Hello From Argentina!

[lasalsa]

Fellow Enthusiasts:

Born and bred in the U.S. and joined the Military which took me around the world and now I'm located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Since being here for the past 9 months I've noticed the vast abundance of CNG stations and found that 99.9 percent of the Taxi's all have bi-fuel capabality. (CNG/NAFTA, unleaded).

I drive one of several Landcruisers to and from work that are Diesel.

My Personal vehicle is a 2003 Landcruiser that is NAFTA (Unleaded). Which I plan to convert to CNG pretty soon. I will NOT remove the fold-down seats so my plan is to remove the spare tire and install 2 tanks under there. But first I will need to buy a rear bumper (ARB or SLEE) that has a tire carrier installed.

My sources say that installing CNG to my Landcruiser will cut my fuel consumption to almost 1/5th of the cost I spend on NAFTA. A friend has a small car (4 cylinder 1.5 ltr engine) and he is able to travel 200 miles on 20 pesos, about 7 dollars. If I can get 200 miles and pay 15 dollars, I will be happy..

Conversions here start at about USD 1000.00 and my LC is estimating to cost about 2 grand, with the tanks and all. CAN'T WAIT!..

Ciao!

Richie

[Convert2CNG]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

welcome to this forum.
would be interesting to know what conversion kits are available in Argentina and what type of certification or approval is required.

[lasalsa]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

I'd be HAPPY to find that out for you all.

Just give me a few days and I might even be able to hook up with a supplier.

The ARG Government is extremely hard and picky about certifications here. They are really PRO CNG also..

[Yroc]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

Are all the conversions in Argentina done by Galileo? I know these kits are totally and utterly shunned by this site, but I have no experience with them at all. You say the government is strickt about certifications. Do you have any info on the certifications and rules they have down there in Argentina?

Thanks

[lasalsa]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

From what I'm told, there are several companies that are used here in ARG, I have heard of several Italian companies as well as Brazilian companies.

Right now I'm just a toddler in this arena. Once I get my feet more wet, I'll post what I've found. I have a meeting with one of the top installers here in the next week.

Regards..

R...

[dovh49]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

Awesome, I would love to head down to Argentina again. I remember when I served a mission for my church down there that the taxis and remiseros (is that what they were called, it's been a while!) would run on natural gas. That was back in '98 to 2000. I didn't think much about it back then but now that gas prices are higher and I'm using CNG too I think it was pretty cool. Hope you're enjoying the good food down there! Eat an empanada for me!

[elcheguevara]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

Hi lasalsa I'm from argentina I remember been driven a cng taxi back there around 1995. We started on 1988/9. I remember making line waiting about 2 o 3 hs. to filling the tank because there were few cng station. Now here in usa driving a toyo tacoma pre runner v6 xcab, spending daily aroun 40 buks in gasoline, is killing me. I 'm looking for a conversion kit for tacoma and I could not found it. I know also there's a revolutionary system to fill the tank in your own home, called Phill, for about 1.25 for the equivalent of a gasoline galon. That's cheapp. Please if you see any kit for toyo tacoma let me know so I can look here for something like that
Thanks

[cngacrossusa]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

Hello Lasalsa in Argentina!!

I have heard that military personnel have an exemption to import vehicles back into USA - - ie CNG vehicle from Argentina. Any military friends of yours ever done this?? Any future plans to come back to USA on a trip??

With the cng conversion at only $2K, it would make up for the shipping costs and enable a USA person to have more options at cng vehicles. Can you provide some idea of street price of a good bi-fuel truck or car??

Please let us know all you can . . . thanks, cngacrossusa.

[lasalsa]

Re: Hello From Argentina!

Thanks for all your replies.

Just finished eating a 24oz steak and paid 15.00.. sweet...

Everyone I talk to here about converting my 03 Landcruiser to Bi-fuel says "GO FOR IT". Especially setting myself up for the transfer to the U.S. in 2011..

I'm getting a lot of information on 6 and 8 Cyl. kits, but the drawback has been the availability of NON-STEEL tanks (Ie. Composite). I'd hate to have to put an additional 2-300 lbs on the rear of my truck without stiffer shocks and re-enforcements. oh well.

I'm gonna be going to a shop and see what they offer. "Tomasetto Achille", "Dinamotor", Pelmag" and maybe "Galileo" are the ones I'll be looking for. More leaning towards the Tomasetto brand because of their history here and their main HQ is about 10 minutes from my house.

As far as inexpensive vehicles (GOOD LUCK). Their cost here is almost 2-3 times the cost of a used vehicle in the states. Since the devaluation of the Dollar in 01, things have gone up the roof. We're luckier because we get paid in Dollars.

Us Military guys don't have it "that good"., Yes we can import some Grey Market vehicles from Europe at times, we still have to ensure that the Customs guys don't decide to use them as scrap when they reach the U.S. I'm sure back in the 90's it was a lot easier. Here in Argentina we are not allowed to hardly even buy a local market vehicle. We are mainly obligated to buy form a departing Employee or get a waiver as long as we sell it when we leave. (And pay taxes)///

I'll have some info for you guys, who knows, I might be able to get a GROUP BUY of some systems here and offer them to you all.


Keep in touch..