[Project] E85. Here I come!

[TB2]

Time for the next phase in my quest for a really fast, naturally aspirated pump gas street car. So I’ve decided to build an E85 only motor. The current motor is running 11.9et on 93 octane. Needs to go faster!!!! hehehe
So the new motor is a 350 (No stroker needed) small block Chevrolet 010 4 bolt block with Diamond Racing billet steel main caps, ARP main studs, deck height of 9.0". The crank is a GM Forged Steel crank. It’s been knife wedged and balanced with heavy metal. Approximate weight of 43 lbs. The rods are Eagle forged 6.0" lightweight "H" Beam rods. Pistons are Ross 12.7:1 gas ported forged pistons with lightweight Ferea wrist pins. All this makes for a very light rotating mass.
Light rotating mass = fast revving & high rpm.
The heads and cam I will reuse from the current motor. It has Dart pro 1 215cc aluminum heads with some cleanup port work done and better springs. The cam is a Lunati solid roller. Advertised Duration 273/ 279, Lift .578/ .585. I will also be swapping the rockers over from 1.52 to 1.6 ratio.
After that the fuel system will get a new pump. And I will be making all of the changes to the carb to run on E85 only.
This is an early start to my winter project. So their probably won’t be any updates for a while.

[Kwazrollinz28]

Very nice i just got my new block and Steel crank, trying to find pistons is a pain in the ass right now.
as i cannot use cast.

[Darren]

Defiantly keep us posted Tony I would love to see the progress of this! So goals? What are your goals!

[DETROITMUSCLE]

thats great news I'm sure the new motor will run very strong

[TB2]

Defiantly keep us posted Tony I would love to see the progress of this! So goals? What are your goals!

Yea. I will definetly post updates as it moves along. The goal for the car is to be a car that has ok street maners and will drag race, autocross, and road course all very well. Hard to do, but not impossible.
The Goal for the motor is a nasty, streetable motor in the nieghborhood of 650hp. And be a motor thats durable, and runs on fuel thats cheap. This motor should still idle ok, have great throttle response, and make good power from about 2500 to about 7800rpm.

[meissen]

Very nice! Can't wait to watch this project this winter.

[98blackbeauty]

Very nice, Why the e85 fuel does that burn hotter than regular gas? Every thing I read is e85 is more costly and gets worse mileage than reg gas. My Impala will burn that but decided I won't use it, no cost advantage.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

Very nice, Why the e85 fuel does that burn hotter than regular gas? Every thing I read is e85 is more costly and gets worse mileage than reg gas. My Impala will burn that but decided I won't use it, no cost advantage.

E85 is like 108 octane fuel and therefor allows you to run higher compression and more timing. It does require using more fuel though which is why you burn through a tank faster. but if its cheap enough it balances out. Basically its cheap race gas for car guys

[TB2]

E85 is like 108 octane fuel and therefor allows you to run higher compression and more timing. It does require using more fuel though which is why you burn through a tank faster. but if its cheap enough it balances out. Basically its cheap race gas for car guys

Exactly! The only other way to run anything above 11:1 compression is with race fuel. $6.50 a gallon. The motor will use about 1/3 more volume of fuel running E85. Hence major carb modifications. But it is 108 octane and because it's mostly alcohol, the motor will run cooler, and cleaner. I have heard of guys running up to 15:1 compression on E85.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

LS guys can run 12:1 on pump 93

[MP81]

That's aluminum for ya - Tony, you probably could run even higher compression with E85.

Larry, yes, it has a lower btu (and thus less energy per unit) and in an engine with the same compression ratio as one that runs gas, it will get worse gas mileage.

Now - if you set an engine up to run E85, you can up the compression ratio - as you do that, you are increasing the efficiency of the engine, pushing more power, and making use of the octane, and lessening the effect of the lower energy E85 contains.

Totally gonna follow this, Tony!

[prorac1]

There are LT guys running 12.5-1 on pump 93. Heck, im planing on getting as close to 12-1 with my next build as I can, on pump 93. We have a REAL good E85 carb guy over here. Hes on the southsidestreetcars board. Eric68. Just remember, E85 changes from mix to mix, so be prepared with your jets in hand. Its not real stable when the mix changes. Ive looked into it, and we are building a LT1 for my buddies car to run on E85, but its not my thing. I dont drive the Valiant enough to switch from race gas, and its to much money to mess around with converting the camaro over. Plastic tank, larger pump, larger AN lines, HUGE injectors, etc. Eric L

[MP81]

Generally the mix doesn't change once it's hit the full summer blend - but we had to retune DJ's Mustang probably four or five times as they transitioned from winter to summer blends.

[prorac1]

It will change from mix to mix, even through the summer. Its not as bad with a fuel injected car because of the way the computer will compensate. But with a carburator, the change is more noticable. Eric L

[DETROITMUSCLE]

yep thats why I won't convert my car, don't wanna deal with getting a bad batch or have to tweak in the spring and fall.