e85 for classic cars

I am restoring a 68 firebird convertible with a big block 350 I have a 2 barrel  and a 4 barrel. I would like to run e85.
A couple fiends say just do it, it will be OK. One says i need bigger jets ( i believe this guy) but nobody says anything about any other mods. (i.e timing, hotter plugs) Anybody know? I would like to keep this as close to factory as possible. I plan to keep it factory except for maybe putting on disc brakes.
Any help appreciated...  

edelbrock now makes a e85 carb avs/afb style that has been coated and calibrated to run on E85.

it takes more e85 to go a mile than gasoline..

i am not sure , my memory is rusty..   but e85 has a higher octane rating than gasoline as i rembember..   so building a hi compression E85 only motor is possable to make up for lack of fuel economy.. in fact. it might get better mileage with the hi compression as it is using the fuel to it's max...


and in that pontiac 350..   do go the extra buck and put in a set of H beam rods... and tri metal bearings... been there and done that many times in my long gone 66 gto..  i wish they had them when i had the goat.. the only option back then was a superduty rod.. or aluminum...  

No, E85 does NOT have a higher octane rating than gas. E85 has less BTUs than the same amount of gasoline, which means you'll need more spark energy to burn the E85. Plus, the E85 will eat your existing fuel system like acid. The alkeline buildup is a ***

You can never go wrong with the beefiest set of rods you can afford, and bearings to match. Just good insurance.

My advice, set the car up to run 87-89 octane. In the end it'll be much cheaper than running E85.  

I agree with 55 hard top as far as sticking with gasoline. I would only recomend e85 or e100 if you have a race engine with high compression e85 has a maximum  rating of 105 octane e100 has a octane rating of 115.It takes 4 galons of e85 to go the same distance 3 galons of gasoline would take you.  
Professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells Engines and torque wins races.

maybe other people missed it.. but about 6 or 8 years ago there was a e85 buildup with hi compression and a not so race cam that  had power from the hi compression and decent fuel economy to use E85 to the fullist..  the reason that e85 gets low mpg in a dual fuel motor is that the compression is too low for optimal E85 mpg..

one car builder even went as far as having the crank and pistons in differnt housings with a hinge so they could control deck height. to vary compression ratios...
the artical was probably not in this forums publications....

probably in something from babcox.com sae.org motor.com or sema.org


one of the major cam manufacturers might have somebody around who rembembers it...as they were involved as i rembember...


also the reason that E85 is available now is to suppliment gasoline supplys..  so if something happens we have a homegrown fuel to fall back on...many of the newest heavyduty truck motors may also be able to run biodiesel another home brewed fuel...cars in south america have been coming off the production line for a bunch of years being able to run this is stuff straight..


as for the corrosive ..  stainless steel gas tanks and fuel  lines are available now... there are epoxys that can be used in the fuel tanks to protect them... probably from eastwood... there are epoxys that can be used to make plywood tanks strong enough to do paint stripping and chroming in...  

E85 is higher octane. It averages 105. I am converting my supercharged 393 Thunderbird to it.

Read this:
http://members.tccoa.com/392bird/e85.htm

Great stuff for high compression or supercharged engines.  

The Edelbrock carb mentioned has NEVER been made there has never been a production date given for it and in Point of Fact I could not even find it in the 2008 Catalog. Yes the picture and part # were in the 2007 cat but I called them about every 3 months and asked them when it would be avail and how much and they could never give me a date for it or a cost. My company has a HUGE account with them and we seel a great deal of their product so they would be motivated to let me know . YET it never happenend. Never was available .  

Well never meant to post this same thing 3 times .  

Yep pretty much said it the first time .  

55_Hardtop_Guy:
No, E85 does NOT have a higher octane rating than gas. E85 has less BTUs than the same amount of gasoline, which means you'll need more spark energy to burn the E85. Plus, the E85 will eat your existing fuel system like acid. The alkeline buildup is a ***

You can never go wrong with the beefiest set of rods you can afford, and bearings to match. Just good insurance.

