Rich:
I know of one 1992 Plus 8 that Bill Fink reconverted from propane
back to petrol. This car was originally supplied by Bill and
converted from the original twin-cat English version to propane. He
did this in early 1997. It was definitely not inexpensive (more than
twice the original cost of my 1970 4/4 4-seater!), and his costs were
held way down because he still had the original bits and pieces that
had been taken off when he converted it to propane in the first place.
To my understanding this vehicle is now California-ized; but probably
only because the swap-over was done by a legitimate importer using
legitimate California regulations.
As further info, the Plus 8 in question is only several months older
than our 1992 Plus 8, which was one of the first legal California
twin-cat Plus 8's. We were willing to go the re-conversion route if
we found the right Plus 8 when we were looking in 1997; but lucked
out and found (and paid for!) an original California-spec ISIS
supplied Plus 8 with extremely low mileage.
Knowing well all the highly specialized bits and pieces that have
gone into the catalyzed Plus 8's, I would suspect it would be grossly
dear if one had to go out and obtain all the parts before starting
the reconversion. One could probabaly cannabalize a catalyzed
California Land Rover Discovery (post 1992) for most of the bits and
pieces. I recall (at least a number of years ago) that if one
replaced the engine in his car with a newer one and the newer one
originally met California specifications that this would qualify as
being California legal as long as all of the extended list of
check-off items on our local smog test forms are in place and
working. I haven't spent too much time lately pouring over BAR
regulations however to know what is currently required.
Phil Fisher
1970 4/4 4-seater (earlier than 1973 - no longer needs smog test in
California!!!)
1992 Plus 8 twin-cat certified for California (passes smog test with
flying colours!)
>I don't recall seeing any discussion of this topic. Does anyone know if it
>is legal in the USA? California?
>
>Cordially,
>Rich Rollins
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