E85 conversions considering gas prices

Cheaper for me to buy a can of carb clean every few years and blast the bowls out

Heh heh, he's blasting bowls. Heh heh cough cough heh

Bextreme04 said:

I'd go broke... My K25 has a rebuilt 350 in it with the original quadrajet. I've bumped the compression to 9:1 and have a mild Summit RV cam(K1102). It gets regular E10 87 octane.

91 Octane Ethanol free is stupid expensive. I don't even put it in the boat early in the year when I know I'll be using it up quickly. I'll put ethanol free in it with Sta-bil once the main fishing seasons are over, but once we hit April I'm using it fast enough that it doesn't even matter. I'll usually get a 5 gallon jug of it for the mower and small engines and mix with sta-bil that lasts me for a few months.

Click to expand...

sta-bil is the past,...Sea Foam was created by the gods of the universe to solve all problems....Carb Cleaner, Dry Gas, Fuel Stablizer, Varnish Disolver.

I keep a whole lot of 5 gallon can gas. like 20 gallons, for the generator , as been stuck without power for days. = sucks when you can't get out to the gas station to buy gas.
(rare but have had a misplaced can in the bunch that I thought had nothing in it, but full, under the work bench, with a tag on it from 3 years ago...but great stuff with sea foam in it.....93 octane is what my small engines get...but that is just me...snowblower/mowers like it too.)

and see....made for by a Fisher man.

About Us | Sea Foam

Sea Foam Sales Company was born with a focus on safe and effective products that help engines and equipment run cleaner and last longer.

seafoamworks.com

goldpack said:

sta-bil is the past,...Sea Foam was created by the gods of the universe to solve all problems....Carb Cleaner, Dry Gas, Fuel Stablizer, Varnish Disolver.

I keep a whole lot of 5 gallon can gas. like 20 gallons, for the generator , as been stuck without power for days. = sucks when you can't get out to the gas station to buy gas.
(rare but have had a misplaced can in the bunch that I thought had nothing in it, but full, under the work bench, with a tag on it from 3 years ago...but great stuff with sea foam in it.....93 octane is what my small engines get...but that is just me...snowblower/mowers like it too.)

and see....made for by a Fisher man.

About Us | Sea Foam

Sea Foam Sales Company was born with a focus on safe and effective products that help engines and equipment run cleaner and last longer.

seafoamworks.com

Click to expand...

I like sea foam for sure. But.

Stabil is still the best long term fuel stabilizer you can get. Seafoam is a better cleaner than stabilizer.

I think project farm did a video on it

PrairieDrifter said:

I like sea foam for sure. But.

Stabil is still the best long term fuel stabilizer you can get. Seafoam is a better cleaner than stabilizer.

I think project farm did a video on it

Click to expand...

This was my thought as well. I've never seen anyone even try to claim that seafoam does any kind of stabilization of the fuel.

It works great as a fuel system cleaner and I've used it to clean out the inside of engines by slowly pouring it into the intake or adding a small amount to the engine oil right before an oil change.

If anything it can work a bit too well and can knock loose enough junk to immediately clog up filters.

Bextreme04 said:

If anything it can work a bit too well and can knock loose enough junk to immediately clog up filters.

Click to expand...

Hmmm… Guess the industrial 350 for the 40s truck, donor sitting since 2017, is getting Seafoamed. No telling how much crud is in a low rpm utility company bucket truck… Donor engine for Ralph has been sitting since 2021 or 2022, might just do it before the regasketing and new oil pan.

Scruffy49 said:

Hmmm… Guess the industrial 350 for the 40s truck, donor sitting since 2017, is getting Seafoamed. No telling how much crud is in a low rpm utility company bucket truck… Donor engine for Ralph has been sitting since 2021 or 2022, might just do it before the regasketing and new oil pan.

Click to expand...

replace 1 qt of oil with one can of seafoam, run it for an hour or so or go drive it ~100 miles and then immediately do and oil change and filter change. Cut the filter apart and you'll see just how much crap it sucked up. If I'm doing an engine that hasn't been done before I will usually then go drive it for another 100 miles or so and change the filter again.

I didn't read this entire thread so this may have been mentioned, but you're going to lose roughly 20-25% of your current MPG by switching. In most places e85 isn't cheap enough to make up the difference.

Using e85 for its performance gains is good. Not so much for saving $$ or the world.

A side note: FIRST: I always run my equipment out of gas before storing it long term. Still, when I fired up my 12 horse, 4,000 PSI pressure washer, it was popping, cracking and, generally, running crappy, after sitting a couple years.

I dropped a teaspoon of lacquer thinner in the 2 gallon tank and about 20 minutes of run time in, it smoothed out and was running like a [loud] purring kitten again.

