What ethanol is doing to classic vehicles

[TonyC]

Check this out. It's scary.

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ZtqWT8ZfG5Y& context=C30167c9 ADOEgsToPDskIrGm 6pphdYAMU2dl6Plt 57

[RICH MUISE]

The link is not working for me...I'm guessing there is an extra "space" in the link, as only the you tube portion is highlighted in blue.

[hrsky]

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtqWT8ZfG5Y&context=C30167c9ADOEgsToPDskIrGm6pphdYAMU2dl6Plt57

[Alex L.]

Thats crazy. I'm glad i live in Nova Scotia where we don't have ethanol gas.

Not to mention how insanely wasteful ethanol is as a transport fuel. I mean really, the logic escapes me, Lets take food and turn it into gas? WTF

[F570RD]

"Lets take food and turn it into gas? WTF" My thoughts exactly.The new fuel reg.I bought has a green diaphragm that the Holley guy said could handle 15% ethanol.My carb,3310 Holley, has the same style green pump diaphragms but it still can decay the hard parts.

[Frankenstein57]

actually congress did not renew the ethanol mandate for2012. I don't know if that will change pump gas at all, but we still will be able to buy non ethanol fuels. I started a thread topic on page 4 general discussion.There is a website at  Pure gas.org, you can locate stations on the maps that have the good stuff.     Mark

[57AGIN]

Frankenstein57:

Yeah, I believe when I checked out my State, California, there weren't any listed.  Shows what the green lobby and California politicians are doing foe us on the "LEFT Coast."

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Bob...I think Cal. government went over the edge years ago...the two things that stick out in my mind were..when I lived there in the 70's, they announced that beach sand was hazardous to your health (could cause cancer), and a few years after I had moved to Colorado, I was talking to my brother and the subject of caller i.d. came up...he told me it wasn't allowed in California because "it interfered with the rights of telephone soliciters to earn a living"
Rich

[F570RD]

http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFuel/NonOxyOct2011.pdf  This is what the Minnesota Street Rod Assosiation has for us rodders.Pretty cool they took the time to do this.

[Frankenstein57]

Bob, it looked like something had to be done with the amount of smog and pollution out there. But man, the leaders kind of went off on a power trip. Anything and everything is bad for you, almost seems like a separate country. I saw where 15% ethanol most likely won't happen, yipee!  57ford, thats a nice neat list the MSRA put out for you guys, we need to do that around here.  Mark

[Roger]

I just bought a bottle of Lucas safeguard ethanol fuel conditioner at Autozone.Says it was developed to prevent corrosion and degradation in ethanol based fuels.Also contains oxidation inhibitors that stabilize the fuel and prevent the formation of varnish and gums.That takes the place of Sta-Bil.And overtreatment is not harmful so it sure cant hurt anything to use it and Lucas products are supposed to be really good.

[gasman826]

In the mid '70s, right after lower compression, electronic ignition, catalytic converters, and the lowering of horsepower, ethanol was added to the gas.  It made it cheaper and people used it.  In the dealerships, we started checking gas filters first because there were a lot of plugged up gas filters.  In older, rusty, tarnished up, poorly maintained vehicles (some with water in the tank) started having problems.  Old hoses cracked and lost flexability.  Parts in carburetors corroded.  We fixed this stuff and OEM and aftermarket caught up.  Now, 30 some years later it is a problem again.  Old rubber parts are going to get brittle.  Cork gaskets were crap when they made them but that was the best at the time.  They put varnish on cork fuel gauge sender floats because cork was not good enough back then but it was cheaper than a brass float.  Most of this stuff was not suppose to last a 100 years.  One SHOULD be concerned if their car has two feet of rubber gas hose between the fuel pump and the carb.  The factory used steel line and someone found it easier to use rubber hose then bend up a new steel fuel line.  YESSS...ethanol will clean out that old varnish.  But eventually that varnish was going to be a problem anyway.  We change out our brake lines to stainless because the old ones rusted because brake fluid draws moisture.  You fix it and move on.  More and more of the aftermarket parts are assuring buyers that their products are safe for any and all fuels.  Ethanol may not be the answer to higher fuel cost and foreign dependence but I have been modifying my systems to be more compatible.  I have found if to have some merits.  The food to fuel issue...100% of the brewers grain (the solids of the corn mash) are fed to cattle.  Not one ounce of protein is wasted.   Your hamburger is safe.  Corn is renewable and grow right down the road.  It may not be the answer but I would rather use it than plug my car in at night!

[Alex L.]

Corn is renewable but the only reason it is affordable is due to the massive subsidies that corn growers get.

[JPotter57]

Correct Alex...

[Ford Blue blood]

let us not foget, if every acre of tillable land in the U.S. was turned into ethanol (corn grown on it) it would still only put a 10% dent in the gas consumed....never mind it still takes more energy to produce the ethanal then it saves!  Green aint green until you actually use less energy to make it.

My former employer (a science center in Birmingham) tasked me with researching the feasability of using solar panels (in 2008).  The facility has a 33,000 sq. ft. flat roof on top of a 4 story building.  Perfect for using the sun to save a few bucks one would think.  Bottom line, using middle of the road panels, with respect to efficiency, pay back (or TOR) on the investment was 150 years.  Life expectancy for those panels was 25 - 30 years.

Wind looks like the short term answer but too many nare-do-wells that advocate "alternative" energy expect us "little people" to take the hit and have the great "not in my back yard" attitude!