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Nov 16, 2006 21:59:36 GMT
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These people will sell you it if you are a research lab: www.sigmaaldrich.com/Area_of_Interest/Europe_Home/UK.htmlMy wife has a chemistry doctorate and her boss was someone some of you may seen reported on Pistonheads as the university professor who mixes his own fuels for his uber-tweaked Lotus. He used to get all his raw materials from Aldrich, though AFAIK he never ran the Lotus on anything with ethanol in it. I remember hearing about toluene and xylene. Lab ethanol is marked as "100%" but it isn't 100% ethanol, it's dried with benzene and a trace of that benzene remains. This benzene is enough to do you damage and is the reason why you should never drink lab ethanol. Methylated spirits are nearly all ethanol with a tiny bit of methanol, something like Bitrex to make it taste horrible and a purple colour. It also has the advantage of being readily available. More importantly it should do the job for you as well as any other ethanol. What I'd exprect to do would be shove the contents of a bottle of meths in the tank and give it a good shake, then pour it out. It should dissolve the water and carry it out with it then what remains should evaporate with the remaining meths. Acetone should do the same job a little more efficiently. With both ethanol and acetone it should be pointed out that there is a fire risk. I once used half a pint of meths in a Briggs and Stratton engine to flush through some bad petrol that had stood in it for years. It provided enough volatiles for the engine to start and run on the dodgy petrol but it was a bit rough and there were clouds of water vapour in the exhaust. I guess a sidevalve like the Briggs and Stratton would be a bit more forgiving than a higher performance engine!
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Last Edit: Nov 16, 2006 22:01:46 GMT by herald948
"Jeremy Clarkson, a man we motor enthusiasts need on our side like Lewis Hamilton's F1 car needs a towing ball and a Sprite Musketeer" My motor
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SteB
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,408
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Nov 16, 2006 22:52:36 GMT
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Every day is a school day... quite an informative thread. I was going to suggest Aldrich, but I'm not sure who they sell to. On an unrelated note, I bought 25 litres of Acetone and had it delivered to my door by courier from a boat building wholesalers a while back but I appear to have lost the details - but I'm sure a few gallons of Ethanol should be obtainable.
Any more info on that silly lotus herald948 ?
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macky
Part of things
retro my ar3e
Posts: 143
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Nov 17, 2006 10:14:52 GMT
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think thats what i was drinking last night cant rember how much it cost on managed a pint.
on a serious note model shops, i think demon tweeks direct used to do it in 5 gallon drums
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Nov 17, 2006 11:07:47 GMT
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I'd rather not swuill the tank, Iwas thinking of running the motor with the Meths in the tank. 5 litres of meths say to 10 gallons of fuel should be OK? Its not exactly a high perofrmanc eengine, its a low compression smogger V8
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Nov 17, 2006 11:19:07 GMT
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i'm fairly certain,but it was 19 years ago,when i worked in a truck dealership we sold ethanol as a diesel anti wax additive, it may have been for something else but i'm sure it was ethanol but i don't have a clue on its purity.
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Nov 17, 2006 11:55:55 GMT
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I love the idea of high performance fuels - I'm trying to learn everything I can about the options but there's a lot of rubbish out there about it
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Nov 17, 2006 12:44:15 GMT
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you could make it your self a la moonshine?
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Nov 17, 2006 14:03:21 GMT
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Slightly off topic,sorry,but what form of alcohol do they use in Brazil? I've read that VW, Ford and GM all produced mass market alcy burners there - how did they deal with the issues mentioned e.g. do they have rubber free fuel systems etc?
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Nov 17, 2006 14:25:51 GMT
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Of course you were only joking about running the engine on ethanol that hasn't had any road fuel duty paid on it, werent you. What's that? It's a stationary engine? Of course it is. Hi, Mr. HM Customs & Excise man! The Professorial Lotus? users.ox.ac.uk/~ohare/www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=12272And the fuel? users.ox.ac.uk/~ohare/fuel.htm#h2Non carcinogenic my 4r53! He also made the news a few years back when Oxford City Council did one of their barking mad speedbump schemes in the road outside his house and he kicked up because he couldnt take the Lotus down his road. You may have seen a Top Gear feature about Oxford's loony traffic calming. As a historical note, the bumps in that road have now gone because ambulance drivers kicked up too.
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Last Edit: Nov 17, 2006 14:27:08 GMT by herald948
"Jeremy Clarkson, a man we motor enthusiasts need on our side like Lewis Hamilton's F1 car needs a towing ball and a Sprite Musketeer" My motor
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Nov 17, 2006 15:23:34 GMT
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The Brazilian stuff is branded as Alcool iirc and they've been using it for years. The Americans tried to do away with it by flooding the market with imported, subsidised oil and failed. The nobbers. It really bugs me how manufacturers flounce about the place making out how they've invented this fantastic new technology when they've been offering it in other markets for 30-odd years or longer. How cool is this Brasilia? I found it searching for Alcool filling station photos
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Nov 17, 2006 15:46:08 GMT
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Adolf Hitler had no oil for the last 3 or 4 years of WW2. They ran everything on biodiesel or methanol/ethanol.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Nov 17, 2006 16:31:51 GMT
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Adolf Hitler had no oil for the last 3 or 4 years of WW2. They ran everything on biodiesel or methanol/ethanol. Or far more explosively, hydrazine. Rocket powered personal transport anyone?
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"Jeremy Clarkson, a man we motor enthusiasts need on our side like Lewis Hamilton's F1 car needs a towing ball and a Sprite Musketeer" My motor
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Nov 17, 2006 22:09:31 GMT
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On an unrelated note, I bought 25 litres of Acetone and had it delivered to my door by courier from a boat building wholesalers a while back but I appear to have lost the details - but I'm sure a few gallons of Ethanol should be obtainable. When my dad was racing bikes in the 60s and then again the late 70's 80's he was saying he used to run on avgas/castrol R mix and used to add acetone into the fuel, he cant remember why. Anyone any ideas? I'm pretty sure it was acetone as it rang a bell reading this thread.
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Nov 17, 2006 22:50:09 GMT
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Aside from the extra volatility of the acetone, would it hold the two stroke oil in solution better than just the petrol? Just a guess.
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"Jeremy Clarkson, a man we motor enthusiasts need on our side like Lewis Hamilton's F1 car needs a towing ball and a Sprite Musketeer" My motor
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SteB
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,408
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Nov 17, 2006 23:04:46 GMT
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Adolf Hitler had no oil for the last 3 or 4 years of WW2. They ran everything on biodiesel or methanol/ethanol. Appart from the rather ingenious use of the Bergius, Fischer-Tropsch and Karrick processes to make hydrocarbons from coal. Apparently soon to be revived in deepest darkest Wyoming...
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Last Edit: Nov 17, 2006 23:05:09 GMT by SteB
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acetone and toluene etc have a nice high octane rating, i ran the last turbo imp on 50% petrol and 50% thinners! Made the fuel up to about 105 octane and was also about 40p a liter cheaper than normal petrol J
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