ok here is my question i am building a 454 stroker with 12.1 comp. i was wondoring if i could run e85 and what i would have to do with the car to make it run it also i can get e85 everywhere around my house. so would it be better running gas or e85.

 

There is a huge e85 article in this section. Just search for it. I read through it, and I am convinced to try it when I get a chance. E85 is 106ish octane so you can run even higher compression which is sweet. They have a conversion chart for jetting from gas to e85. I'm sold on it, just need the right opportunity to do it.

 

ok so if i went to e85 what would i have to change i here everyone talking about fuel line and that but i have a fuel cell and steel braided line all the way back so will i have to change all that or is that good and and also can u use a regular carb with it or do u have to buy something special.

 

The guy that did the big write up said e85 isn't going to do any damage to anything in the system. He's been soaking parts in it for over a year with no bad effects. You just need to make sure it's a well sealed up system, cause e85 soaks up moisture.

 

ok so i was reading on the e85 threads and they keep saying stuff about the fuel lines i have steel braided lines does anyone know for sure that this will work with e85 or will i have to switch to a different line and also will the plastic fuel cell work with e85 to.

 

who you might want to talk to is. synapsis he is a member here i have been talking to him about his l98 that runs on e-85. he said it wasnt very hard

 

thanks i just sent him a message

 

I didn't change a single piece of the fuel system when I converted the '57 to E85. That's another wive's tale that doesn't hold up to the light of day - fuel system parts have been ethanol-compatible for over 2 decades.

 

yea i thought it would work but i was getting so much diffrent stuff about it being able to work and not being able to work

 

Methanol is a different story. But it's E85, not M85.

 

Did you see my comments on the Quick Fuel Technologies E85 metering blocks?

I guess I just assumed you plan on running a Holley carb. What will you be running?

 

either holley or the proform race carb i think they both have the same jet setup

 

If they aren't E85-specific, they won't have the emulsion tuning that really seems to help get the most out of it. Power valve and idle restrictions are also different from gasoline.

 

so could u send me a link for the right carb i would need for my engine

 

The only made-for-E85 carb of which I'm aware currently is a 750 DP by Quick Fuel. Well, Edelbrock has one, but I don't consider their carbs worth considering. 750 CFM probably won't be big enough for your 454 - well, however big your engine is going to be, you just said "stroked", not how much.

Making some assumptions, like this will be used for drag racing, and 12:1 CR is a given, mechanical secondaries are preferred, choke not necessary:

Start with an alcohol carb such as the Quick Fuel Q-850-A (850 CFM double pumper, Proform mainbody, billet metering blocks, stainless throttle blades). Jet it down for E85, modify the emulsion bleeds and idle & PV restrictors as reported in the big E85 thread by IHI.

 

ok the engine is a 496 big block i am going to get a dp and i dont want a choke also the only time i will drive this car is to some local shows and then the drag strip so it basically is a drag car
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modify the emulsion bleeds and idle & PV restrictors

 

does anyone know what size carb i should use for my engine some say 850 cfm some say 950 cfm what one should i get i am going to get the carb for e85 for sure now the 106 octain made me want to switch for sure

 

Start with this formula:

CID x RPM / 3456.

That will give you the minimum size carb to run on a single-plane intake. You can run bigger, and that usually helps a little. If dual plane, up the size about 15% (forget the exact number, perhaps someone who remembers can chime in).

 

Try This Link Rob can git real close to tune http://www.e85carbs.com/index.htm

 

i just want to know what would happen if i ran e85 in my 1985 trans am. A few days ago a friend borrowed the car and decided to buy e85 because it was cheaper.........

I haven't drove the car since then but he said car ran great. The car is bone stock minus the full exhaust and a open element air cleaner.....

so do i have to worry about replacing the fuel system?

 

I would say no.

 

okay because ive had people already tell me that the e85 will corrode the tank to the carb. So its alright to burn e85 in my car then i guess?

 

I wouldn't try 100% E85. The O2 readings won't be right for the computer to properly compensate.

"Corroding the tank" is not a direct process. Ethanol doesn't corrode anything. But, it does absorb water, so if you get enough water in the stuff, and let it set for a very long time, the water can corrode the tank.

The typical bigger issue is the ethanol dissolves and loosens up deposits left by gasoline over time (varnish-like stuff). That gets loosened up, drawn into the fuel system, and plugs filters. That's not a "corrosion" process, though, and it's not the fault of the E85 - it was caused by gasoline over the years.

 

Okay so i have to mix regular gas and E85?

Also, what do i do for the 02 sensor then?

Next, so i just have to run really good alky fuel filters?

I'd really like to run E85 in my cc-qet car.....thanks all

 

I wouldn't say you "have" to mix, just that it probably ran "okay" because it was a mix. I drained about a gallon from the '57 last year and put it in the Camaro that had about 6 gallons of E10 in it - it didn't seem to care on the way to the gas station.

