Yes, there is. See here. This guy has been making it for years, and sells the plans to his still. I've already bought the plans and am going to build one soon.

 

EXCUSE me rusty 70 ,,, you are the rule of exception I guess . Sounds like you are farther ahead than most of us are with making your own fuel . It would be interesting to see how your plant runs and all ,,,, Did you have to get a permit
or anything for startup ?

I was just hinting at 71 4x4 that I was not making my own ethenol fuel although with accessibiliy to growing my own corn or barley it seems foolish
not to do it .

 

Rusty, I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't ever seen to many components for this swap other than a rear-sump oil pan made by Canton. In all reality it would probably be a heck of a lot less headache, time, and money to just do what you are with a 302 or 351 based build (I know, I know... small block's are a dime a dozen and just don't have the character and mystique of the old FE block but it's just a suggestion). With all the stroker kits being made for 302's and 351 W's you can get quite a bit of displacement without the penalty of weight from a big block, but if you feel up to the challenge then I say go for it bud! Might want to use aluminum heads, intake, and water pump to try and reduce the wieght on the frontend as much as possible.

 

Sacrilege! You sinner!

No, I already have two available 360's out in the garage. Complete with heads, crank, rods, valves, valvetrain, intake, etc. The last thing I need is more engine parts laying around.

Now will someone PLEASE answer my question. Does ANYONE know where to get custom pistons made that dont cost an arm and a leg? I got one quote at $1300 from JE, and Ross wants about $680. Both are too much IMO. I dont need forged, this is going to be a naturally aspirated engine.

 

keep us informed on what you dig up for pistons. I just bought the plans for the still from that guy too.

What are the highest compression ration pistons that you have found for a reasonable price?

 

So far the cheapest I've found is the Ross alternative. Since I'm getting custom pistons, they can be any compression ratio I want. I'm shooting for around 12:1.

Still, I dont really need a forged piston for this engine. I'm sure Ross makes excellent pistons, and if I find no alternative I'll go with them. However, what I'm really looking for is a place that makes custom cast hypereutectic pistons. I mean, this thing will never see forced induction, nitrous, or any other power adder. I doubt it will ever see the far side of 5500 rpm's. Why should I use forged pistons?

 

Hey, I was just looking at Ford's web site, and the Explorer with the 4.0 V6 can use E85 - and guess WHAT?

Power output for E85 (85% ethanol/15% gas) vs. 100% gasoline is 5-6 HP and ft/lbs torque MORE for E85 !!!

So, there goes the "less power" bs out the window.

Too bad my '01 V10 is not "flex fuel" as far as I can tell ...

art k.

 

Rusty, I really like the ethanol engine idea. Enough that I'm going to put my long stroke (4.385 ) towing engine on the back burner for a while and build an alky burner for myself too. Not that I was making lots of progress at the moment anyway. You're in Cedar Falls, aren't you ? According to my info, Iowa has 18 stations selling E85. Whether any of them are close to you, I don't know. I think I would start with 'store bought' E85, if it is available within a reasonable drive. The closest E85 to me is just over an hour away. I like the still idea, I really do, but it is just too much hassle for me- there is only 3 1/2 acres around the house here and the neighbors are close. But if you have enough room where you are, by all means go for it. You'll need a fuel still permit from the ATF, and you'll want the neighbors to know and understand what you are doing. You don't want some unknowing person to think you're cooking crystal meth and call the cops. The reason I would start with store bought first is to make sure you have the engine combo thought through before you start brewing. If your first trys were with your own fuel, and it ran poorly, or not at all, how would you know whether the engine was at fault or the fuel ? Commercially made fuel lets you figure out the engine first, and then practice distilling. Heres how I want to do mine- starting with my 2wd 390 powered gasser ( 8 to 1 ), drive around empty and pulling a trailer of at least 4K, and record fuel mileage both ways. Then, drop in a 12 to 1 390 running on E85 and do the mileage tests again. Same truck, same tranny, same road, same trailer- to eliminate as many variables as possible. I have read enough test results of dedicated alky engines to be certain we'll get the same MPG as on gasoline, but wouldn't it be neat to demonstate it to folks ? In your case however, I must ask, why a 360 ? It might be tough getting the 12 to 1 or more that we need in a 360. Lots of folks make custom pistons other than Ross, but everybodies custom slugs are exspensive. Thats part of my reasoning for a 390- I figured, flattop pistons ( F2291s ? ), shave the block deck for zero clearance, steel shim head gaskets, and I already have a pair of D2s that are milled .040 on the deck face. I think that brings the chambers down to about 66ccs. anybody have a compression ratio program handy ? DF

