Continental OA331 Gasser Conversion?

[ems4ty]

Is it possible to convert a Continental OA331 Gasser motor to use Propane or LPG? If so, is it possible to make it a dual fuel using both propane/LPG and Gas (1 at a time of course). Thinking about gas mileage, which would be cheaper to operate?

Just curious. I was thinking whether or not it is feesable to do or worthwile to do but haven't really investigated the possibility yet.

Thought I would ask...

Thanks,

 

[DDoyle]

Lots of engines of this vintage were offered in LP configurations - and the OA-331 (which is a Reo design, but more were needed than Reo could make - so Continental was licensed to make copies) was heavily promoted for commercial use. I'll look through some of my vintage ads and see what I can find.

Regards,
David Doyle

 

[ems4ty]

That would be great! I was curious if this was done or not. Don't really see why it couldn't be converted other than possibly a compression ratio issue....

Thanks again David...

 

[LC]

You will lose a couple of miles per gallon with LP. But here in Illinois LP is at least $1 a gallon cheaper so it evens out. If you could get the conversion pieces for cheap I would do it. We have several engines running on LP and they work great. The biggest problem with dual fuel is the carburetor gaskets will dry out when you are running on LP and then it won't run on gas. The biggest problem with LP only is making sure you have enough in the tank to get somewhere and back.

 

[DDoyle]

So far I've confirmed that in 1952 Reo offered propane-powered commercial trucks. As the Gold Comet (OA-331) was one of their most popular engines - I'd say the info and technology is there.

I'll keep looking.

DD

 

[ems4ty]

Any leads would be awesome. Next will be to try and find parts or kits or anything. I'm getting excited already....

 

[LC]

Do a search on propane conversions and you will find several companies that will help you out. I looked on ebay and there are plenty of parts under propane and impco. An Impco 425 mixer (carburetor) is probably bigger than you need but is the most popular. We had a 637 cubic inch GMC that had a 425 mixer because it only ran at 2200 rpm. I will look at a carburetor from an 0A-331 and see what options you have for getting the mixer bolted up to it.

 

[JasonS]

The propane version of the OA331 had much higher compression (8.2 vs 6.4). I would imagine that you'd lose some horsepower without increasing your compression.