Alcohol question ?

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Disclaimer: I am NOT a chemical engineer...
But my understanding is that it doesn't necessarily CREATE more cylinder pressure on it's own, but it does allow you to run higher compression numbers- well into the teens.
I'm sure someone better versed in this will chime in.
 
We put alcohol on a buddies car ! Alcohol picked up the car 3.5 tenths ! But this dude pukes oil out of every office ! Put the car back on gas not a leak one ! Just like before ! The car has a belt drive vacuum pump on it !
 
Just a guess...

Unburnt Gas molecules seal the rings better than alcohol?

Or additives in gas do same better than additives in alcohol.
 
Dana67Dart said:
Just a guess...

Unburnt Gas molecules seal the rings better than alcohol?

Or additives in gas do same better than additives in alcohol.
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I was thinking along those same lines ! I thought maybe gas exploding in cylinder would seal the rings better ! But , I didn’t know why ! I couldn’t explain it !
 
Do a test take 2 cotton swabs and dip them in alcohol & gas.
Light a match from a distance and see which 1 catches on fire first as you're lowering it, I think the alcohol may light up quicker because it's expansion-evaporation.
I'm probably right but I'm probably wrong
 
MOPARMAGA said:
Do a test take 2 cotton swabs and dip them in alcohol & gas.
Light a match from a distance and see which 1 catches on fire first as you're lowering it, I think the alcohol may light up quicker because it's expansion-evaporation.
I'm probably right but I'm probably wrong
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Please don't try this above.....I am a Chemist, and I can tell you that gasoline is much more volatile than "alcohol" (in other words, alcohol is harder to light on fire than gasoline), although I'm not sure which "alcohol" you are referring to. I'll assume methanol for now...With that, there is much less BTU energy in methanol (compared to gasoline), but you are able to burn much more of it per unit of air (i.e. stochiometric ratio of air to methanol). For example, your engine can burn approximately 3x as much methanol per unit of air, compared to a gasoline; thus, making more power even though there is less BTU energy per unit. My guess is (although I'm not certain) that is why you are seeing blow by on methanol and not on gasoline (you are making bigger power, and more pressure).

I hope that helps.
 
flyfish said:
Please don't try this above.....I am a Chemist, and I can tell you that gasoline is much more volatile than "alcohol" (in other words, alcohol is harder to light on fire than gasoline), although I'm not sure which "alcohol" you are referring to. I'll assume methanol for now...With that, there is much less BTU energy in methanol (compared to gasoline), but you are able to burn much more of it per unit of air (i.e. stochiometric ratio of air to methanol). For example, your engine can burn approximately 3x as much methanol per unit of air, compared to a gasoline; thus, making more power even though there is less BTU energy per unit. My guess is (although I'm not certain) that is why you are seeing blow by on methanol and not on gasoline (you are making bigger power, and more pressure).

I hope that helps.
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DING DING DING!!! You can be way rich of stoich with alcohol and it really doesn’t care. You can’t do that with gasoline.

When I see guys picking up several tenths switching to alcohol it just says their gasoline tune up wasn’t very good.

From Sid Waterman’s mouth to my ear in about 1999. Best carb gas to best carb alcohol is 1-2%. Best injected gas to best injected alcohol is 1-2%. Sooooo...if you went from the very best carb gas to the very best injected alcohol you’d get a 2-4% increase in power.

In a worst case scenario, even with a 6% increase from gas to alcohol you’d get 36 HP on a 600 HP engine.
 
yellow rose said:
When I see guys picking up several tenths switching to alcohol it just says their gasoline tune up wasn’t very good.
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so what you are saying is if i had a 2 barrel carb on my 416'' and i switched to a 4 barrel carb and picked up ET, my tune wasn't very good with the 2 barrel?:wtf:
 
just a thought that jumped out of my hat and into my very simple P brain mind when i read your comment about alcohol. that's all carry on
 
Methanol dilutes the oil much quicker cause you run so much more alcohol than gas. My SG 67 Barracuda picked up 2/10’s over a well tune gas Dominator. But i was running a Ron’s flying toilet.
 
i don't think you get what i was implying. let's take the 2 barrel. all fine tuned and running good. i switch to a 4 barrel and pick up ET, i had a bad tune in the 2 barrel? and give no credit to the 4 barrel which obviously made my ET drop a few tenths?

from what i have experienced (not just me, but a few racers that i talk to and help at the track), alcohol will pick up ET.

but then again my junk isn't scienced out and i use left over used parts in the junk i race and build.
 
79410aspenrt said:
i don't think you get what i was implying. let's take the 2 barrel. all fine tuned and running good. i switch to a 4 barrel and pick up ET, i had a bad tune in the 2 barrel? and give no credit to the 4 barrel which obviously made my ET drop a few tenths?

from what i have experienced (not just me, but a few racers that i talk to and help at the track), alcohol will pick up ET.

but then again my junk isn't scienced out and i use left over used parts in the junk i race and build.
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Right. What you implied had nothing to do with what I said. How does switching fuel and changing carbs coincide?
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Methanol dilutes the oil much quicker cause you run so much more alcohol than gas. My SG 67 Barracuda picked up 2/10’s over a well tune gas Dominator. But i was running a Ron’s flying toilet.
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And you should use a different surface finish and oil with alcohol because of that extra fuel in there. Alcohol takes a much different RvK value than gasoline.
 
the 2 barrel is the gas and the 4 barrel is the alcohol. it's obvious which one is going to run faster ET wise. the 4 barrel AKA alcohol
 
I changed oil much more often. But I able to run without a radiator and only ran water in the block. Ran so cool I had a fit getting it to 150 at start and was only 170 after a run.
 
79410aspenrt said:
the 2 barrel is the gas and the 4 barrel is the alcohol. it's obvious which one is going to run faster ET wise. the 4 barrel AKA alcohol
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Don’t you have a stop sign to argue with you fool? You know damned good and well we are not talking about going from a 2V on gas to a 4V on alcohol. Your selective reading smacks of asshatery.

I’ll type it again, only slower this time so maybe you can comprehend what I said.

The tune up window for alcohol is this >————————< wide and the tune up window for gasoline is this >< wide. Do you get it now??

I can tell you for a FACT that 95% of the cars at the track on gasoline are rich. Simple as that. Alcohol will tolerate it. Gasoline won’t.

You ought to get out of the basement more often.
 
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