A small-sized industrial diesel engine was converted to a spark ignited engine and then adapted for fuelling with natural gas. After conversion work, general combustion characteristics of the gas engine(such as ignition delay, main and total combustion durations, and heat release characteristics) were studied as a functio of major engine operating variables such as air to fuel ratio, spark timing, and spark plug type. Some other studies on cyclic variation characteristics in IMEP, Pmax and (dp/dφ)max, and also optimum combustion phasing angle were performed.