To correct the O2, you have to reprogram. Flex fuel vehicles (if I understand correctly) have sensors to determine the proportion of gasoline/ethanol and adjust the O2 accordingly.

E85 requires more volume than gasoline, so a completely E85 system would probably need more capacity in the carb metering, including the secondaries. Even if you reprogram the O2, you'll have to run gas or E85, one or the other.

 

Okay can you point me direction so i can run E85 in the car? I just want to know how to make car run on E85 and not have to worry about anything

 

Besides the big topic in this forum titled "E85 and jetting" or something like that, a good forum dedicated to e85 is www.e85forum.com. They can help you out with whatever questions you may have.

 

The only way I know how to do that at this point is on a Holley. It is possible that the CC carb would mostly compensate for the E85 - I just haven't tried it. Maybe one day when the tank is low I'll put in 5 gallons of E85 while carrying another 10 gallons of gasoline in case it really, really doesn't like pure E85, and see how it does. You could do the same thing yourself if you have some gas cans you can carry around.

I would guess that it would run lean, because the ECM is looking for something like 14:1 from the O2 sensor, and E85 should be more like 12:1. At WOT, it would be even leaner unless you put richer (i.e., smaller) rods in - and I don't even know if rich enough rods even exist. Stock LG4 primary jets might be too small as well, and although I've heard larger CC primary jets are available, I've never pursued it.

I have yet to hear of anyone on this Board who has burned CC carb chips. One guy came on briefly spouting something about tuning out something in a carb PROM, but he didn't stick around long. I don't have PROM burning equipment at this point, and don't know that I'll ever get into that.

That's the best I can offer at this point.

 

Well then......lol

Uhhh would it be better to ditch the cc q-jet for a non cc-qet set of a 350?

I really like the q-jet(unlike many people) and dont wanna leave it

Ive had really bad experiences with holleys on f-bodies too. Ive ran an edlebrock on my old firebird and it ran perfect......actually better than all the other carbs ive ran

 

Even with a non-CC q-jet, you'd still have the problem with the secondary rods. I suppose you could drill out the secondary "jet" openings, but I would advise extreme caution when you get to that point.

I know with the Holley, changing the emulsion bleeds made a profound difference. I assume you'd want to do some sort of similar change on the q-jet, but I can't say I know how you'd go about that.

If you're happy with Edelbrocks, I understand they also have an E85 carb, although I've never seen any specifics on it.

 

jeez, i all i want to do is get gas a lil cheaper lol

i already have drained buddies "oops" because car is in done for season as i wont let this car rot out lol. It ran good after filling up with 94 octane
(dad said that way in spring, gas wont be too low in octane)

oh well i guess, i love holleys but tuning them is nightmare for me
never had anyone show me right way...... now only if i hadnt gave that edlebrock away.........

 

If Edelbrock has an E85 carb (I've only heard they do, never seen evidence of it), most likely is it sufficiently different from the standard Performer that having a Performer wouldn't be of any help to you if you wanted to run E85.

Tuning Holleys is so simple. I don't see why people think of it as some mystical operation. If you can tune an Edelbrock, you can certainly tune a Holley.

 

Actually, ethanol is quite corrosive. They can't ship pure ethanol via a pipeline and must use stainless steel tanks to ship it.

 

That's funny about the stainless 'cause I work for the company that makes the railroad tanker cars for E-85 and they are all steel with no interior coating. E-85 is less corrosive than most people think!

There is way too much MIS-information about E-85. Don't believe half of what you hear and just do your own R&D. The results will speak for themselves! After some trial and error you will be greatly rewarded!

To the guy with the 496...Why 4150 and not 4500 holley? That large of a bore area demands alot of air...about 1050 worth IMHO!

 

All i can say is i just dont want a burnt up a motor or have to replace a lot of parts lol. I dont make the money most people on this board make, so i have to be careful with what i got

 

That "ethanol is corrosive" myth probably comes from the fact that people confuse it with methanol.

Both are commonly referred to with the generic name "alcohol", which is dumb because they differ a LOT in their properties. Methanol is the devils' corrosive spunk while ethanol is less aggressive to most everything than gasoline is. We drink ethanol for fun while methanol will kill you.

There used to be problems back in the '70 s when people tried using gasohol, a mixture of methanol and gasoline, and rubber hoses and fule pump sealings would dissolve and cause ferocious fires.

Incidentally, a rare few of those rubbers and plastics didn't stand ethanol very well either. From a list of like 20 alternative plastic materials you will find that 18 endure ethanol better than gasoline, and of course it is the last two that are used for fuel lines...

But ever since the '80s, the gas companies have been adding 5-10% ethanol to fuel as an octane booster - so car companies have made a point out of using only materials that can endure ethanol.

That is not to say that they endure methanol though.

I have no idea what material they used in the '80s third generation F-bodies, but chances are that they endure E85 just fine. At worst I would expect it to dissolve old crud in the gas tank that can clog up the fuel filter.