 

DF, I think you'll fall short of the 12:1 compression you're hoping for. L2291's have 10cc valve reliefs. Try it for yourself, here is a compression ratio calculator.

This is why I am going with a 360. For starters, I have 2 of 'em in the garage collecting dust. Why not put 'em to good use? I figured I'd probably need custom pistons anyway to get the compression ratio I want. Plus, this way I can run a standard Fel-pro head gasket and make up the difference with slightly increased compression height.

I was also thinking about modifying the combustion chambers to increase compression. There is a picture on the bottom of page 41 of Steve Christ's book that shows kind of what I want to do.

Concerning fuel, I would probably start it and break in the cam with race gas. I have been unable to locate any E85 stations anywhere near me. I have only 1 1/2 acres around my house, but I'm good friends with the neighbors and I'll let 'em know what I'm up to. The guy down the road a little bit is the deputy sherrif, I'll stop over and talk to him too. And yes, when the time comes I'll get the fuel still permit.

Yes, I am located near Cedar Falls. If you can dig the location of any E85 stations near me, it would be greatly appreciated. I see stickers on the back bumpers of flex fuel cars running around all over here, so they must be filling up somewhere!

What cam and heads were you planning on running?

 

Rusty, I do believe Canada & Mexico would be considered foreign, and not domestic. no???

John

 

Makes sense to me. Canada and Mexico ARE foreign countries, mo matter how much Mr. Bush (who I voted for) tries to deny it...

Lets not let this turn into a political discussion. I'm trying to build an engine here! There's an alternative fuel forum for discussing the pros and cons of ethanol.

 

DF, Ya really think you could run a 12:1 on E85. Man I thought ya had to have high octain racing gas to run one of them puppys. There aint many folks that even get that kind of compression ratio out of one. That would take some serious money to build.

John

 

I'm with you dude, 87 is what I run in my FE. Good Kentucky sipping wiskey is what I run in me. No rot gut in my truck. No way, no sir.

John

 

You could get a lot of dynamic compression by using a smaller cam and 11:1 pistons and timing the cam right. That might make a cheaper alternative to getting 12:1 somehow. However I think

I got 11:1 with a decked 390, about .020 desk clearance, milled heads and flat-top TRW pistons ... It could have gotten higher with smaller-chamber heads, I used C8AE heads...

 

Progress is being made.

I've got the valves reconditioned today, along with the rocker arms. I know someone with a valve grinding machine, and did it myself. Saved a few dollars there.

It's coming along.

On the piston front, I think what I'll do is get some 332 pistons. Compression height is 1.938", and I'll have to shave .037" off of 'em to get the desired .020" quench distance. This leaves the piston .021" above deck.

Then, if I follow Krewat's suggestion, I'll get 11.3:1 compression. Using the dynamic compression calculator located on kb-silvolite.com, I came up with 10.221:1 dynamic compression using the Crane 343901 cam.

Now before anyone tells me, yes, I know the 332 was a 4" bore engine, not 4.050" like the 360. It just so happens that I have a standard bore 352 block sitting in the garage collecting rust. I plan to go .030" over. This will result in 357ci.

Thoughts?