What can I do to run E85

don't even bother. If you set up a carb'd car to run E85 you will be limited to E85 ONLY from then on out. The only way to do it right is with EFI. IT's not a dumb question but unfortunately it doesn't have an answer that you probably want to hear.

nate

I don't think there is a commercial conversion kit available from what I've been able to find. Patent one and you'll be competing with Bill Gates in a few years.

Lee

thanks for the info. I get close to 30 MPG with the Hawk 289, Edelbrock

1406, O/D and 3.31 rear. Guess that's going to have to do... Ronnie

30 MPG? seriously? do you have the correct speedo gear and pinion for that combo?

How do you like the OD with the 3.31? was thinking about doing something similar to my '55 although right now it looks like I am going with a T-10 (but I'm going to use the "late" bellhousing so I can always change my mind later)

nate

Just jet the carb to add about 40-45% more fuel, and expect about

55-60% of the mileage you used to get.

Also, since E85 is 105 octane, you can really run a lot of timing advance compared to gas.

That being said, the alcohol might attack some of the old rubber fuel system parts.

Good luck

You'd have to FIND E85 first!

None in South Georgia.

30MPG? You kidding?

My Cruiser is doing good to get 17.5 with its Stromberg on a 289 and 3.31

Dave Miller So. Ga. SDC

How do you do it? I'm running the same set up on my GT and get only 18

- 19 hwy. It has a 625 CFM AFB, R -1 cam, 3.31 rear, T-5 OD trans. I'm envious of your mileage.

Jack

I don't know if it is advisable to run E-85 with a carburated engine. I had a S-10 that was flexi-fuel (gas or E-85) so I did a lot of reading on what made the vehicle special. First off, you have to have a stainless gas tank and teflon coated fuel lines. E-85 attracts a lot of water that will corrode those items quickly. The fuel pump is special also. The modern vehicles designed to run it are, of course, fuel injected. There is a sensor that detects the amout of oxygen (alcohol) in the fuel and adjusts the amount of fuel delivered by the injectors accordingly. This is because you might have half a tank of gas when you top off with E-85. Or you might have all E-85 -- you get the idea -- if your vehicle runs both you have to know how much of each is in there. The injectors were special items too, I believe. With a carb you would have to jet for either E-85 or Gasoline only and stick with that fuel. And I don't know what all that alcolhol would do to a pot-metal carb. It might not like the gaskets. It sure won't like anything that is steel.

My truck got about 15% to 20% poorer fuel economy on E-85 so I would only buy it if the price was 25% less than regular. As it turns out, this is a rare occurance. Ethanol tends to shadow the price of gasoline. Usually it was only 10 to 15 cents less per gallon and that was back when gas was between $1.50 and $2.00 so I was going to actually lose money by running E-85!

My understanding is that you can get a car to run within 10% of the same MPG as a car using gasoline if the computer is optimized for E-85 but nothing is made to run purely on E-85 since the fuel is so rare.

Also E-85 is not recommended for very cold weather. I never ran it when the temp was below zero because I didn't want to get stranded. I'd really worry about evaporation from a float bowl and vapor lock if I was running it through a carb.

That kind of makes sense since I believe the primaries are larger on a

2bbl than they are >30MPG? You kidding?

Richard Lawler

'57 1/2 ton Transtar '51 2dr Champion

a PROPERLY set 4 barrel can get in the high 20's.. guy in our club gets something over 26 when we do the 'economy run'.. 289 4 and a 2.62? rear end.. I get9 with a sucky 2 barrel..

--Shiva--

CORRECTION.. I get 19 with a sucky 2 barrel --Shiva--

I think the rareness depends on where you live. Around here (corn country) every other station sells E85. It is widely available. MikeW