alcohol motor?
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 183
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From: bangor maine
alcohol motor?
I have a gas motor and i was woundering how hard is it to switch over to alcohol and is there any big mods that i should do or have to do and whats the best gains a lot more horse or whats the deal. any other inforomation would be awesome id love to read more into it im fairly new to motor building and all that so let me know
thanks a lot
thanks a lot
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,931
Likes: 12
From: SW Michigan
alcohol motor?
Nathan, which alcohol did you have in mind ? The two most commonly thought of as engine fuels are methanol ( CH3OH ) and ethanol ( C2H5OH ). Methanol is what indy cars and some drag racers run on. Ethanol is what is made from corn, and the same kind people can drink. Both alkys have octane of about 100, (R+M/2). But the heat in each gallon of liquid is very differant. Gasoline contains about 18,000 btus, methanol 9,750, and ethanol 12,500. both of the alkys also have much lower vapour pressure than gasoline. What this means is that they will be harder to start on cool days and you need a very healthy ignition. Because of the btu differances, you have to rejet the carb. The ethanol is easier at about 30% richer needed. Methanol needs more than twice as much fuel flow, not every carb is suitable for this modification. And you compression should be at least 10 to 1, with 11 or 12 even better. What did you have in mind......? DF
Elder User
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 966
Likes: 2
From: Crooked River Ranch, OR
alcohol motor?
>I have a gas motor and i was woundering how hard is it to
>switch over to alcohol and is there any big mods that i
>should do or have to do and whats the best gains a lot more
>horse or whats the deal. any other inforomation would be
>awesome id love to read more into it im fairly new to motor
>building and all that so let me know
>
>thanks a lot
To add to Dinosaurfans comments: You also need a fuel tank, fuel lines fuel pump, and carburator gaskets/rubber parts that are resistant to alcohol. The best use of running alcohol would be for a strictly race only vehicle where you are looking for maximum HP and are not concerned about fuel mileage, corrosion of fuel parts, or driveablity. I'm not talking about running a mix of fuel such as what you'd find at your local gas station (10% alcohol, 90% gas) but rather pure methanol. Properly set up you'll make an extra 7% HP running straight methanol over gas and will see even bigger power increases running methanol with a turbo or blower since the methanol cools the intake charge allowing you to run even more boost and advance without detonating. Deen
>switch over to alcohol and is there any big mods that i
>should do or have to do and whats the best gains a lot more
>horse or whats the deal. any other inforomation would be
>awesome id love to read more into it im fairly new to motor
>building and all that so let me know
>
>thanks a lot
To add to Dinosaurfans comments: You also need a fuel tank, fuel lines fuel pump, and carburator gaskets/rubber parts that are resistant to alcohol. The best use of running alcohol would be for a strictly race only vehicle where you are looking for maximum HP and are not concerned about fuel mileage, corrosion of fuel parts, or driveablity. I'm not talking about running a mix of fuel such as what you'd find at your local gas station (10% alcohol, 90% gas) but rather pure methanol. Properly set up you'll make an extra 7% HP running straight methanol over gas and will see even bigger power increases running methanol with a turbo or blower since the methanol cools the intake charge allowing you to run even more boost and advance without detonating. Deen
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 183
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From: bangor maine
alcohol motor?
wow thanks a lot boys im really not sure what type of alchy i want to use because i dont know what i want to run. Im into mud racing right now i just had a motor built and getting ready to fire it up. But the thought of another motor is fresh in my head id like to do something different next time and im just running new thoughts threw my head. N20, blower, alcohol, strokerin it anything to squeeze more horse out of my motorall i have to say is damn this is like a drug you start off small and you just want MORE POWAH and all it takes is cash well thanks for the input ill be researching it more maybe hit my library and take out some books on how to make horse 
thanks agian
thanks agian
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 950
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From: Conroe, TX
alcohol motor?
From a safety stand point i would use ethanol. Methanol has a clear burning flame and therefore exteamly hard to see and put out.
Also i had a friend that used to drag race and after he was done racing for the day he would disconnect the fuel line from the tank and put the line in a gas can filled with regular gas. He would then run the motor to clear all fo the alcohol out to the engine then run all of the gass out of the motor.
Chris
Also i had a friend that used to drag race and after he was done racing for the day he would disconnect the fuel line from the tank and put the line in a gas can filled with regular gas. He would then run the motor to clear all fo the alcohol out to the engine then run all of the gass out of the motor.
Chris
