My friend was running his older cummins and 6.5 on veggie oil, they had the setup for it, he gets a different pick-up every month though seems like, so I don't think he has a diesel at the moment, but it takes a lot of filtering and smells like french frys going down the road.

You can run E-85 on any carbed engine, just jet it way out and change your fuel lines, but all in all your not any ahead, you get half the milage.

 

Any follow up on this (from anyone)? I've toyed with the idea myself quite a bit. Dump some E85 in my junk and advance the timing. I'm not concerned about milage with it because it gets 7 mpg when I drive it.....11 mpg when dad does (funny how that works huh?) so it isn't like it's gonna get much worse. Currently around here E85 is about $3.15(ish). If they sold it in Chapman I probably would have tried it by now, but I have to go to Grand Island to get it and blue doesn't make that trek much......

Anyway, now that I've rambled a good bit.......I'm very interested in this because someday I'd like to build something hotter than my 9.5:1 390.............but I'd also like to have $8 billion. Wish in one hand, poop in the other....see which one fills up quicker.....

-Jake

 

Good question Jake. Maybe George can chime in, if he's put anymore thought into this.

 

Well Boys - Here is what my research found. Ethanol is a very corrosive fuel. You will need to have your carb changed over first of all - If you don't the Ethanol will eat up your seats and destroy your power valve, accelerator pump and Secondary diaphragm (and it will do it quite quickly). You will need to get rid of all your steel fuel lines and replace with Stainless or coated plastic, replace your fuel pump with an alcohol fuel pump, and either have your steal fuel tank coated or replace it with a plastic. Cost for all of this is going to set you back about $1,000. You will need to up your carb size. If you run a 600 cfm I would go up to a 750 alcohol carb. When you’re all done you will also lose about 30% of your efficiency because Ethanol does burn with the same amount of energy as fossil fuel. That’s what I know – not much and there may be someone that has other ideas or has tried it found out other answers.

 

I'm going with Ethanol with my 521 stroker since my compression is 10.5:1 with the smaller cam size I went with. I am very curious to how it turns out. My brother and myself are kinda experimenting a bit, (or should I say him, he's the one who talked me into a stroker rather than just a stock 460). I have aluminum heads so it will take the heat. I bought an E85 Carb through Quickfuel which is a 650cfm which I was told that with that carb I didn't need a higher CFM (which I thought I'd at least need a 750, but I guess those guys who build the E85 carbs no more than I do). I'm still wondering about that, oh well time will tell. I already have a tank that is compatible with multiple fuels so that's OK and for fuel line, I'm running rubber fuel injection line which I am told is compatible also. I have heard many different opinions on how corrosive Ethanol is. Some say it's not hardly corrosive and others say it is. The E85 Forum is a pretty neat forum to visit. So, hopefully in a month or so, I'll be able to let everyone know how it comes out.

 

So it sounds like....(for me at least) it isn't really worth it. I can buy alot of gas for the money it would take to convert to E85 and since my junk can/will run on 87 (I choose 89 - cheaper, etc) I don't really need to worry about it. I thought it would be cool to do though. I'll keep it in mind if I ever have something that won't run good on pump gas....

-Jake

 

I think you will do fine with your setup Buck. The thing people need to understand is the E85 you buy at a pump and the Ethanol you purchase from a supplier can be quite different. The E85 from the pump is very inconsistant as to its Octane, quality, etc. If your purchasing it from a supplier who understands it and your are getting a conistant fuel you can get much better results.

 

E85 may be somewhat corrosive, but I think the problem was more prevalent in the '80 some alcohol fuels used methanol from wood and that tended to eat rubber, etc up. I still wouldn't run E85 in an older vehicle without the mods. I'd hate to be going somewhere and have the engine quit because the carb and fliters were full of crud.