E85 V6

[Jim E]

The thought to convert my V6 to E85 keeps drifting thru my head. Am thinking would have to change out any rubber bits in the fuel delivery system and either rejet the Holley or move up a size or two and jet that carb. Anyone have thoughts on this? Do you supose my Hirsch lined fuel tanks would stand it?

 

[RootesRacer]

The thought to convert my V6 to E85 keeps drifting thru my head. Am thinking would have to change out any rubber bits in the fuel delivery system and either rejet the Holley or move up a size or two and jet that carb. Anyone have thoughts on this? Do you supose my Hirsch lined fuel tanks would stand it?

If you have the 390 carb, you dont want to get larger. The CFM relates to the air capacity which wont change under E85. What will change a lot are just about all the jets.

Mains and idles get larger, mains by almost twice the cross sectional area, idles to whatever size the engine seems to need. Air correctors will likely go up too, but to what degree I dont know. The needle and seat may need to be set for a higher flow since your 300hp carb just turned into 550HP worth of gasoline fuel volume. Also the power valve will be way off.

I wouldnt assume that the rubber parts will give you problems, you might need to talk to the rebuild supplier to be sure.

This is one of those cases where EFI would have made going to E85 much easier since it usually involves just doubling the injector sizes and retuning.

Good luck.

 

[Bill Blue]

Hirschauto.com says it will. I don't think a larger carb would be the answer. Larger jets are in order. My bet is Jarrid can tell you how much larger. Personally, I would not do it. Once the carb is jetted for E85, that is what you have to run. There are parts of this country (read Connersville) where there is no E85. Everyone wants to visit Connersville.

Bill

 

[65beam]

E85

keep several things in mind before converting to E85. the cost of the fuel is much higher ,mileage suffers plus availability which in most places is nil . most dealers don't want to spend the money to invest in dispensing eqipment since the cost of the equipment is VERY EXPENSIVE and the return on investment is nothing. many jobbers don't want to sell it or deliver it due to the damage that may occur to the trucks and the electronic sensors on board . we're finding that many municipalities are even getting away from using alternative fuels due to all problems involved . the list goes on and on . also keep in mind not to use over a 10% ethanol blend in you gas .

 

[RootesRacer]

keep several things in mind before converting to E85. the cost of the fuel is much higher ,mileage suffers plus availability which in most places is nil . most dealers don't want to spend the money to invest in dispensing eqipment since the cost of the equipment is VERY EXPENSIVE and the return on investment is nothing. many jobbers don't want to sell it or deliver it due to the damage that may occur to the trucks and the electronic sensors on board . we're finding that many municipalities are even getting away from using alternative fuels due to all problems involved . the list goes on and on . also keep in mind not to use over a 10% ethanol blend in you gas .

But there are compelling reasons to use it.

The cost per BTU is definitely higher than gasoline, particularly due to the huge drop in crude costs, however relating it to racing fuel, the dollar to octane value cant be beat even after factoring in the BTU per gallon differential.

 

[jumpinjan]

Correct me if I'm off-base, but I thought when running methanol, you can achieve perfect jetting, because if the jetting is too rich, it doesn't matter. The excess fuel is just exhausted out the engine. Our racing IMP engine was set up for methanol (using DCOEs) and I always wanted to put it our race car just to drive it on methanol, but never had the time to finish the car.
Is this E85 methanol or ethanol?
Jan

 

[65beam]

E85

if you have to worry about the btu content of the fuel to power your alpine, it's probably not a very practical alpine for road use and you don't worry about the cost of speeding tickets .the 1725 in my 69 runs great on conventional 87 and is proving to be a great road car. plus i don't have to worry about speeding tickets or high insurance. and since gas is selling in the 1.90's ,it's real cheap to drive . i would like to see what jim could do with converting his car to an alternative fuel .it could be very interesting . just my 2 pennies .

 

[65beam]

E85

jan,
it's ETHANOL . it's made from corn .

 

[jumpinjan]

Its corn whiskey then? Geez, why would anyone pour it into a car's fuel tank?
(Dang, seems like a waste to me )

 

[lgurley]

Its corn whiskey then? Geez, why would anyone pour it into a car's fuel tank?
(Dang, seems like a waste to me )

It is the old White Lightning and when I was very young my Dad was very low on gas My old great aunt gave him (she had confiscated it from her brother) 2 gallons of the stuff. My Dad said it ran better on the way home.

