Going E85 .... Do's and Don'ts...need user feedback.

I think we are settled on giving pump E85 a shot in S/C and S/P racing with our dragster. I like the lower engine temps from E85 in case we end up hot lapping at bracket events. We have a QFT 1295 carb that I will convert using their kit. We havent built the motor yet so CR is still up in the air but looking at 14.5 to 1 with aluminum heads.

So...E85 guys...let's hear it.

Thanks to all whom take the time to respond.

Why not go straight to alcohol. Most guys that make the switch in drag cars end up doing it so it would save you a few bucks.

Alky isnt cheap out here in Kommiefornia.... 45.00 for a 5 gal pail. I can get E85 for 1.97 a gallon....big difference. Calif is horrible on race fuel of any kind.

Don't chicken out on compression.

Wow I pay around 130.00 for 54 gallons

VP 110 is 75.00 a pail here...

buy a tester and always test what is coming out of the pump.here in Oklahoma it varied quite a bit,but we were just getting places that had it 3 years ago.I think I would get a 55 gallon drum and fill it when you find good E 85.when I say varied I mean 55 to 90 !!

That's what I'm going to do. I have a clean 250 gallon sealed tote ....so If I go to the station and fill the tote then vacuum out the air it should stay fairly fresh and consistent.I'll buy some E98 if I can find some to bring it up to true E85.

I have had no problems here in SoCal with stations that sell Pearson fuels e85, good to check it though.

My biggest suggestion would be when you start it up warm it up, get the moisture out.

If it is going to set a while drain the bowls and pump the acc. pumps into a rag. Also the pink Mp-15 carb gaskets (superformance) are good because they come off nice for carb maintenance.

Good to know. We are sponsored by Lucas I'm working with them on a fuel conditioner additive to combat draining between racing weekends.
I can get Pearson and Propel in Fresno....
Thanks

Yea if you don't have time to get it warm up to temp. Don't start it !

I would HIGHLY suggest you do not convert your carb with a kit. Those kits are one size fits all, and the likelihood of it being for your motor is extremely unlikely. Go to a dedicated E85 carb builder/converter, give them your specs, and you will have someone who can troubleshoot for you if a problem arises. I have a 1050 Dominator from Eric @ Horsepower Innovations, and it's fantastic. He's actually building me a 1000 Ultra HP right now as well.

My car doesn't run that* much cooler than on 110, but I hot lap the hell out of my car and I never have issues with heat. I like to run mine a little fatter, as I've found that the car runs tighter ET spreads.

As said above, don't start your car without getting it hot...As in the oil hot, not just the water. Unlikely to occur just by idling in the garage, so I always avoid moving it unless it's headed to the track. I don't drain my bowls hardly ever, even after three weeks, and have never had white chalk or gelling or issues. I use standard Holley blue bowl gaskets without issue.

I love it, I'll never run race fuel again.

We have been running E85 for the last two years in our dragster. I bought a QF E85 dominator and it has been a lot of trial and error to make it work, but for now it seems to run ok with our low compression 440. We actually ran out of supplies for pump E85 here and switched to Vp and then Torco E85. Cost is about double the pump stuff. BUt the car did pick up with those fuels over pump swill, like a lot. .1-.15 over pump stuff. My understanding is the pump stuff does not get the best grade of gasoline to begin with whereas the stuff from Torco or VP gets a better gasoline base fuel. All I know is it flat out runs faster. The other suggestions here are valid. When we ran straight pump E85 starting the car when the ambiet was cold was an issue. At the Turkey race we ended up using straight pump gas to start in the am, on the Torco or Vp that is not an issue. Definitely don't start it unless you can get the oil warm. We also never drain the fuel and since switching away from pump have never had an issue. We did have it gum up once when it was on pump swill after sitting for an extended period.

It's all I've ran for the last 5 years. I've heard mixed reviews on the conversion kits. You may be money ahead and save yourself some headaches by selling your current carb and giving a true e85 carb guy a call. My current carb is a 1050 Dominator (venturi mod to flow 1150) from Eric at Horsepower Innovations. Awesome guy and great customer service. The pump stuff here in Nebraska varies from 70-85 depending on the time of year. I use Lucas ethanol additive and I haven't noticed any problems. Some winters I've pulled the carb, cleaned it, and stored it in the house. Other winters, like this year, I have just started the car about once a month and let it get up to temp. I love the fuel, but I also street drive mine a fair amount. You can't beat $1.50-$1.75 "race" gas.

e85 is great, I would recommend getting a afr gauge, makes tuning way easy,if you are going over 13-1 compression then you could consider e98 as an option too, you don't have to worry about gas mixtures or what kind of gas they mixed with, plus the higher octane is a plus. and like other people said I wouldn't go with a conversion kit, send the carb off to some one reputable, classic motorsports in sauk centre MN did ours and they work great, he puts them on a dyno motor to get them pretty close on the tune and make sure they work on first fire up, they take a little fine tuning to get perfect that's where the afr gauge comes in handy,

What would be the octane equivalent to E85 and to E98??

I think you can be successful with a conversion.... but at the cost of a trip to the racetrack these days.. I think either purchasing a carburetor or having it converted is the way to go.. I have had dealings with Mark sullens and pro systems and both have been very good... they both have completely different ideas which both returned great results.. I think five or six outings to the track. Figuring out the carburetor... You will have spent more money and more wear and tear then it's worth

We already have a QFT carb. So the conversion we are looking at is this one....its supposedly very tunable. QFT did a decent job of getting us base lined with our carb when I bought it. I'll contact some of the names posted on here and talk to them.
Here's QFT change over kit for their carbs https://www.quickfueltechnology.com/carb...r-m4500-hp.html

So are the boosters for a 400ci or a 540? How about the IAC and other orifices? For $340 you can have it custom converted for your cam, for your cubes, for your heads, instead of a one size fits all kit. Just because QF can make it run, doesn't mean it's right. I'd hate to see someone buy a garbage conversion kit and have issues only to write off corn completely.

