Early Model T's were built to run on ethanol as well as gasoline. What would it take to modify a modern gas...

Question

(not diesel) engine to run on METHANOL...?

This is for a fictional situation with people away from civilization, etc. but I want to include legitimate detail. They don't have a machine shop, but I'm looking for ideas on tuning, etc. What kind of mixture would it take?

It doesn't have to run well. In fact, the rear axle is gone, so don't worry about mileage. All they need is a way to run the alternator to recharge the vehicle batteries periodically, so they can recharge flashlights, radios, etc., whose batteries have ALSO gone dead.

Thanks!

Answer 1

if it is carbrated simply drill out the jets in the carburetor.
the holes will need to be almost twice as large as the are now.
it takes almost twice as much ethanol as it would on gas..
just keep richining it up till it will run..no other changes needed.
we do it on race cars all the time

Answer 2

As long as it doesn't have to run well the engine will run on gas and ethanol at 10% mixture just fine. As far as tuning goes they can play with the spark advance until it smooths out. Ethanol mixture develops less power that straight gasoline but to cahrge a battery etc it should do just fine. Of course with the existing battery being dead they will have to crank it manually to get it started.

Answer 3

This is done every day. NHRA Dragsters do it every day. All your have to do is increase fuel by 50% and your done.