E85 or E100 using megasquirt?

I have talked to people that are doing it. I have thought about it but so far have not had an optimum setup for the project. To make it worth the trouble for me I would want a high compression motor. Without messing with the motor you get the same power but need like 1/3 more fuel. Now if you are going to run some sort of boost or just bump up the compression then you have something. I almost bought a 4cyl firebird to do it on but couldnt make the right deal. E85 is pretty common in my area so there would be no need for any flex sort of thing. The flex thing can be a challenge plus you dont get much (if any) gain in power. One issue with the flex is getting the range in the injectors. Its dang near impossible with TBI. Multiport has a much better chance.
 
8) it has been done by a number of people. i recommend though that you set up a flex fuel system. by adding a flex fuel sensor you can run anything from straight gasoline to E85.
 
rbohm":20zc6irp said:
8) it has been done by a number of people. i recommend though that you set up a flex fuel system. by adding a flex fuel sensor you can run anything from straight gasoline to E85.

I'm looking into the flex fuel thing but the sensors are expensive even from the junkyard!

I'm going to try to go about 10:1 on the compression ratio when all is said & done so that I can take advantage of E85 when (if) it ever gets to Memphis. The downside is that in the mean time I'll have to run hi test.
 
I don't know if it would work very well to try and set up a flex fuel on a performance engine. The E85 or E100 is going to require a larger injector/s then a gas engine. But then I again I don't know much about EFI. :LOL:

I'm going to be running E85 on a supercharged 300 with MS so I hope I can get it figured out. :unsure:
 
If your idea of flex is to run race gas or E85 you may be fine but if you build a motor to run on either of those you will have to do all you can just to get it to survive running on 87-88 and I bet the performance will stink. The flex is always the problem in the range of the fuel system and like I think I mentioned earlier you have to settle on an in between performance level for the motor if you expect to run both fuels. What the OE stuff seems to be doing now is de tuning the gas so you are not as bummed out about the performance when its running E. The only advantage to that would be if you are a believer in the whole environmental side of the ethonal. Where it gets exciting from a performance standpoint is if you are going to build it to only run on E. If you are going NA you bump up the compression. If you are going boosted you leave it alone or even lower it and run a higher boost.
 
Fordconvert,

The idea of making my own ethanol has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I joined Alocholics Unanimous @ alcoholcanbeagas.com and have gotten Dave Blume's book. If you have any interest in ethanol as a fuel, it is worth the $ and the time to read (it's a fairly large book).

I plan on being able to run 93 octane and any percentage of ethanol from 10-100. Naturally aspirated with timing control & getting the MSII or Microsquirt set up correctly to deal with the changing conditions it should be fine. Ideally I would be able to run E100 (actually E96, the other 4% is water) all the time but I wouldn't want to have to carry extra fuel with me on a long trip.

The concept of homegrown fuel is appealing to me. The more that we as a nation can do to reduce our need for products from other countries the better off we are.

Thanks for the input everyone! :D
 
Making your own fuel has its possible merits as does environmental and political views. Most people dont seem to put that much thought into it, they just see a cheaper (at the pump) fuel and think thats all there is to it. Lots of bad info out there but it sounds like you have a good plan. Keep us posted on how it works out. There is plenty of E-85 around my area so eventually I plan to make use if it, just have not had the time and the right base to do it yet. I helped a friend build a 383 for his boat last fall. Plan is to put a 4bbl TBI on it and run E-85 this summer. Had to run it on av gas at the dyno shop for break in. Should be fun.
 
8) J, you can reduce your costs a bit if you use feed corn in the mash. once you are done with the mash, dry it and sell it to the local ranchers as feed stock. it is better for teh animals because they can digest it better than the raw feed corn. understand though that you will get more than twice the yield from sugar, but you will pay more in the end.

one thing you might look into is, is the megasquirt capable of using a knock sensor. if so then you can still run 87 octane, but you will lose performance when you do.
 
rbohm":214nqy7x said:
8) J, you can reduce your costs a bit if you use feed corn in the mash. once you are done with the mash, dry it and sell it to the local ranchers as feed stock. it is better for teh animals because they can digest it better than the raw feed corn. understand though that you will get more than twice the yield from sugar, but you will pay more in the end.

one thing you might look into is, is the megasquirt capable of using a knock sensor. if so then you can still run 87 octane, but you will lose performance when you do.

I'm actually talking to some of the mom & pop donut shops here and some of the smaller bakers to get the old ones & cast offs. Lots of sugar & the fat/oils that come out can be used to fuel the burner to heat the still :)

Not a lot of animal farming in the immediate area, mostly cotton & soybeans so the market for dried distillers grains is not very big.

The MSII can use a knock sensor but I'd rather just run the proper octane fuel for the way the engine is built.
 
now you know...you go and get all set up to start stillin, do you really trust yourself to use the product just for your fuel needs? :p :p

It's not hard to do at all infact. Once you have everything sealed up and got your heat right, use a doubler, and you can have the best ethonal you ever...um..ran your car on:)

Use a brita filter on the discharged product. makes sure it's nice and clean, you know, so you don't clog injectors;)

If you have no desire to consume the product then go with an E85 system that will give you a tax break, up to 60 cents per gallon, and it really costs about 1.20 per gallon, minus the 60, you have 60 cents per gallon fuel costs.

I have one of the kits from this place;

http://e85machines.com/

I also have a nice 100 gallon copper setup for, scientific research.

You don't have to buy the whole kit, if you can fab up some of the copper componants. I made some of what I have so I spent 700. My kit makes both. Just different boilers.
 
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