My advice, set the car up to run 87-89 octane. In the end it'll be much cheaper than running E85.

Not that the original poster is paying attention to this thread anymore...but as others have said, E85 has an octane rating of 105.

Also...running E85 will not cost you more than gasoline.  E85 first off is priced roughly 20% less than gasoline...which completely offsets the typical loss in mileage of flex fuel vehicles (you know...those designed to run on gasoline and E85).  Since E85 has such a high octane rating...flex fuel completely disregards E85's advantages...by running more compression you can significantly improve the thermal efficiency of the engine.

And...as the January 2008 issue of Car Craft noted...E85 will actually make MORE power in a forced induction application because of its ability to cool the intake charge.  That particular example held absolutely everything except the fuel constant...which means it could make even more power if the boost was increased to take advantage of the high octane rating.

E85 is great...especially now that they've figured out how to make it from trash!  
68 Olds Cutlass ~ 350 Rocket
85 Delta 88 ~ 425 Rocket
02 Silverado 4X4 ~ 5.3L

E85 octane does have a higher rating but it can vary from one fill up to another. Yes E85 has lower btu but is offset by the higher octane. Holley makes carb parts that can transform your holley carb to a E85 carb. Yes you will jet up sometimes 10 numbers and you must replace the metering blocks with the green E85 ones. E85 requires about 20-25% more volume than plain old gas. Switching to E85 is not cheap and dollar for dollar and mile for mile you are not going to be $$ ahead. You need to upgrade your ""entire"" fuel system as others have said E85 is harsh on older fuel systems. By the time and $$ you will invest in this conversion with the draw backs of limited filling stations not to mention E85 price will go up in time as does everthing--I'd give it a second thought. 87 octane in my area is 2.98 gal. E85 is 2.78. 87 went down 2 cents while E85 went up 10 cents in the last week. If a engine is being built to run E85 it can make some great power with the higher compression aspect. But we have been making great power with the good ole 87, 89, 93 pump gas. With todays advancement in heads and other parts guys can run around with near 11 to 1 comp. small blocks cranking over 500 hp and drive them to work. If you do it just research as much as you can before you dig in to it..  
THERE ARE 2 KINDS OF CHEAP PARTS..THOSE YOU SCORE FOR A CHEAP PRICE AND THOSE THAT ARE CHEAP MADE.

E-85 is a great option for a race type vehicle that is street driven,the higher octane and thermal cooling would be great benefits for a pro street type car....but for a stock or slightly modified vehicle the cost to switch over in my opinion would not be worth it.I have been looking into this conversion but the carb(quickfuel)costs  around $1000 and as stated in other posts the entire fuel system needs to be built to handle the alcohol in the fuel.
 If you do decide to go this route than an increase in compression ratio is advised,as stated in other posts the fuel "works" in the flex fuel vehicles but a non computer controlled vehicle will probably not work as well,the increase in compression ratio will make the fuel work better by getting it closer to its ignition temperature.  

One thing to consider is that yes e85 fuel can be beneficial to performance . But as stated It takes a LOT of $$ to convert you vehicle .
But I also understand corn based e85 takes $129 average in fuel consumption by the american farmer
tilling ,planting,harvesting,transport, and also the refining to produce $100 of e85. In the long run this may not be the best plan for all of us.  

E85 can be made from sources other than corn.  For example: GM/Coskata has developed a method of producing it from trash...and should offer it at least $1/gallon cheaper than gasoline.  
68 Olds Cutlass ~ 350 Rocket
85 Delta 88 ~ 425 Rocket
02 Silverado 4X4 ~ 5.3L

YOU ARE CORRECT SIR.  Also sugarcane can be used as in happy Venezuela. It has apparently worked well there for many years. And people didnt stop growing wheat for flour = bread to cash in .