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Its a pity the E-85 isn't more rreadily available. Imagine the wicked street motors you could do sith it. I only know of 1 station near me that carries it.

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thats 1 more than we have around here.

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Its a pity the E-85 isn't more rreadily available. Imagine the wicked street motors you could do sith it. I only know of 1 station near me that carries it.

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In my area there is 2 stations in 4 miles.... much
better than trying to find race fuel(1 place 19 miles away)
Meijers around here carries it

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I'm also thinking of going E-85 but with it being mixed at the stations, is there any problem with getting a consistant mixture each time you buy? Different stations mix the same?

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That can be a issue up this way, they make winter
E-85 which can be as low as E-70 which is more
gas added to the E-85 for winter starting. But if
you buy it in mid summer and store it in 55 gal steel
drums its not a problem. What I do in the spring
months is ask for the drop sheets and calculate
the %. The way they do the stations is drop X amount
of alky and then drop X amount of gas in the same tank
and they show that on the drop sheets. This past
summer I seen a difference of 1% at Meijers and that
was 85% to 86%

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But if you buy it in mid summer and store it in 55 gal steel drums its not a problem. What I do in the spring
months is ask for the drop sheets and calculate the %

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That is what I recommend for racing and higher compression ratios. I am running 13.5 CR with a long duration cam (279º/287º) and aluminum heads. In 2008 my drum was filled with 83%

http://www.e85forum.com/
http://members.tccoa.com/392bird/carbtech.htm
http://e85prices.com
http://www.e85fuel.com/index.php
http://www.e85carbs.com/

MrPbody's Dominator looks like what I need for my 511 CID...

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I think DTHemi changed the cuda over to E85.

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He did... with some VERY good numbers and serious
compression.
My compression is 14.1:1 and he was a failr bit higher

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How much more fuel are ya'll using compared to gasoline?

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About 20%-30% more to equal the same pass as race fuel

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How much more fuel are ya'll using compared to gasoline?

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I average 30% more fuel than race gasoline.

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According to a article in the latest Drag racing action mag there is a tester offered by Quick Fuel that will test the Ethanol content of your fuel, might be somthing to look into and it look's to be a decent article,,,guess I need to sit down and do some reading. now I need to try and find a station around these part's that sell's it.

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According to a article in the latest Drag racing action mag there is a tester offered by Quick Fuel that will test the Ethanol content of your fuel, might be somthing to look into and it look's to be a decent article,,,guess I need to sit down and do some reading. now I need to try and find a station around these part's that sell's it.

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Bill do you have any info or P/N on that tester
or the article that you can post. I might have to see
if I can get that mag

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According to a article in the latest Drag racing action mag there is a tester offered by Quick Fuel that will test the Ethanol content of your fuel, might be somthing to look into and it look's to be a decent article,,,guess I need to sit down and do some reading. now I need to try and find a station around these part's that sell's it.

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Bill do you have any info or P/N on that tester
or the article that you can post. I might have to see
if I can get that mag

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Mike I checked but the mag has no web site link to read it on line, and I have no way of getting it copied over to my computer, but I would say to get ahold of Marty at Quick Fuel and ask him about the tester as the article has no part number mentioned that I saw,and Marty is who they interviewed, for your info it is the March 2009 edition of Drag Racing Action, and it just hit the stand's here, it has a pic of Frank Manzo's alcohol funny car on the front.

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thanks for links Jim, there seems to be one station pretty close. I will have to go check it out. I may have to convert my carb or have it done.

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Quick, I'm thinkin with no garantee of the certainty that E85 will always be here, I think in my case I'd pop for a new carb and keep my gas carb for an easy switch back. Thanks guys for the input and links. I know it can be a pain to keep repeating what you may have said a dozen times already, so I DO appreciate the info.

Another question that I have, is there an issue with oil contamination with the E85 like with alcohol? Would your gas ring gap still be "ideal" for the E85?

