homemade octane booster?
 

I am running ~10 to 1 and have trouble running on 87. 93 seems to just fine with no pinging. I don't have to explain why I don't want to pay for 93. It's well over 2 dollars and I live in the South. I am thinking about making my own Octane booster with MTBE. Mix with some mineral spirits and ATF and I have basically what they sell at Autozone for a tenth of the price? Any thoughts? Bad idea? I mean the gas tank is right behind me! How bout some feedback? Thanks.

Ken
68 F100 390
74 Bronco 351W

I'm no chemist, but I see a new nickname in your future "Smokey".

I may be wrong. Chemistry is about the ony natural science I did not major in :-)

Tolulene is supposed to work according to DF. I have no info of my own. Maybe he will chime in. You could do a search on google for tolulene and read up on it.

Read this thread:
http://www.clubhotrod.com/t89.html
It is a little long but worthwhile.

MTBE is not an octane booster.

Randy,

A very informative site on using laquer thinner (Tuluene) as an octane

booster!! Thanks for the info..Kinda makes ya wonna go HMMMM...

Russ :-X22

C'mon Gtex,

I know you have a sense of adventure. It certainly woud not be the first vehicle I have driven that smoked like a chain saw. Along with the headers and compressor noise I know that would push me to being a neighbor's favorite. I did a search and found this site:

http://www.team.net/sol/tech/octane_b.html

My wife happened to be over my shoulder and saw all the chemicals and said:
Aw! #$LL NO! :-X24

That was even after I explained how we could get flames out the tail pipes when we were on our dates? Anyway, My 12 year old son thought it was cool. :-X22

I'll give it a try and post back.

Ken

MTBE is a wonderful blending compenent.
It's good for octane.
It's great for the air.
But you have to use 10-12% of it to make a difference.
It will give you a great octane increase.
It has a blending research octane number of 118.
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuel...rgas/ch4.shtml

But you have to be really careful with it.
Don't get it anywhere a water supply.
A very small amount of it will make drinking water taste and smell horrible.
Even something like a cup of it spilled in a reservoir is enough to cause the taste and odor problems.
That's the big reason why it's being banned.

And the biggest hurdle would finding a supply of it. Not sure what it would cost. Although many states have banned stations from selling it in gasoline, since you blend it yourself, you may be able to work around that rule.

Here is another great set of references on gasoline:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq

Some of you guys may not have seen this yet:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=236403
As usual, there's alot of input. Many people have different view points.
So, does acetone have an octane rating of 150?
Everyone is welcome to join the experiment.

Other than being toxic, tough on o-rings and gaskets, pretty dang expensive, it would probably run fine in your car.

You could get special o-rings, gaskets, and seals and adopt safe methods of handling, and it would probably run beautifully in your car. Then, the only problem would be the cost.

A lot of these alternative fuels look cheaper because you don't get the gas tax added on. Out here the tax is something like 36 cents a gallon. Ih Hawaii it's something around 55 cents. You don't see the tax because it's hidden in the price.

Anyone have a cost number for acetone in bulk?

I haven’t heard anyone suggest mothballs, it used to be an old trick. What are mothballs made of now-a-days? The active ingredient is naphthalene and that’s what’s in most octane boosters.

I've often pondered a supplemental injection system, fueld by the naturally occuring by-product resulting from the the Taco Bell reaction.

Greg,

I concur with that statement...I think 4 bean & cheese Borrito's should be a proper additive for any HiPo motor..but not to exceed 5 max...But you have to have Plenty of Hot sauce!!!

And Barry....

I must have been born under a rock..I never heard of the mothball thing? But like I have said before..I learn something new on this site everyday!!

hey barry tell us more about the mothballs, them are pretty cheap, if they work what the heck.