What's involved in refitting a dual-fuel vehicle?

I have a former Minnegasco van that apparently has the capacity to run
on natural gas. There is a controller attached to the dash that lets
one switch from gas to
CNG, but the tank has been taken out. Anyone know what's involved in
refitting a vehicle like this? Know where I could have it done in/near
Minneapolis? With the price of gasoline these days, I'd like to have
the option!

If you're lucky, the conversion parts are mostly still in place, and it
could be as simple as a replacement tank and a careful check of the
plumbing, especially around any coupling and the controller. (You
definitely don't want a leak!)

If the van is fairly new, contacting the manufacturer to see if it was
a factory offering might be worthwhile.

I wonder if CenterPoint Energy could (and would, a different issue!)
tell you. They're the corporate heir to Minnegasco... and one of
their other branches, Entex, is involved in compressed natural gas
(CNG) stations as a business that began with its own fleet. See for
instance
http://altfuels.centerpointenergy.co...ves/090102.asp

Here is some background information that you might find useful:
http://www.pugetsoundcleancities.org...sion_facts.pdf

(That page has a bit of potentially bad news: that the most expensive
item in the few- to several-$k conversion system is the tank. Maybe
that's why somebody removed it!)


Best of luck,
--Joe