Alcohol carb users ?

Thinking of switching to alcohol this season what are the pros and con of running alcohol besides cost and running cooler. what's the maintence ? is vacume pump required.
thanks Tom

Slightly more maintenance then when I was on gas but not a big deal.

Definitely not enough to make me regret switching.

I don't run a vac pump. Just the evac tubes going to the collectors.

Make sure your fuel system is up to it. I had a Holley black pump and 1/2 lines so I had to do a complete upgrade as Alcohol needs more supply than gas.

I also suggest thinking about adding a lean out valve and either a oil pan preheater or block heater to help get temps up especially when it's colder out.

Lean-out valve is almost a must. Nothing fancy just a rubber line off the carb or intake and run it to a 1/2 inch ball valve mounted by the shifter. Either remove the carb before storing for the Winter (remove bowls and spray out with Seafoam) or do a quick maintenance rebuild before the next race season. When its cold on first fire-up of the day I dump a small amount of pump gas down the carb to help start up. I race almost every week from March to the middle of November so I do nothing week to week. At 135 dollars a barrel this year its one of the best things I've ever done. Make a pass, turn off the water pump and fan, open the lean-out valve to build heat while driving back to the trailer.

I've used a lean out and pan heater but now I prefer a primer plus. I built my own but you can buy them killerrons.com. You can start and idle around on gas then switch over to alcohol. It saves a bunch of alky and starts easy even in cold weather on the gas.

After I'm done for the day I let the engine get up to 180-190 degrees, and take off any breathers on valve covers to burn off any condensation.

I race every week from May to October. Week to week I do nothing. Off season I remove carb and rebuild before season starts. Lean out valve is needed to get some heat in the engine from late September to season done. Normal summer days it is not needed. Vacuum pump not mandatory but it does keep the oil cleaner (water free). Before putting into the trailer I get it as hot as possible 200 degrees.

Not a lot of work to get race fuel for $140 a barrel. I tried e85 and found it much more difficult to tune, and at the time of my switch methanol was cheaper