I'm posting this after search and and researching like crazy. Looking for anyone else that was talking about for using it in 1980-86 Trucks.

The truck is an 1983 f250, 351w 4x4 8600 GVWR, Single Cab, Single Tank.

I made a switch to E85. I did research to find what I needed. after reading nonstop for about three months, I found that I needed rubber that was safe and 30% more fuel. This is all I've done:

(1) All fuel lines have been changed to 30r9 Fuel Injection hose with the plastic liner that and ethanol compatible.
(2) Replaced and eliminated the majority of vacuum lines. Using newer style rubber fuel vent lines.
(3) Rebuilt a Holley 600, went from 64 jets to 70s (I still need bigger). The carburetor parts are compatible with alcohol.
(4) Made completely sure my electric fuel pump could handle it.

The motor is not the original block and heads, but proper motor for the truck. The block is a 1975 and the heads are of 1972. I rebuilt this motor and upgraded to a towing cam last year. Lucky for me It has the simplified fuel system. 8600 GVRW rated trucks for 1983 had no emission controls on it. (Small tank sending unit, with one line, and a vent that has one port the goes to the frame rail and stops, no provisions for a vapor can.) It has a full MSD ignition on it and runs the best on premium fuel. That being said, it is getting expensive again, so I'm experimenting.

So far the motor runs much better on the e85. I'm still tuning and adjusting.
I'm going to pull the plugs and check the condition, along with adjust the timing.
I'll post the results after I pull them on Tuesday.

 

I went down the ethanol road awhile back, I was more interested in brewing my own. I never did order the drying material that would of taking it to full 200 proof, so i ended up just drinking it

Here are some good sites:

Home Distiller • Index page
Ethanol | Make your own ethanol | Making ethanol | ethanol | ethanol production | how to make ethanol | Vacuum Still Plans
Make your own Fuel

 

Make sure your crankcase ventilation is working good. It may pay to get your oil tested once or twice to gauge how quickly it is deteriorating.

 

Yeah, i've been wondering how one of these carbd' trucks would run on E85. I figured if tunned right they would run quite strong seeming how this is 105 octane fuel. That means they should haul a load of pull a trailer well lol! So your saying the the regular fuel lines and vacuum lines need to be replaced to use E85? And that the engine requires a higher mixture of fuel when ran on E85? Thanks

 

Regular rubber and ethanol do not play nicely. The carb needs to have the neoprene seals in it, which are common in the rebuild kits, and the jets need to be a bit larger as a bit more fuel flow is needed. I don't think the vacuum lines needed to be changed for the ethanol, as there is no fuel in vacuum lines...

 

I got it working better. I pulled the sparks plugs and checked each one. Going from 64 jets to 70 was not enough, but 76 are closer. The plugs all showed lead condition. I also switched to the .037 squirter and an orange accel pump cam. I'm going to try a blue. I'm getting a hesitation off Idol.
The scary part was the lean burn caused my header collectors to glow deep red. (Changing the jets got rid of that.)

The oil has seemed to be just fine, I changed it before making the fuel switch, and after two weeks it is still nicely colored. I'm running shell rotella. I'm not sure why the oil would deteriorate, flex fuel vehicles run regular oil, don't they?

I'm going to index my plugs this weekend or next week and make more adjustments. I'm still in the tuning process but I can rev higher than before. Like up to 6000, never could do that on regular. It revs faster too. (after hesitating)

I replaced the vacuum lines as a safety. "The carb may leak onto the lines" was my thought. Plus even though I rid myself of many meaningless lines, a few were still of 80s vintage.

Other than Indexing the plugs I plan on changing to the 50cc accel pump and messing with the timing. I have turned up the timing at this point, I have no idea where it is. Throwing the timing light on it when I tune it again.