question Austin K9 - Fuel economy?

[Kloud Nine]

Hi Folks,

Just a quicky......

 

An Austin K9 fitted with:

A) A 4l diesel engine (Leyland or similar).

Or

B) The original straight 6 petrol engine with LPG conversion.

 

Which would give better £ per mile on a run?

 

Any ideas?

 

Cheers,

 

C.

[paulbrook]

Cost per mile - about the same. A truck I work on is a bedford (28hp) with gas and it runs a treat, and according to the owner cost per mile is the same or better than a bedford diesel of the same era.

 

Cost of conversion - about the same I think give or take.

 

After that you takes your choice. I would prefer a petrol six to a diesel any day, but that's just me.

 

I am amazed that not more folks put gas conversions on these old petrol engines though; reduce running costs whilst maintaining originality. Then again the miles maybe don't justify the capital outlay.

[Kloud Nine]

Thanks for the reply. As I had hoped being a petrol head! What sort of mpg should i expect and what speed do you cruise at by the way?

 

Cheers,

 

C.

[paulbrook]

Ha ha ...........

 

Its a heck of a long time since I drove a K9 - and then it would have been grinding up and down fells in low range and grossly overloaded with limestone rock so I can't help with what to expect MPG wise. As an outside guess (and others will tell you better) I would consider anything in double figures an exceptionally good result!

 

As for cruising speed again I cannot be specific but with the petrol in a K9 should trundle along happy as larry at about 40.

 

As long as you have not got about 3 ton of rock on the back....................

 

K9 owners - lets hear from you!!

[mcspool]

Containing less energy per litre, count on about 10% higher fuel consumption when running on LPG.

 

Here in Holland lots of GMCs and Dodges run on LPG.

[griff66]

if it helps hope for 11 mpg expect less!

[Kloud Nine]

Blimey! I was hoping for 15! Still, better than a Zil131!

[minidaffy]

hi,

I will in the very near future be lpg converting my petrol k9....

I have already raised the compression ratio to help with this.

I shall keep you updated with the results!

Unfortunatly I haven't driven it very far yet so can't tell you you the mpg on petrol!!

martin

[Big ray]

I would stick with originality, that`s how they were meant to be, if you drive correctly (Not thrashing it through the gearbox or sticking in the low gears for protracted periods of time) you could expect to get 12 to 14 mpg. Its a long time since I drove them in Germany (1950s) but I thought that they were a very nice little truck, just a bit skittish on the back end, particularly on the German cobbled streets in the wet.

[wally dugan]

When the the K9 was been trialed its range of action was 310 miles on roads on a full tank of petrol 20 gallons at a average speed of 27 mph l would expect to get at least 12mpg

[Kloud Nine]

Thanks for the replies folks.

 

C.

[scott9643]

 

When the the K9 was been trialed its range of action was 310 miles on roads on a full tank of petrol 20 gallons at a average speed of 27 mph l would expect to get at least 12mpg

We've been running ours with standard 4 litre petrol engine along side our RL and calculate fuel x distance at 2 miles per litre for each. The K9 is staggeringly frugal though and I reckon we're getting all of 15 mpg running light at 40 - 45 mph. We always keep the trucks full over the summer and ran 36 miles over the Blackdowns to a local show recently and had a job squeezing £20 in when we got back. Back in the Army days when we were running a mix of RLs and MKs in the late 70s we would calculate fuel at 9 miles per gallon, but there's a difference between 'squaddie' driving and paying for the fuel yourself and I reckon our RL is doing about 11/12 mpg on a good day

[Sean N]

I've just come to this topic after C (KloudNine)'s recent posting on his K9 distributor.

 

Having owned, run and worked on a fair few K9s I'd say the following:

 

Fuel consumption: Assume 15 mpg but in good tune and driven moderately 18 mpg is fairly easily achievable.

 

Speed: You can get a decent K9 to run out of speedo scale. They drink like Dean Martin at that speed though, and are quite lively into the bargain. A sensible compromise between getting to places reasonably quickly and comfortable cruising with reasonable economy is around 38 mph.

 

Engine conversions. K9s can be readily converted to gas or diesel, and there are a variety of diesels available that make good conversions. However, is it worth it? The 4 litre petrol is a decent engine and reasonably economical. All conversions carry a cost. If you've got to pay someone to do the work the cost is substantial. Say your LPG or diesel conversion costs £1000 - £2000 plus, ask yourself how much petrol that will buy, and how many miles you're honestly likely to do in a year.