Running on Alcohol??

[Colorado Ron]

I was talking with a friend and he mentioned that the first Model Ts that were sold, came with a distiller. Most all were ran on alcohol. Got me thinking. I know people make their own and use it for fuel, but how cool would it be to mount one on the back of your expedition rig and make your own fuel as you go. Anyone done any good research on this?

 

[YJ Dave]

The problem is that making and distilling alcohol is a time consuming, and the supplies would take up a lot of space. Then you still need to have your rig set up to run E85, so the computer will not freak out.

 

[Colorado Ron]

Distiller can mount to the rear of the Pinz. Makes 3-5 gallons an hour. Some countries its easier to find corn, wheat, sugar, etc than it is to find gas. Pinz has no computer--would be running thru the carbs.

 

[BCJC]

i heard the ethanol/alcohol blends can erode the seals in your engine? would a conversion of some kind be neccessary? most of the new chevy's are promoting their e85 compatable engines, there must be some mod's required to run this "new" fuel...?

 

[YJ Dave]

Having the room tha a Pinz offers has to be nice.

3-5 Gal/Hr is a great rate for distilling. How long does it take for the mash to fermint (?sp) to the point that you can distill it? And how much mash will you need to produce 5 Gal of alcohol?

 

[Grim Reaper]

i heard the ethanol/alcohol blends can erode the seals in your engine? would a conversion of some kind be neccessary? most of the new chevy's are promoting their e85 compatable engines, there must be some mod's required to run this "new" fuel...?

Some hoses and seals will not stand up to E85. The remedy is to replace them with Teflon lined rated for alcohol. Not a big deal really. Injectors should be fine. Night have an issue with the float on the fuel tank sender on OLDER cars but the newer vehicles will probably be ok.

I have read that any FI vehicle can be modified to run E85 but I don't know what needs to be done. It may be as simple a Resistor in line with the O2 Sensor. Or a system like this http://www.coximport.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?store_code=CO&screen=PROD&product_code=401-A915

What that jewel does is lie like a politician to the factory ECM.

It interfaces between the sensors so you can adjust the signal that the ECM receives to trick it into different fuel curves, Injector timing, O2 readings etc.

 

[Colorado Ron]

So running it on a carb setup should be easier!:jump: