Anyone know what kind of CR you can get away with on a 100% alky motor? I've heard as high as 15:1 mentioned. Any personal experience from people with a few builds in their belt would be appreciated. Save the smartassery, I'm well aware fuel grade is 2% gas.
My friend runs a sand rail with a turbo charged and injected 2000 cc Pinto motor on alcohol. It's running 14:1 compression. It also has a nitrous unit using propane has the fuel.
I've seen 'em go in the 16:1 range on Methanol. But a lot of that depends on your cam and what your heads are made of. Lots of overlap and aluminum hads will give you room for more static compression.
This isn't smart ass, I really wanna know. Is "ethanol-grain alcohol" interchangeable with "methanol-wood alcohol" when it comes to cars? I see alot of articles that say "runs on alky" or "when running on straight methanol"... if so, where do you buy "methanol"? There's alot of e85 stations popping up around here, so that's relatively easy to get... but I never see methanol. Jay
I buy it by the 55 gallon drum. I don't think you want to run it on the street though. The exhaust has a similar effect on eyes and nose that you get from nitro. My guess is it wouldn't pass any kind of emissions test, unlike E85. It costs a lot more too.
Corn Alcohol (Ethanol) is for drinking. Wood Alcohol (Methanol) is for raceing.You buy Methanol from any chemical supplier or from an NHRA authorized supplier if your not a Hoodlum (Outlaw).Dave is absolutely right about it being nasty smellin' stuff. The wife sits as far as possible from the stageing lanes because of here asthma but it only takes one close encounter with an alchy burner to stop her racein' for the day.We still love the stuff but she just can't tolerate it any more.
Actually methanol emissions confuse the hell out of the machines, as in " I have never seen an old truck like this run that clean". Dont ask me how I know this. BTW, I had to change the engine in my parts chaser this year because it didnt have enough compression left in it to run on methanol. 22 years and 240,000 miles of my driving on a 318 and it is worn out, Nobody makes anything that lasts anymore
chit, I got it bass akwards again, I am drivin a mopar and racin a chebbie ( ok, it is a chebbie engine in a ford tupperware body) at least I know what I doin wrong now Thank Ryan for the HAMB
Yea gotta lub dis place.I'd say I've always raced MOPARs and drove Chebbys but that would be an out and out lie.Thruth is I'd race a Borgward if that's what I could get my hands on. But my mainstay drivers have been chebbies for years. Started out raceing Fords and driveing Mercurys actually.Anyway back to the alcohol thing, you actuially ran you parts hauler on Alchy, how freakin' cool is that?
Actually, that was another of my questions... Does alcohol break down the same way as gasoline when it's burnt? I mean, as far as CO emissions, NOx, etc... Seems to me, it wouldn't be as bad, emissions wise, as it burns hotter. I understand that it stinks to high hell, but is it as bad on the environment. It also seems funny to me, approx. 10 years ago, my Grandpa cut some articles out of the newspaper saying how "evil" the 10% ethanol mixes were back then for cars, now they're really pushing E85 around here. Full circle, I guess. Thanks, Dave, for the info too. Jay
IMHO...the ethanol is still 'evil'. In older cars it will raise hell with rubber parts (like inside a carb...) and from a politically incorrect stand it takes more energy to make it than what it gives back... In the early 70's we ran 14:1 on methanol. Maybe a bit low by todays standards.
The Jalopy Journal