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My oil gets a little, but nothing like methanol. I change oil at the same rate I did with gas

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Ok, thanks guys. This swap is looking quite a bit like a no brainer. Definately has me thinking about it.

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After asking questions here and doing the math I decided not to do it.

My motor is just 11.5:1 with good quench so I can get by mixing 3 gal. of 94 octane with 2 gal. of 110. When I figured in the 40% to 50% increased volume of E85 needed the savings were very little to non existant.

The added problems of it not being available at the track and inconsistant grades of E85 (E70 to E90 and anywhere in between)made me decide against the switch.

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After asking questions here and doing the math I decided not to do it.

My motor is just 11.5:1 with good quench so I can get by mixing 3 gal. of 94 octane with 2 gal. of 110. When I figured in the 40% to 50% increased volume of E85 needed the savings were very little to non existant.

The added problems of it not being available at the track and inconsistant grades of E85 (E70 to E90 and anywhere in between)made me decide against the switch.

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Don't forget it's better for you to be around as well. I feel better dealing with the fumes from it than race fuel. Not to mention, you will make a little more power.

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After asking questions here and doing the math I decided not to do it.

My motor is just 11.5:1 with good quench so I can get by mixing 3 gal. of 94 octane with 2 gal. of 110. When I figured in the 40% to 50% increased volume of E85 needed the savings were very little to non existant.

The added problems of it not being available at the track and inconsistant grades of E85 (E70 to E90 and anywhere in between)made me decide against the switch.

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Don't forget it's better for you to be around as well. I feel better dealing with the fumes from it than race fuel. Not to mention, you will make a little more power.

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If I ran straight race gas it would probably be worth changing over to E85.

If everyone in the staging lanes would change over I could see some benefit. But my one car on E85 among many others on gasoline would probably make little difference in the air quality. JMO

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I just found out today that there is finally an E85 pump within 15 minutes of my house!

It is $2.89 today.

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I paid $1.23 here last week....

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The ONLY thing that I see getting some abuse from it is the holley main bodys that must be made of smelted Chinese beer cans.

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According to a article in the latest Drag racing action mag there is a tester offered by Quick Fuel that will test the Ethanol content of your fuel, might be somthing to look into and it look's to be a decent article,,,guess I need to sit down and do some reading. now I need to try and find a station around these part's that sell's it.

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Bill do you have any info or P/N on that tester
or the article that you can post. I might have to see
if I can get that mag

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According to a article in the latest Drag racing action mag there is a tester offered by Quick Fuel that will test the Ethanol content of your fuel, might be somthing to look into and it look's to be a decent article,,,guess I need to sit down and do some reading. now I need to try and find a station around these part's that sell's it.

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Bill do you have any info or P/N on that tester
or the article that you can post. I might have to see
if I can get that mag

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I have been happy with this method from the E85 handbook on the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition website:
http://www.e85fuel.com/pdf/storing-handling-e85.pdf

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Procedure for Testing Hydrocarbon Percent of Ethanol Fuel Samples
Based on SAE International Paper 912421 (Prepared by NEVC)
Equipment for E85 testing
VWR Scientific phone # 800-932-5000
50 mL pipettes; Cat. # 52966-217 pack of 12/$212.18
Safety Bulb; Cat. # 53497-202 pack of 3/$18.45
100 mL cylinders; Cat. # 24762-117 pack of 4/$120
Procedure
• Using the suction bulb, pipette exactly 50 mL of fuel sample into the graduated cylinder.
• Add about 48 mL of water to make the total liquid volume just less than 100 mL.
• Place the stopper in the cylinder and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds.
• Carefully loosen the stopper to release any accumulated pressure; do not remove the stopper.
• Close the stopper again and place the cylinder upright on a level surface. Allow the mixture to sit for about
15 minutes.
• Record the total volume of liquid by reading the lowest part of the upper meniscus (the curved interface
between the liquid and air).
• Record the total volume of the alcohol/water layer by reading the lowest part of the lower meniscus (the
curved interface between the two liquid layers).
Calculation
• The hydrocarbon percent is calculated by: 2.1 + 1.94 * (total volume - alcohol/water volume)
• Assuming the sample was an ethanol/hydrocarbon mixture, the ethanol percent is 100 minus the
hydrocarbon percent.