May have to do the same on the 81 Twinkie Mobile.

goldpack said:

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/what-are-gas-prices-in-your-area.808/

and this one

Ethanol varnish residue: Carb vs EFI

I’m always struggling with carb jets getting clogged with ethanol fuel residue whether it be on my carb C10 or my pressure washer, etc after they have been sitting for a matter of weeks. Just a month ago, I cleaned the jet in my pressure washer and had to do it again yesterday. The jet was...

www.gmsquarebody.com

E85 is 60 miles away from my home...so not in the cards for me personally.
...only person I seen buying it had a 1985 monte carlo with a 305, and was off to the local working airport half assed drag track for fun runs.
(and did not drive it otherwise)

anyone do it with a 1970-1989 existing engine.... did you make it flexible with computer control, like a modern flex fuel gmc?
(and keep that working)...

worth the sweat ?

cheaper on the wallet (in pennies per mile...yes ethanol does not go far,...I guess none of these antiques really do MPG)

does it make em go faster than plain old 87,89,93 pump gas...or whatever flavor the regular pumps have in your area?

mods / admins please feel free to add/ move/ augment.

Click to expand...

Dejure said:

A side note: FIRST: I always run my equipment out of gas before storing it long term. Still, when I fired up my 12 horse, 4,000 PSI pressure washer, it was popping, cracking and, generally, running crappy, after sitting a couple years.

I dropped a teaspoon of lacquer thinner in the 2 gallon tank and about 20 minutes of run time in, it smoothed out and was running like a [loud] purring kitten again.

May have to do the same on the 81 Twinkie Mobile.

Click to expand...

off topic:
but a while ago I had not realized I had not shut the fuel off on a gas generator, and the little gas in the tank was not treated, and had leaked down in the carb bowl. making the idle go up and down.
I drew out all the old gas that I could,...added a gallon of 93 octane fresh gas. started her up. opened the tank and hand pumped out as much as I could. (while the engine was still cold, and idling funny).
I dumped a can of seafoam in, and it ran funny for 10 minutes each minute running smoother. and the seafoam took all the crud out...only making a typical white cloud out the exhaust. = (seafoam is not right to get a start, but boy does it clean,...and I did not have to open any 15 year old fuel connections at all.).

goldpack said:

sta-bil is the past,...Sea Foam was created by the gods of the universe to solve all problems....Carb Cleaner, Dry Gas, Fuel Stablizer, Varnish Disolver.

I keep a whole lot of 5 gallon can gas. like 20 gallons, for the generator , as been stuck without power for days. = sucks when you can't get out to the gas station to buy gas.
(rare but have had a misplaced can in the bunch that I thought had nothing in it, but full, under the work bench, with a tag on it from 3 years ago...but great stuff with sea foam in it.....93 octane is what my small engines get...but that is just me...snowblower/mowers like it too.)

and see....made for by a Fisher man.

About Us | Sea Foam

Sea Foam Sales Company was born with a focus on safe and effective products that help engines and equipment run cleaner and last longer.

seafoamworks.com

Click to expand...

5 bucks worth of sea foam to a 5 gal can of non Ethanol is roughly equal to the cost of 5 gal of 100LL.
Been using 100LL for stuff that sits a long time like small 2 cycle tools, splash a gallon the generator when putting it away for the spring after powers out season, etc.
Bonus, it smells like race gas when you’re doing chores!

Grit dog said:

5 bucks worth of sea foam to a 5 gal can of non Ethanol is roughly equal to the cost of 5 gal of 100LL.
Been using 100LL for stuff that sits a long time like small 2 cycle tools, splash a gallon the generator when putting it away for the spring after powers out season, etc.
Bonus, it smells like race gas when you’re doing chores!

Click to expand...

I love the smell of race gas!!! Especially race gas and klotz.

My buddy makes fuel for his tractors from the cooking oil businesses have to dispose of (his tractor smells like fresh cooked popcorn, as it goes down the road). I envy him those big 40 gallon teardrop shaped separators he uses. They'd be perfect for removing the water from otherwise dependable, and more powerful gas.

I have a little one quart one I use to separate out the water from the oil in my vacuum pumps. It only takes minutes of sit time and I can just turn a valve at the bottom and drain off the water.

Adding a calculated amount of water to a batch of gas would give me the dollar more a gallon stuff, a bit better mileage and reduce several issues corrupt public agents imposed on us with regard to our gas.

SIDE NOTE: I buy my denatured (government poisoned, due process free) alcohol by the five gallon can for woodwork, electronics, etc. One of the biggest problems with storing it is, it's tendency to not only evaporate quickly, but to, also, pull moisture from the air, altering its function.

For a mere $20.00-ish a gallon, from here on out, I'll be switching to 99% isopropyl alcohol to take advantage of the lack of contaminates. It's about the cost of one gallon more over the denatured stuff.
_______________________

"Denatured Alcohol: This contains additives like methanol or bittering agents that are designed to make it toxic to consume. These additives are not always fully volatile and can leave behind a powdery, corrosive, or visible chemical residue."