seller in Palmerston North, NZ that has a heat exchanger for diesel and vege cars. In the ad he talks about viscocity reduction being of benefit.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-136147941.htm

An Auckland seller's claim was that raising temp, lowered the flash point.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-133552412.htm

Personally I wonder how effective such a short HE would be, especially considering the amount of fuel passing through. My tests showed 1 litre per 3 minutes was returned to tank at idle. So open road running, the time may be halved or so?? OK, it fits into the top hose where the temps are perhaps highest but surely such a small surface area is not enough?

For comparison my vegevan HIH is 5metres long.

My van definitely goes better on diesel once it's warmed up....there's no doubt about that.

What do readers think?

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-136147941.htm

An Auckland seller's claim was that raising temp, lowered the flash point.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-133552412.htm

Personally I wonder how effective such a short HE would be, especially considering the amount of fuel passing through. My tests showed 1 litre per 3 minutes was returned to tank at idle. So open road running, the time may be halved or so?? OK, it fits into the top hose where the temps are perhaps highest but surely such a small surface area is not enough?

What do readers think?

Personally I wonder how effective to have a heat exchanger fitted to the top radiator hose to start with? Is there a constant coolant flow there? Besides it is too short.

The twin coil has 60 cm of coil and it is connectd parallel on the heater cycle where constant flow of coolant is going through all the time.

.

[Nuddy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nuddy]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

What have the last few messages to do with 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion?
Can we please start a new thread when we get this far off track?
I there some way that we can move messages that have neen 'mis-posted' so that anyone new to the forum can expect to read information and opinions relevant to the topic?

[Robert Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Robert]

Re: 98 Land Cruiser Troopy Conversion

Paul, you are completely right, but we (including me) are lazy moderators. These posts can be moved into a new thread by a moderator to make it easier for everyone else who browses these forums to find what they are looking for. Unfortunately, we spend more of our time these days deleting spam, approving new posts that are not spam, but were still captured as such and occasionally putting out flames. One day I'd like the forum to get more organised and less haphazard, but it is difficult to still keep the casual and friendly nature of it organised while doing so.
I guess it is about finding a balance and in this case, it does lean towards the haphazard, but I am drifting off topic again...