Example:

Upper 98 ml, lower 91 ml
2.1 + 1.94 x (98 - 91) = 15.68
ethanol = 100 - 15.68 = 84.3%

DOE Handbook 2008, Appexdix D, page 45.

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Jim, thats the same as I use to do when I was working,
same procedure. I was wondering if they came out
with some thing new

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My Mallory pump locked up after E85 use,but I bought it used about 4 years ago,and it didnt act right when I pumped the cell dry for the switch over. I assumed my Battery was low, after runnung the last race and sitting a few weeks It wont even turn. Mallory has alcohol gasket rebuild kits for the pumps and regulators and offers a rebuild service.I think the paper filters may be prone to failures as well so I deliberately left it fueled as a test.

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I'm running a pair of Holley black 150's and so far
they've been fine

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I just found out today that there is finally an E85 pump within 15 minutes of my house!

It is $2.89 today.

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I paid $1.23 here last week....

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Its amazing and confusing why there is such a difference in price around the country. I checked on it while I was out today, its $2.49 gal here. I thought it had kinda been keeping pace with gas, but I guess not. For those paying $1.23 what is reg unleaded, and those paying $2.89, whats reg there? Reg here is $1.34.

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I just found out today that there is finally an E85 pump within 15 minutes of my house!

It is $2.89 today.

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I paid $1.23 here last week....

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Its amazing and confusing why there is such a difference in price around the country. I checked on it while I was out today, its $2.49 gal here. I thought it had kinda been keeping pace with gas, but I guess not. For those paying $1.23 what is reg unleaded, and those paying $2.89, whats reg there? Reg here is $1.34.

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At 2.89 thats real pricey, around here its about
1.65 for E-85 and about 1.50 for regular. If your
pump can handle the increase in volume by 30% all
you would need to do is the carb. I have a spare
1050 that if I ran out of E-85 I can switch the carb
and be running on race gas(buy it at the track) and
be running in 5 minutes by just changing the carb
and backing the timing down a few degrees and be
running the same times(what I've seen so far)

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hey P body, I can't remember did you pick up some when you switched?

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Actually I stayed the same BUT I didnt touch the
timing yet, I was going to start bumping it up
but I put the car away early this year. I do mean
it stayed the same within .01, best before was 9.08
and with the E-85 it was 9.09 3 passes in a row

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Here's another question, there's alot of deals out there right now on alcohol carbs. What's it take to run E85 with an alcohol carb?

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Well its starting out with the good parts but I
would think you would still be working it over just
the same as going from gas to E-85 when it comes
to the passages and jetting but that MIGHT be a
good way to start if it isnt all corroded

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Oh ok, I thought I'd read here several times that alcohol carbs were pretty close to an E85 carb.
I think the best bet is an E85 carb from someone like Quickfuel.
I'm just worried about getting a batch of E70 instead of E85 from the pump.

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This is something that we all look at, but if you
check the drop sheets before you buy your fuel you
would have a pretty decent idea what your getting.
Of course you check it and if its what you want then
buy it in quanity(drums) instead of just a tank at a
time. Check with Quick Fuel like you said about the
differences between the 2 style carbs

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Jim, I have been following the discussion on the E85 forum. It seems to me that Drag Chevette has a pretty firm grasp of what needs to be modified to make a carb work on E85. Would that be your opinion as well? I'm considering having him modify my 950 is the reason I ask. Jim

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Yes I believe he has about as much info as anyone
and he did a fair amount of testing to get where he is.
I would let him or just use his info and do it yourself

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Jim, I have been following the discussion on the E85 forum. It seems to me that Drag Chevette has a pretty firm grasp of what needs to be modified to make a carb work on E85. Would that be your opinion as well? I'm considering having him modify my 950 is the reason I ask. Jim

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