Considering Switching To Alky...

I am seriously considering switching to Alky sometime here in the not so distant future, and I am looking for input from those who race with a carbureted Alky Setup. Do you like it? What all is involved in the swap? As far as I know, all I will need to do is buy an Alky carb, new bigger fuel line for the feed line, larger capacity fuel pump and regulator, and as far as I know that should be about it, is there anything that I am missing? Also, I have read differing opinions on the amount of maintenance required, and I was wondering how much is truly involved? Will I have to run a special oil, or will I be able to run the same oil (shell Rotella, changed every 30 runs)? I'm just getting tired of buying $100.00 worth of race gas for a two day race, only to have a problem getting the car cool for the late rounds of a bracket race, when they have us practically hot lapping. Sorry for the book, I'm just trying to see what I'm getting into.

I know I ran cooler, but I just swapped back over to leaded race fuel. The fumes bothered me too much. I used a magnafuel fuel pump, #10 an to the front and 8an return. I ran VR1 50 wt oil. I set my pump at 9psi with a fuel log and bypass valve. It idled at 3psi, then went to 9 at wot. I have a ross built 9375 dominator for a carb.

The combo worked very good and the engine never ran hot even with a 1 inch 1 row radiator 19x22. I filtered my fuel while filling the cell. 3.5 gallons. I never really had an issue, except, you have to get the engine warmed up
or you may milk your fuel. A vacuum system will help.

Figure two gallons a pass roughly, which also includes fuel used for warm ups. I use Klotz fuel lube, don't have any issues with my injection setup. I never drain the system, or do anything special other than keep it sealed off from outside air when possible. The most important thing is to fully warm the motor. I warm mine to 210 or so, which heat soaks everything including the tranny. I launch at 185 to 190. A lean out of some sort is mandatory for decent warm up, and saves a lot of fuel. The heat also clears the oil if you get some milking. If you get some milking, you have a very rich idle, or are running it too cool at some point. To help with fumes, do what you can to direct exhaust out from under the car. The consistency and ease of going later rounds is a big advantage of alky. You often will be working to get heat into the motor to leave the line warm enough. Run plug gaps a bit tighter, and two less degrees timing than gas. I run my plug gaps at .032 to .027, and haven't seen any difference between the two.

Have you considered E85 and is it availble in your area? I think that may be a very good option instead of straight Methanol

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Have you considered E85 and is it availble in your area? I think that may be a very good option instead of straight Methanol

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E85- needs 1.4 times as much fuel as gas. Methanol- needs 2.2 times a much fuel as gas.
If you built a good fuel system with plenty of capacity, then a change to E85 is dirt simple. You still get some cooling benefits, plus the fuel is fairly cheap. Buy it by the barrel after testing for percent ethanol. Best time is in the summer. Some Co Ops sell E98 in barrels as well. Some people report that the ethanol content can very, so testing is important.