Who does this work for $340?(I see the kit price and assume by the response you are referring to having someone do the work for that $$) If they are out there I am unaware of them. Last I checked Sullens and HP Innovations were both $600 or more. Just curious..

Not sure what kind of carb you asked about, but M. Sullens quoted me $402 for a conversion for an NMCA legal carb, and I believe Eric was just as close to $400. Thats for both parts and their knowledge. Sounds like he was quoting you a brand new carb?

So you'll buy a $340 kit, install it (your time is money), take it to the track for T&N, and then very very likely have to take it back apart and change parts (both time, which is money, and new parts, which is also money). Or you can spend $62 more and likely have a carb you bolt on and go.

Ask both of those carb builders how many people they've dealt with that have tried conversion kits, only to spend double because they've thrown in the towel. E85 is $7.50+ per gallon cheaper than race fuel, the payback period for most people is extremely quick. Again as I stated earlier, I'd hate to see someone give up on it because they had a bad experience with a bad kit.

I was quoted $600 by Sullens to redo our Quickfuel E85 Dominator and $1200 for a new one. It work fine on out current engine just seeing if there was more to be had over all changes we made to it from QF. It is nowhere close to what was delivered. This was last year, maybe we need to make another call. Left a message we shall see what he says this time.

AJ at Bob George racing charge me $375.00 (several years ago before he bought Bob out) to convert my Holley 1150 CFM Dominator to E85 I did some dyno testing with it at Klamath Falls on a DTS engine dyno, it needed the jets change for that 4300 Ft elevation to make the most power I put his jets back in it for racing here at 2500 Ft and at 180 ft. above sea level at Woodburn. I need to try jetting it up some more at Woodburn to see if it wants bigger jets down there or not
The car does not vary more than .03 ET from early morning to late afternoon now

Our car is very consistent and for what it is runs fairly well. We were racing a double here in Vegas last Sunday and from 830am to 630pm the car never varied more than .02 during the day. 60's were all within .005(1.178-1.183) all day as well. Find pretty much whatever the car runs in the AM it runs all day long. But it is just a 440 powered 1900lb dragster.

I think I have the carb pretty good really but not an E85 guru for sure. Would love to see this little 440 crack the 7's before we yank it out of the car in favor of the other motor.

Attention Thumper Dart attention Thumper Dart.. Dominic step to the plate we need an E85 Guru

I bought a carb from a member here. That bought the carb from a well know e-85 carb builder .It was not even close. After 5-6 trips to the track .I got it to work right. It is very good now. but did't do me any good. to start with ! I called and talk to who build it..would not help me with it. All he wanted was more money and send it back to him. Good thing I got help from others on it.

Vern,

I didn't know it was way off for you. How was it off?

Sorry about your experience with Mark. I probably wouldnt deal with him again, either.

That wasn't my 1050 was it Vern? (sold it here...but don't remember to who) I had one my dad bought, and we never got the chance to use it on our W5 mill. Now I wish I had it back to play with it. Mine was a Classic Motorsports carb. I actually sent it to Jesse and he had it on his W9 mill for a season or so. I'd like to try it, but the availability of fuel where I am is a downside for sure.

Can't really blame him though. He has a business to run, and the carb wasn't setup for your car. Just like converters, you can't swap them to different engine setups and expect them to be good to go.

Well I called, again and the price is NOT $400, or even close to that.

I had to change everything on it to get it to work for me. pump cams- pumps-jets-air bleeds-squiters

http://www.classicmtrsprts.com/

this is where mine came from originally... they have a pretty good name in the upper Midwest. They have conversion cost listed online.

Since we are on the subject of customer service...
I was looking at a used carb built by Eric at Horsepower Innovations. I messaged him and he gave me his phone # so I could text pics of the carb and provide me with more info. I gave him the rundown of my combo and he provided me with the info on how to setup the carb. A few weeks goes by and he messaged me asking if I ended up purchasing the carb and to contact him if so. He found out more information on the carb I purchased. It was one a guy was having problems with, but the customer was trying some weird things to adjust the tune. Eric offered to go through the carb free of charge if I just paid shipping. He wanted to know the carb wasn't at fault if his name is on it. What he didn't tell me is that he put nicer fuel bowls on while the carb was at his shop as shown in the pics below. Anyways, fast forward to how the carb actually works... I've jetted up, jetted down, put in bigger squirters, smaller squirters... as he sent me the carb was the fastest the car has gone. Eric will be getting my e85 business. Not only because of his customer service, but because his carbs work.

Definitely no "guru" on anything but have been getting several calls/requests regarding E-85 so I may just have to call BLP and get a carb kit and build one for a local racer and go from there.............

I agree, Dom. Get your hands wet with some e85 stuff when you get a chance. I'm sure many would like to support a Moparts member. I think the fuel is gaining popularity since people realize it's not as corrosive as many make it out to be. The key is availability.

I agree............

He help me fix ours..Good guy..He knew who build it.

Might want to get rid of those clear plastic float level plugs, they have been known to fall apart.

i use e85. we used an old style 1150 and the qf kit for newer style dom. we drilled and tapped top bleeds and used lettered/numbered bits to open other bleeds. used almost all of qf kit and mine works super so far.