Re: Car Craft Ramblings-Alky

["Jim Blair" <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A: Just a little side note, but my '86 Comanche got E85 when I went to 
Colorado and LOVED it! I went from 20 to 25 MPG and the power picked up on 
the hills. I thought I'd need some more pep when we hit the mountains, so I 
put in high octane and power/mileage suffered badly and it PINGED! At 12,000 
ft above sealevel!


From: "Bruce Hevner" <scramblr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "AMC AMC" <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Car Craft Ramblings-Alky
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:13:15 -0400

>but the costs of converting won't make it attractive.  Alky requires a lot
of changes internally to compression and timing.  It doesn't provide near
the >energy that petroleum does and it's a problem to important bits of the
fuel system.  The other really big problem will be finding enough of it if
>petroleum-based fuels disappear.  Unless the entire industry switches, not
at all likely given the current directions of fuel/drivetrain research,
there isn't >going to be a significant amount readily available.

Costs of converting are not that high (NONE on newer FFV vehicles!). The
only internal changes are compression, and that's optional. Usually a piston
swap is all that's needed (depending on the engine). Timing is not THAT
different. SOME fuel system parts may need to be changed. Holley and Hilborn
have had Alky parts available for YEARS. Although it does not contain the
energy gasoline does that's fixed with jetting changes. It's NOT that big a
deal.
There are MILLIONS of FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) out there ALREADY that
will run E-85 WITHOUT changes!! PLEASE visit some of the Ethanol web sites.
These sites contain answers to the questions being asked here. I was
involved in running Alky in Supermodified engines back in the 60's. It's
GREAT stuff for hot rodding!. And with a push from the right sources COULD
help out daily drivers too. HERE'S where politics starts to get involved,,,
oh boy.

So what are YOUR alternatives WHEN petro based fuels disappear?? Hydrogen??
Yeah like THAT will happen in our lifetime. You think Alky has supply side
problems?? Fuel cells?? Please see above. What I'm saying is Alky is the
best alternative to HELP us out of our dependence on imported oil RIGHT NOW.
Will it totally replace petro?? No I think there's plenty of evidence
showing that's not possible, which also highlights our incredible appetite
for energy in this country. The internal combustion engine is going to be
around for a while longer like it or not. There are MILLIONS of IC powered
vehicles out there running now. THAT'S not going to change any time soon. So
how about trying to deal with the petro problem in THOSE vehicles as well as
new ones. I don't see ANY alternatives better than Alky. And it would be
MADE IN THE USA!! We should at LEAST give it a better try than we are now.
Bruce Hevner