Car enthusiasts, are becoming interested in E85 ethanol

[rfkrfk]

let me explain the appeal.

E85 has 72 percent of the energy of gasoline,
but E85 has an octane rating of 102 to 106.

suppose premium gas pump-93 is 2.45 a gallon, and.
E85 is 1.80 . That means I can get the same energy in one gallon of gasoline,
by buying 2.50 woth of E85.

That is like buying 105 race gas, for a nickel more
than pump-93

I don't need the stuff in my daily car, but if
I ever do some engine work on my week-ender, I would
consider going to much higher compression.

The people who oppose ethanol fuel, now have
a lot of new enemies.

.......some issues with E85 ........
E85 can loosen up gum and varnish, in the tank.
Ethanol for mixing with gasoline must be 'dry', less than one percent water.
distilled alcohol needs a chemical clean-up step, to get the
water content that low.
Most cars built post-1988 can run SOME alcohol, people are reporting
that with over 50 percent E85 {in non-flex fuel cars}, the 'check engine'
light come on.
The volume of fuel needed goes up with alcohol, that can be
an issue if your fuel pump and/or fuel injectors are maxxed out.
Ethanol is not methanol, but with that said, some people claim
there are corrosion issues with ethanol. I an suspicios of
that claim, I really think the problem with ethanol
is usually dirt in tank getting loosened by ethanol.
There may be cold starting issues. There may be issues
with cars -> frequent cold starts, and oil change issues.
I would assume these things have been thought out, in FFVs.
Octane rating, just by itself does not usually improve things,
Compression and/or timing must be changed to take advantage
of the higher octane.
I won't get into the issue of emissions.

[yorgatron]

1. i'm getting interested

i have a '54 Oldsmobile.
when i rebuilt the engine i had to make sure i didn't go over 9 1/2 to 1 compression,so i could get by on premium.
the engine i'm bulding for my brother's car ('51 Hudson) is a 394 Olds,but this time i'll be shooting for 8 1/2 to 1,so he can use regular.
neither one of these cars will travel more than 2500 miles per year on average,taking into account Thursday cruise night (march through october) and car shows,Billetproof;150 mile round trip and Paso Robles;300 mile round trip.
E85 would be perfect for what we're doing.

[yorgatron]

2. BTW

102 to 106 octane would enable compression ratios as high as 12:1 or 13:1.
one of my books cites 16:1 for pure racing alcohol.

[rfkrfk]

3. for a non-computer controlled car,

the carb will need to be properly jetted.

watch for oil fouling