Ethanol Free Gas

[BC Pappy]

Have never considered trying Ethanol free gas in my '65 Chevy. Is this an option?
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[donthekawguy]

Thats all I run in my truck if I can help it. Lucky for me there a station on the way home from work thats selld nothing but junk free gas. I made the mistake of buying junk gas before I started my rear end project. It only sat for 2 months during the repairs and now runs bad and I can smell gas whenever I drive it. I guess I'm going to have to clean out the carb. and see what comes out. I have taken a few carbs apart that have sat for months and they all have the same gunk in them. Before ethanol all you would see in carbs was "varnish" and it was alot easier to clean out and wouldn't turn to powder like the stuff does now.

[jayoldschool]

I use ethanol free in all my classics. Along with my snowblower and Deere.

[tincan1966]

We are fortunate enough to have an Ethanol free station here, too. But if I get caught somewhere I have no option- have had very good results using Lucas fuel system treatment to help. I treat every tank of fuel in every vehicle we drive, the lawnmowers, etc. Only takes a couple ounces for 20 gallons.

[BC Pappy]

Thanks for the responses! Will fill up today.
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[tincan1966]

Something else to consider here- these old trucks were not designed to run on unleaded fuel, either. Todays gas has none of the lubricating properties of leaded fuel.
This is why if you plan on operating your vehicle for extended periods of time or rebuilding an original engine, it is a good investment to add hardened valve seats and moly rings(I am sure that will be debated, it is just my opinion, LOL)

Of coarse, so many of us install later model engines(newer than 1976), so the concern pretty much takes care of itself, in that aspect.

[BC Pappy]

Located a supplier two miles from home!!! Thanks again for the help.
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[TJ's Chevy]

The lowest ethanol gas I use is the 92 octane E-10 ethanol blend with a can of sea foam additive. That sea foam works really well! It kept my gas from separating for a year.

[donthekawguy]

Originally Posted by T.J. MCCAULEY

The lowest ethanol gas I use is the 92 octane E-10 ethanol blend with a can of sea foam additive. That sea foam works really well! It kept my gas from separating for a year.

Seafoam is a God send! My friend had a motorcycle that sat for 6 months and when I opened the carb up it looked like it had moss growing in it with a side helping of flour. And to think that ethanol costs 3x to make as gas does.

[theastronaut]

I've put about 58K miles on E10 in the last six years in my '64 VW Bug. I had the carbs apart twice in that time and they look new inside both times. The fuel lines get replaced yearly so no problem there. E10 has been available so long now that nearly all automotive fuel line is ethanol resistant. The problem with E10 is letting it sit. If you drive enough then it gets used up before it can absorb enough water to cause problems. Water separates out of E10 if the percentage of water (by volume) gets over .05%, that's 3.8 teaspoon per gallon, at 60 degrees fahrenheit. So you need more than 3.8 teaspoon per gallon before it separates.

As far as getting worse mileage, it's still 90% gas. That last 10% of ethanol does produce less heat energy that gasoline does- only about 65%. But since it's only the 10% that has 65% less energy, the total amount of heat energy in E10 compared to 100% gasoline is 96.5%. 4.5% less isn't that big of a deal. That means it can't affect mileage that much as some people claim. If you're getting 20 mpg, then getting 4.5% less would be 19.30 mpg, hardly a noticeable difference.

[cortcomp]

I run the following vehicles on 10% ethanol sold at the end of my street (not the 15 i think they're going to be pushing?)

(low comp is under 9.0, medium is up to 9.5, 9.75 and over is high comp for these

pontiac 428, medium or high compression, with '67 heads and '75 heads
pontiac 455, medium compression, with pressure building cam, on 87, 89, and 91
pontiac 389, low compression 87 all the time.
Packard 288 straight eight, low comp, 87 all the time
packard 327, straight eight, low comp, 87 all the time
chevy 327 from my '66, medium compression, 87 all the time.


The thing to remember, is that lower octane gas burns FASTER, so you ideally wan't to use the lowest octane your setup allows. I remember in my honda VTX1800, the computer was setup for 87, and guys would run 93 and have build up, and dealers said that honda told them to run 87, that running 93 gained nothing unless you changed the tune.


Anyways, all of those engines run no problems on ethanol. HOWEVER, most of them ran blah when i got them, and hadn't had a carb rebuild in 10-15 years. They sat, i got them and drove them, then started running poorly after 2-3 weeks. Then, i got the carbs professionally rebuilt (a guy here does a great job, plating not paint, and alcohol resistant parts, etc) and i've never had a problem since. I run the 10% ethanol fuel, and dump some stabil in for the winter, and that's it.

The only thing they all have in common is that i have new fuel lines, and i ALWAYS have a professionally rebuilt carb, with working choke, etc. when i get a car. I setup the choke and mixture according to the manual (with working vacuum idle bump dashpots, etc) and tune them up so they're right once i get them.

Any one of those vehicles, you can go pump the gas once, and start right up. The 389 was a factory driver in the fall/winter a year ago for me to take my daughter to daycare because my work van didn't have a back seat for a car seat (i have a crew cab now.) Ran as good as any new vehicle.

Don't just get an autozone parts rebuild kit for your carb, find a local carb pro to do the rebuild, or to sell you the parts. Don't use the rubber tipped float needles as they swell or have problems with ethanol.

Once you do a carb totally right, not just so it doesn't leak, and put new lines and/or fuel pump in, i haven't touched most of those motors in several years. A couple of those cars sat 2 years without running, i fired them up, filled up the tank and drove them for a couple months then parked again. The 10% ethanol is fine, just match the octane to the compression/cam/timing setup of your motor and you're good to go.


I have been told by more than a couple machinists that hardened valve seats are really only a big deal for vehicles pulling or running hard down the track, most won't have an issue. Then again, i run mainly Pontiac, which starting in the 70's somewhere were induction hardened form the factory, but a few valve jobs will get through that hardening i'm told.

As astronaut mentioned, you will get slightly less mileage with ethanol. Also i'd like to add that i get about 1-2mpg difference with summer blends (more mileage) than winter blend fuels. I used to track mileage with every tank and every vehicle over months, it was pretty consistent with the seasonal fuel changes. My 07' silverado went from 14.4 average mpg to 15.1 with the summer blend change. I believe my driving is pretty consistent.