Panama 58

There is an interesting thread over on the C5 community about the pros and cons of ethanol, but those engines are engineered for ethanol. What I want to know is, if you had the choice of ethanol or non-ethanol, which would you select for your C2 original 327? I have never had access to "pure gas" until moving to NC. I use it in my lawn equipment, but see bikers and classic car owners using it as well. I don't know what the octane is for the location that sells it, but would like to hear your +/- thoughts. Thanks.

Nowhere Man

my 396 in my Chevelle doesn't care what type of gas I put in it. it runs fine on both

wmf62

given a choice, I would prefer using my Rochester FI and LEADED gas; but now can't use leaded because my EFI O2 sensor wouldn't like it, and leaded racing fuel is outside my budget

I have tried both non E and E and see no appreciable difference in performance or mileage. non E usually is 89octane and cost about .50 more

I use 87E in my ZZ4

Bill

DavidandJoansVette

I use no ethanol in everything. It's a hit in the wallet at 3.89 a gallon but it is 93 octane here in Grandy .

Kerrmudgeon

I'd rather use regular or premium unleaded. Ethanol rots old style fuel pump diaphragms, and all non-treated rubber lines. Certain death to old carb rubber parts and gaskets.
I only run shell non ethanol premium, which, up here is free of that poison. Amazing....it cost more to produce that corn fuel and it's heavily subsidized by the government, and does a crappier job in the end!

And that is doubly important to engines that sit longer than a month at a time....like winter. That's how long it takes ethanol to turn into a green jelly that plugs up all tiny orifices. The only people I know that like ethanol is the local lawn mower tractor dealerships who make most of their seasonal income from clogged up mowers and blowers.$$$

Recognize these floats in a carb??


Or....these carb float bowl bottoms....green jelly....











.

Revette

I will not put ethanol in any gasoline fueled engine. Here in my area I can purchase 91 octane Shell gas that is non ethanol and I use that in the lawn mower, snow blower, Corvettes, and Harleys. For the older vehicles I will add some 110 octane racing fuel to run a little tetraethyl lead through the system but never, I repeat, never will I run ethanol in any gasoline fueled engine.

Silverrick

For many of the same reasons set forth above, I will ONLY run premium, no ethanol GASOLINE in all of my collector cars--for as long as I can remember! True, it costs more to begin with, but will save you long term--and increase performance. Here in Southern Utah, there are several Sinclair stations selling no-ethanol 91 octane for around $3.60/gallon.

mikelj

, the 101 octane is excellent for all my fuelies, and ethanol rots out my big tanks too, never use it. My '81 Corvette also gets nothing but ethanol free, the seals and hoses on it are original (5K mile car), and I want to keep them from dissolving.

MAD IN NC

keep gas moving.... don't let sit

lawn stuff - no eth


cars - stabil if stored

wmf62

y'all must have some really crappy ethanol laced gas, I have NEVER had a problem with any equipment or vehicles because of the ethanol, and some have set for years.

Bill

Loren Smith

I keep waiting for the end of the renewable fuel standard, maybe there is some momentum in that direction.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...anol-shunned-/

Panama 58

As mentioned, I bought a few gallons last week for my lawn equipment and paid just shy of $3.00 a gallon. Kerrmudgeon's photos are compelling for sure. I do know that the non E seems to "go south" fairly quickly, so won't be filling the tank. Want to keep it moving. Thanks for all comments and answers.

Frankie the Fink

Meh. My boat and two jet skis, weed whacker and other engines sit for months in the winter with ethanol gas in them and start up first time, every time when I put them back in service. I do use marine StaBil in the tanks....

MikeM

Looks like someone has had water in the gas and let it sit. If you want to avoid problems like that, keep the water out and you'll have a clean fuel system instead of gunk.

Straight gasoline isn't too kind to fuel systems either when it dries out or dries out with water in it.

Most of your high volume retailers have water monitors in their storage tanks to tell if they have a problem and they can remedy that quickly. Retail customers sometimes don't store gasoline in sealed containers and they will have a problem, sooner or later.

59vetteman

Non ethanol 92 octane for the 67 327 and a combination of Avgas 100LL and 92 non ethanol for the 59 Fuelie Last purchase for the 92 non was only about .50/gallon more than ethanol acid Avgas is about $5.15/gallon. Saw 1st hand what 10% can do when it sits for several months in the fuel system. The water will separate from the fuel and begin the gumming or rusting process. I had to rebuild a carb and media blast the fuel filter canister, and have the fuel tank cleaned and coated internally on my 44 Ford GPW. No 10% ethanol for this baby either- only 87 octane for her and the 2 lawn mowers, generators, weed whackers, etc.

GCD1962

I agree with Bill. I've used the E-10 since mandated well over 20 years ago. ZERO, ZERO, ZERO problems in any car ranging from 1940 to present. My '62 sits for nearly 6 months at a time, ZERO, ZERO, ZERO problems, fires right up. Same with generators that sit for many months. Never a problem with gasket, seals or whatever. All work perfectly. A big waste of money to buy more expensive gas. The problem rests solely with the tanks from the station you buy. If they put in E-10 without a thorough cleaning of the tank, it can have an effect, but if they have dirty tanks even buying the more expensive stuff can still have crap in it.

wmf62

no minds are going to be changed by this thread, but consider this...

water is the evil genie in this concoction; what makes you think that water is not a problem with NonE, or even leaded?? my experience with all of the above is... water is everywhere..

as said before, water can be in any tank, in your car, etc or in the underground tanks...

I remember when they used to 'stick' tanks to get amount of fuel in the underground tanks and they used an indicator paste on the bottom section of the stick to tell the amount of water in the bottom, and every time I saw it done there was water..

so, do whatever you feel is best; but no one's mind is going to be changed.

Bill

Jackfit

My L-79....runs on anything.....I have had it run on 85 on Big Sur....93 when available , 91 most of the time....

Had no problems in Europe on what ever was available .

No problems....my compression is less.....9.5-10 maybe.... I used Amico back in the late 60's...unleaded....
74,000 miles in the last few years with no valve problems . I have changed all gaskets to the latest rubber....

Jack

kingwoodvette

Doubt it; corn lobbyists too powerful in DC.

GTOguy

I run the ethanol mix because pure gas is not available in the state I live in. When running pure gas, my old cars get better fuel mileage and run better. Ethanol has about 50% of the energy of gasoline, so it causes your engine to run leaner if it is calibrated (jetted) for regular pure fuel. This can cause detonation and lean surge issues. If you have the choice, with ANY vehicle, run pure gas. You will get better fuel mileage at the minimum.