 

[Jim E]

Mapquest has a search you can do to locate E85, so I supose you could plot a trip around such a search.


I need to convert my car like I need an extra hole in the head. Still would like to try it and learn how to tune for it.

 

[TulsaAlpine]

E85 website

http://www.e85refueling.com/

Jim this should help! I did my part bought a 06 Impala that is a flex fuel car and after 3 years have run 2 tanks of E85 in it, just to big of a inconvenience to drive 4 miles out of my way and lose 4 MPG on average.

Donna

 

[Jim E]

I am thinking more to learn to tune with this stuff so I can have more options for higher compression street engine builds. This could also come into play with the chevy rod alpine four build for street or track use.

 

[64beam]

Hi,

Our V8 supercar race series here in Australia are even looking at changing to the ethanol and I believe that they have been doing some testing with ethanol E85 with good results. They are associated with CSR ethanol and are also planting trees to offset their carbon emmissions. They are hoping that other race series will follow.

Regards, Robin.

 

[Jim E]

Jarrid,
How do the new cars take care of injector size when you change fuels?

 

[RootesRacer]

Jarrid,
How do the new cars take care of injector size when you change fuels?

Flex fuel vehicles have oversized injectors and a fuel constituency sensor to allowmixing a pure alky map against a pure gasoline map.

 

[bluoval]

ethanol

would rather be dependent on oil than a food stuff so ethanol is not for my tank been looking a at cng. compressed natural gas as an alternative. roush has already marketed a conversion kit for trucks just my opinion earl blu oval

 

[RootesRacer]

would rather be dependent on oil than a food stuff so ethanol is not for my tank been looking a at cng. compressed natural gas as an alternative. roush has already marketed a conversion kit for trucks just my opinion earl blu oval

The main issue with CNG as an auto fuel is that being methane for the most part, its not practical to bring the fuel around in liquid form, and therefore there are serious range issues.

LNG (propane) makes far more sense particularly since it has nearly the same BTUs per pound as gasoline and has a very high effective knock rating.
The bad thing about LNG is that in very cold weather the vapor pressure is so low, you'd probably need a pump in order to use the stuff.

Ive done liquid propane injection, its a hell of a nice way to run an engine.

 

[Bill Blue]

The bad thing about LNG is that in very cold weather the vapor pressure is so low, you'd probably need a pump in order to use the stuff.

Ive done liquid propane injection, its a hell of a nice way to run an engine.

I've used propane on farm tractors in very cold weather. Don't remember how cold, been way to many winters ago. We could choose between vapor or liquid. Its simply a matter of taking the fuel off the bottom rather than the top. I imagine running on vapor could be problem in very cold weather. Propane is a common household heating fuel, I've never heard of anyone having problems getting fuel to the furnace in cold weather.

Yes indeed, it is a hell of a nice way to run an engine. Kind of hard to carry a 5 gallon can of fuel out to the tractor when it runs out at the far end of the back 40, but that is about its only drawback.

Bill

 

[RootesRacer]

I've used propane on farm tractors in very cold weather. Don't remember how cold, been way to many winters ago. We could choose between vapor or liquid. Its simply a matter of taking the fuel off the bottom rather than the top. I imagine running on vapor could be problem in very cold weather. Propane is a common household heating fuel, I've never heard of anyone having problems getting fuel to the furnace in cold weather.

Yes indeed, it is a hell of a nice way to run an engine. Kind of hard to carry a 5 gallon can of fuel out to the tractor when it runs out at the far end of the back 40, but that is about its only drawback.

Bill

Bill,

Keep in mind I said liquid propane injection.
Since the vapor pressure drops with pressure, the liquid pressure is an a function of the tank temperature.

As it gets colder, the pressure decreases and if you are running the liquid side of the tank as the injector feed, the lower the pressure, the lower the potential injector flow. You can compensate for the variable injector pressure with a pressure transducer, but you cant make the injectors flow more due to the lower pressure differential.