<VV> Re2: Re: Corvair running on E-85

[Jim Burkhard]

Paul Fox wrote:
> Jim,
>        I've heard the gloom and doom stuff before. 

Heh, heh ... I *often* hear it from my wife who is a fuel 
injector design engineer that actually has to design stuff 
to survive the durability tests under ethanol.  Nasty stuff.

 >  But what the hey, the
> car's an old beater that sat all summer I might as well do something 
> with it.

Well, as long as you know the risks going in.  For safety's 
sake, please keep an eye on and rubber fuel lines sections 
and the mechanical fuel pump (if you have one).  E85 will 
turn most rubbers to jello over time. I was serious about 
the fire extinguisher too...

>         It did sit for about a week with the E-85 fuel in it before I 
> made the mods to the carbs. Everything inside the carbs looked good when 
> I took them apart.

It will probably take longer than that. How long, I dunno. 
Like I said, it will be interesting to hear from you on it :-)

>         One thing I wonder about is what kind of spark plug color should 
> I have.And weather the carbon build-up will reduce over time.

Carbon buildup on the plugs? I would *guess* that the plugs 
will stay cleaner than on a gasoline engine, but if your 
plugs are carbony from oil (and not gasoline) it's not going 
to matter too much. You said it was an old and beat engine 
so if high oil consumption and oil-fouled plugs are a 
problem, this might help a little, but won't be a cure all.

>Is cold 
> weather start up going to be a problem? It has been unseasonly warm 
> around here. Time should tell.

Yeah, cold starting will probably be more difficult. That's 
a normal byproduct of alcohol fuel (methanol as well).  In 
fact, cold startability is the main reason what they sell is 
E85 (85% ethanol) instead of E100 (100% ethanol). In Brazil, 
new E100 cars are commonly sold, but they have a small 
(washer bottle sized) gasoline fuel minitank underhood, that 
is just used for starting. Once the car is started, the ECM 
quickly switches the injectors to fuel from the main (E100) 
tank.  And there's a second reason that E85 is the 
"standard" in the US rather than E100 ... when there is a 
fire, you can see the flames much more eaisly than with 
E100, which burns nearly invisibly. Ever see a methanol fuel 
pit fire in auto racing?  That's about the same deal with 
E100. the 15% gasoline in E85 gives the flame a little more 
luminosity.  The main reason is cold weather starting, though.

Keep us posted, Paul!

Jim Burkhard

>                   Paul Fox
>