methanol....?
01-23-2005, 10:23 PM
#1
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methanol....?
anyone there runs methanol..???i think i might ...it runs cooler and is it cheaper than C-16 ..just need special carb..and no emission test if if you run methanol....[&:]it smells good to....[&:]
01-24-2005, 02:39 PM
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RE: methanol....?
my racing friend runs methanol in his injected altered and you're correct about it being much cheaper than race gas but you have to burn almost twice as much of it to make the same power as gasoline. he uses over 2 gals just to make a 1/4 mile pass! this means you need a larger capacity fuel delivery system to supply enough volume of fuel and the fuel cell, gaskets, hoses, etc. must be compatible with methanol or it will eat them up real quick. methanol is also very hydroscopic which means it sucks up water from the air and you need to keep all containers of it tightly closed up all the time or else it gets full of water. your nose must not be working right if you like the smell of it too! they do make an additive you can add to it to make it smell like cherries or other fruit to mask the true smell of it when it burns.
01-24-2005, 02:53 PM
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RE: methanol....?
roundy's got it pretty much covered. I've run methanal on kart racing engines I've built, and its the sh*t.
Advantages: easy to convert, you can likely (not sure but on kart engines I just drill out the jets already there) use the same carb just with different jets. like Roundy said it requires a much richer a/f ratio. The engines run 100* cooler (seriously) and you can run more timing. On kart motors running methanol is worth about 30% more power!!! Im sure it would be similar for your engine as well.
Disadvantages: Like roundy said once again, uses more fuel but mainly the fact that its corrosive and hard on many types of material. It doesn't have a long shelf life and if the car's gonna be sitting more than a few days its best to drain all the methanol and flush the carb and fuel system with gasoline. on kart engines you'd drain the tank and fill it with gasoline, then run the engine until the methanol is burned out of the carb and lines (engine runs but it runs like crap). Also more frequent oil changes too, probably best to do it after each night of racing.
Advantages: easy to convert, you can likely (not sure but on kart engines I just drill out the jets already there) use the same carb just with different jets. like Roundy said it requires a much richer a/f ratio. The engines run 100* cooler (seriously) and you can run more timing. On kart motors running methanol is worth about 30% more power!!! Im sure it would be similar for your engine as well.
Disadvantages: Like roundy said once again, uses more fuel but mainly the fact that its corrosive and hard on many types of material. It doesn't have a long shelf life and if the car's gonna be sitting more than a few days its best to drain all the methanol and flush the carb and fuel system with gasoline. on kart engines you'd drain the tank and fill it with gasoline, then run the engine until the methanol is burned out of the carb and lines (engine runs but it runs like crap). Also more frequent oil changes too, probably best to do it after each night of racing.
01-24-2005, 06:13 PM
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RE: methanol....?
ORIGINAL: roundman
my racing friend runs methanol in his injected altered and you're correct about it being much cheaper than race gas but you have to burn almost twice as much of it to make the same power as gasoline. he uses over 2 gals just to make a 1/4 mile pass! this means you need a larger capacity fuel delivery system to supply enough volume of fuel and the fuel cell, gaskets, hoses, etc. must be compatible with methanol or it will eat them up real quick. methanol is also very hydroscopic which means it sucks up water from the air and you need to keep all containers of it tightly closed up all the time or else it gets full of water. your nose must not be working right if you like the smell of it too! they do make an additive you can add to it to make it smell like cherries or other fruit to mask the true smell of it when it burns.
my racing friend runs methanol in his injected altered and you're correct about it being much cheaper than race gas but you have to burn almost twice as much of it to make the same power as gasoline. he uses over 2 gals just to make a 1/4 mile pass! this means you need a larger capacity fuel delivery system to supply enough volume of fuel and the fuel cell, gaskets, hoses, etc. must be compatible with methanol or it will eat them up real quick. methanol is also very hydroscopic which means it sucks up water from the air and you need to keep all containers of it tightly closed up all the time or else it gets full of water. your nose must not be working right if you like the smell of it too! they do make an additive you can add to it to make it smell like cherries or other fruit to mask the true smell of it when it burns.
ill be running a bg 400 pump....so not a problem there ....anda divincie $1400 carb
01-25-2005, 01:56 PM
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RE: methanol....?
ORIGINAL: hotrodmanII
im going to mix a little nitro with it..... this way i dont need nitrous ,,going to use it on my 580 BBC 14.6 TO 1 COMPRESSION ...what about cylinders ???is it going to lock them up if not run for a while..?do i need to oil cylinders up after running it ,,,??i just need to know the pros and cons ,,,before i do this ,,,i know bird man4 knows....ill be running a bg 400 pump....so not a problem there ....anda divincie $1400 carb
im going to mix a little nitro with it..... this way i dont need nitrous ,,going to use it on my 580 BBC 14.6 TO 1 COMPRESSION ...what about cylinders ???is it going to lock them up if not run for a while..?do i need to oil cylinders up after running it ,,,??i just need to know the pros and cons ,,,before i do this ,,,i know bird man4 knows....
ill be running a bg 400 pump....so not a problem there ....anda divincie $1400 carb
01-25-2005, 08:04 PM
#9
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RE: methanol....?
ORIGINAL: roundman
you need to make sure the gaskets in the carb are compatible with methanol/nitro and keep a close eye on the oil as the methanol vapors tend to get by the piston rings lots easier than gasoline and this contaminates the oil with both methanol and water which the methanol sucks up leaving the oil milky looking and not good for use anymore. I don't think you need to worry about oiling the cylinders between races but do keep a close watch on the oil! and you know that nitro is not an allowable fuel in bracket race cars don't you???? LOL
ORIGINAL: hotrodmanII
im going to mix a little nitro with it..... this way i dont need nitrous ,,going to use it on my 580 BBC 14.6 TO 1 COMPRESSION ...what about cylinders ???is it going to lock them up if not run for a while..?do i need to oil cylinders up after running it ,,,??i just need to know the pros and cons ,,,before i do this ,,,i know bird man4 knows....ill be running a bg 400 pump....so not a problem there ....anda divincie $1400 carb
im going to mix a little nitro with it..... this way i dont need nitrous ,,going to use it on my 580 BBC 14.6 TO 1 COMPRESSION ...what about cylinders ???is it going to lock them up if not run for a while..?do i need to oil cylinders up after running it ,,,??i just need to know the pros and cons ,,,before i do this ,,,i know bird man4 knows....
ill be running a bg 400 pump....so not a problem there ....anda divincie $1400 carb
