I was wondering if anyone had tryed or thought about using this E-85 gas being produced. At 105 octane, might be a good time to start bumping up the CR.

I drag race with some guys in central south dakota that run 100 % ethanol in there cars and have no problem, as long as u dont run it in any thing electronic

There was a thread earlier in the month:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/e85...l?highlight=E85

There are pros and cons depending on what you're looking for.

I have a flex fuel pickup and use it whenever I can. I filled up last week and paid $1.71/gal compared to the station across the road where E10 was 2.11. My mileage isn't quite as good (2 miles to the gallon less), but for that savings I will continue to use it.

Curious as to what your actual mileage is on each, and what vehicle it is?

Really what I'm looking for is some guide lines to running E85 in a hotrod that is built specifically for it. I'm building a S10 with a 400 SBC in it and would love to run higher compression for more power. From the ground up what are the requirements to properly and safely run E85? Fuel cell, fuel lines, filters, pumps, carb, max CR, etc. E85 is available in my area no problem. I don't care about economy, and all though I care about our environment and the dependence on fossil fuel, for this project these things are not a concern.

even if you bumjp the compression up, if you run E85 you won't see added power- well not much. It has less energy per volume. You can see other benifits of increased compression, but power really won't change. However your milage will not either- at least not noticabley. The increase in power due to compression is roughly equal to the decrease due to a change in fuel. I'd use it still for the novelty and the savings at the pump (its about a quarter a gallon cheaper) as well as the enviromental facotrs. I'd go for it, but keep in mind that E85 is not everywhere yet, so long road trips may cause some trouble.

Even though the BTU potential of Ethanol is lower than conventional Gasoline you’re not going to be looking at a zero net gain. Ethanol runs at a much richer Air Fuel Ratio, so you’re going to be using a tremendous amount more volume, about 33% going from about 12 or 13 to 1 AFR or gasoline to about 9:1 on Ethanol. Going from a maximum of 10.5 or 11:1 compression ratio (about the maximum safely for pump gas) to 12.5 or 13:1 which can run safely on Ethanol will definitely increase your power potential. Since the Air Fuel Ratio is that much richer, and you have to use that much more volume (plus the additional fuel used for the increase in power) you’re going to be looking at a decrease in fuel economy. Bottom line if built appropriately you will be able to produce more HP with an engine running Ethanol (if optimized) than an engine running pump gas (if optimized), and you will burn more fuel.

As far as what parts and components to use, start out by looking at Methanol compatible parts and pieces.

Take a look at these papers, should get you started

http://www.utep.edu/eafrl/pc99/99utep_evc.pdf

www.engr.unl.edu/~ethanol/unl-sae2.pdf

http://research.utep.edu/portals/640/evc98_paper.pdf

there used to be more easy to find info available but it seems you have to pay for it now. I had a page in my favorites with a complete materials compatibility list and it is no longer there.

I know a man that has a 1972 charger 440 12.5.1 cr ran a 8.04 on race gas and runs a 7.93 on e85 and did not hook up as good.

Just an update - I wanted to put it here since this thread is linked to the crankshaft coalition wiki.
I have wondered about using hydrous ethanol fuel since I saw Crower's 6-stroke engine (extra power stroke using the cylinder's residual heat like a steam engine). Doing some research today and came across some interesting (ethanol) related articles.

http://www.discoverhybridcars.com/search/ethanol+blends
(this one is not about using hydrous ethanol)



http://www.ethanolproducer.com/arti...=3981&q=&page=1

in a nutshell, hydrous ethanol can be blended with gasoline

from same article - performance benefits of hydrous ethanol


http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=2793
The Effect of Water Content on High Load Performance of a Direct Injection Turbocharged Engine

does anybody sell a kit to convet a gas carb to an e85 deal? theres a station that sells it here its about 60 cents less then 87 pump and trick is 7.75 so im thinking about it. i dont do very much street driving either. and ive got hard line and real braided fuel hoses all the way up to the carb so hey why not. my only worry is the the fuell cell. harwood 8 gallon with the foam in it. will the alkie eat the foam?

check out quick fuel technologies.

We have a station down the street that has E85 and a mixer so you can get any % you want. Including 100% ethanol ! I have it in my lawn mower right now and it actually starts easier when its hot.

I have also been mixing it about 50/50 in my Chevy 383 and so far so good. It looks like I'm going to have to fatten up the idle. Even at 50% it looks like the engine runs noticeably cooler. I am also using 4oz Mystery oil per 10 gallons just in case.

Jordon