E85Forum.com

Fastgrove · Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 11

Here's how it went...car ran great on Ethanol. re-cap...302 9.5-1 circle track.'

I ran a stock Ford plug Autolite 103. I ran about 4500-6500 all night long. It ran cool at about 160! I'm putting in a thermostate for next week. I ran a Carter gas pump 110 gpm at about 8 lbs pressure. I ran 36 degrees total advance (Locked actually) I bumped my jets up from 88 to 92's my second night out. Plugs were just a touch tan. Motor ran great, fast enough but it had driver and handling problems! LOL

How long the gas pump will last? Hopefully two more nights! LOL The season is over!

newalky · Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 84

fastgrove I would call Carter or go to their site and see if pump is compatable. Or inspect the diaphram for signs of wear. That pump may be big enough and E85 friendly, so you could save more time and money by using it.
Then you need to know if your lines are big enough to flow approx. 20%-30% more.
It sounds like it was working fine. With lower HP you may not have fuel supply problems.
In the summer heat I'm sure you will like E85 for it's cooling properties! Which is half the reason I switched to it in my dragcar. Makes it much easier when hotlapping in 90*.
PS. Mark (dragchevette) converted my 950 Holley and I am very happy with it! newalky

Fastgrove · Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 11

I believe it's a gas pump only...but it's pumping away! My lines are 1/2" so that's not a problem and I have a fuel log.

I think that I will get Mark build me another over the winter so I can compare the two carbs. Mine is two years old so I'm guessing Mark has learned a thing or two since then...LOL!

Anyhow, I'll keep people posted on my circle track adventures with Ethanol.

Alcohol · Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 634 Location: Central Wisconsin

Do so Fastgrove! I stayed out of the pump discussion because I am not familiar with what you are running. I do know of a couple of street hotrods that run standard diaphram pumps but they would not be running the rev's you are. One fellow told me his pump let go after 6 months on E85 but he laughed it off and said it was 12 years old. Heck when I was a kid- I would have thought that was good for a fuel pump too. Laughing

One of the problems with knowing how a standard diaphram pump will last is knowing just what compound they used. Frankly both methanol and ethanol are easier to select seals and compounds for because they are easier on a wider variety of elastomers than gasoline- BUT- the manufacturers will build them with the materials best for the harsher gasoline and aromatics which in some cases means the material selected is only so-so for alcohols.

Here is one reference;
http://www.dupontelastomers.com/crg/tlargiguide.asp

Fastgrove · Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 11

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that helped me out on this forum. It really helped my learning curve.