Anyone run there car on alcohol ?

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AdamR

AdamR

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What needs to be changed to run it ? How much is it a barrel? Just wondering, with gas prices the way they are I bet a lot of people are going to switch.
 
From what I read a few months back, it is a little bit cheaper but the problem is you have to burn twice as much. I was looking into this.
The stills for these are mostly farmer owned also..
 
Is it possible to convert a vehicle that was designed for gasoline to operate on E85? Yes. However, there are no conversion or aftermarket parts that have been certified by the EPA as meeting the standards to maintain clean exhaust emissions. Technically speaking, converting a vehicle that was designed to operate on unleaded gasoline only to operate on another form of fuel is a violation of the federal law and the offender may be subject to significant penalties. No aftermarket conversion company has taken the initiative to certify an E85 kit that would allow a gasoline vehicle to operate on 85% ethanol.

Copied from here
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faqs/conversion.php
 
i was thinking about this today at work, seems like everyone else is too. dont those epa rules apply only to cars that require smog checks? i dont think anyone would know if our cars didnt meet emissions, which im sure they dont anyway. E85 is a lot better than gasoline, and cheaper.
 
GJ, Have you done any research ? I know my fuel pump wont work and you have to up jetting and compression.
 
well i have been looking into this for the last few days. I think you are talking about methonal, which is a byproduct of the natural gas plants. e85 is good if it is locally. But im looking to make ethanol my self in the backyard. very easy and said to cost around $1.2 a gallon. Now alot if stuff people say is from the early 80's propaganda from the oil companys back when prices doubled. you don;t need to run twice as much. and usually everything is alright to use ethanol. 180 proof is 106 octane, so you need the compression to use that much octane effectivly, if not you will get 15% worse gas mileage worst case. it is fully legal to make it yourself, you can make it out of any starch or sugar foods. even rotten fruit and such.

now E85 is well 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Preimuim gas used to be called gashol, anyone rember that? i don't i was even born yet, but no one knew what i was they changed to name to premium.
to make E85 you have to get 200 proof or 100% alc bv. proof divided by 2 is the percetage or vice a versa.

now it takes more energy to get from 180 proof to 200 than the intial 180 proof, you have to use chemicals to dehydrate the rest of the water, which there is a cheaper way to do it, and it is reusable. But it HAS to be 0% water or the gasolin will seperate the water from the alc, causing water at the bottom of the tank.

Im converting my car to efi so it isn't that hard of a change, and probalby now for a daily driver but if it sits around you may have water problems as high proof alc draws water out of the air.

also ethanol is not as corrosive as methonal (which most drag racers run) also indy cars have run ethanol for the last 80 years. henry ford made the model t to run off ethanol as he said it was the fuel of the future. Ethanol accounts for 10% of fuel sales. south america is alomst 100% running on eth. as they can make it cheaply and not hacve to reley on some other country....hmm actually oil companys here in the us have seen 50% bigger profits than last year...so where is the price increase coming from really? do you think that we are affected by oil barrel prices right away? its only going to go up in price, so why not support you self?

+ it runs very cold, i have seen a twin turbo buick making over 1,200 hp running on eth, and no intercooler actualy put ice on the intake!! have you ever put rubbing alc on your skin?
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/
this is the best site so far that i have seen. Plus there still plans sound very good and 5 gallons production an hour? awsome.

i found a book that talks about making it so after i pick uit upand read it i will post back.

steve

(only legal if you get a permit, very easy, you just have to have it denutred. Adding enough gasoline to make it poisonis to drink. and don;t think about drinking 180 proof or 200 proof as your skin cells will lose all of its water content on contact.)
 
I used to run my car on Alcohol, but i am much older and wiser now. There are serious leal penalties in this state for DWI. And besides, it just downright dangerous. (Sorry Adam, somebody had to go there) =)~
 
:poke: I generally cut the corn squeezin's 80/20 with the oil that I get from the baby harp seals that I run through the wood chipper out back. They come in strapped to the backs of the caribou that ChimpyMcBushHitler ships to me down from the north slope of Alaska..
 
We sell 100% methanol for 3.61 a gallon so it not cheaper than high test pump gas but it is cheaper than racing fuel. Right now 104 is 4.99 @ 110 is 5.25@ 112 is 6.25 and 116 is a whopping 9.00 @. You would also need to add lube to it. A 12 oz bottle treats 55 gal. Most of my methanol customers fall into the following catagories go-carts, RC planes, and folks who are making bio diesel. Then we have the occassional drag car or mud truck. Don't know if this helps you are not but I hope it does!
 
We ran alcohol in the dragster, but we're building a 360 now to run on alcohol hopefuly. We've got a few barrels in the garage haha.
 
I see a lot of the 360 sprint cars run methonal. I was talking to the pit crew about the price of it. Theres was free as the oilfield uses meth to flush pipelines and such out and the teams owner had the contract for all the methanol hauling in western Alberta. They had a tanker truck full of it at home.

So sounds like gas.... they sell it for more then it really costs!
 
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