Fuel Additives

[Heavy Metal]

Hello,

I'm looking for some ideas on fuel additives. Our gas sucks here in South Carolina with ethanol and looking for suggestions.
During the summer heat my Edelbrock 1406 vapor locks and is no fun trying to go for a drive.
I'm looking for a fuel conditioner more than a octane booster. Although both would be sweet.
Thank you for your suggestions.

 

[Stanglover]

I'm no expert here by a loooong shot, but I did do some research on the good ol' net into Octane boosters a while back. What I found and you will to if you search, is that most boosters hardy do anything. You first need to research what octane is to understand it and it gets complicated, for my brain anyway. I know some are better than others, but basically a waste of money.
What I use is SeaFoam as it seems to be a good stabilizer and general additive. It can't hurt anything as far as I can see. I do not use it all the time, usually at storage time or a couple of times a year to "clean" the fuel system. (my fuel lines are SS and all rubber tubing is Injector grade as it's ethanol resistant)
As far as Ethanol is concerned, we are pretty much all stuck with that crap. Someone did a great job of convincing government morons that it is a good thing for the environment, but imo, it is just a way to water down gasoline to make it go further and make more money!!
I'm not to familiar with 302's, but if there is an exhaust heat cross-over passage in the intake manifold like there is in the 351, then it may need to be blocked off at the heads. I'll leave that there for now. A heat shield under the carb might help or a thicker fiber type gasket under the carb. You'll likely need it at least 1/2" thick.
Hope that helps some.

 

[Don C]

I use Lucas Fuel Treatment/Upper Cylinder Lubricant. Even though not advertised as such it also seems to stabilize the gas, keeping it from turning rotten.

 

[71coop]

I ran into issues with fuel boiling in my lines and out of my carb a while back. Fuel in my area is almost always 10% ethanol, which means the gas starts boiling off at a lower temperature than straight gasoline.
The following checklist solved my problem:

• Run adequate timing advance at idle/off idle - reduces heat via a cleaner burn. I think this had the most impact for me.
• Install a return line from the carb inlet to the tank - allows hot/boiling fuel a release, which keeps the gas in the line moving while your carb float is closed. Keep the orifice restriction to .060 orifice or slightly smaller - Too much smaller and it won't bleed enough. too big and you lose pressure. .050 or .060 is a pretty good size for this. The hot fuel will circulate back to the tank and cool off.
• Consider a head shield under the carb and ensure your fuel lines are not touching anything that can transfer engine heat - just insurance but so easy a caveman can do it, so why not?
• Last - Tune your carb for E10 - from my experience, probably the least impacting tactic for fuel boiling, but might help with lean transitions if you hear any pinging when you accelerate

 

[midlife]

If you have any recreational boating facilities near you, they usually will sell ethanol-free gas.

Hell, in SC, you can usually find some moonshine that will run better than the ethanol crap!

 

[ponypastor]

Hello,

I'm looking for some ideas on fuel additives. Our gas sucks here in South Carolina with ethanol and looking for suggestions.
During the summer heat my Edelbrock 1406 vapor locks and is no fun trying to go for a drive.
I'm looking for a fuel conditioner more than a octane booster. Although both would be sweet.
Thank you for your suggestions.

I use a classic car (a 1979 Ford Thunderbird) as a daily driver, and drive my 1971 Mach 1 429 SCJ, 2-3 times per week. So, consequently, I have had to find non-ethanol fuel for both. Wawa sells ethanol-free fuel for my 1979 Thunderbird.

But I found a local oil company that sells 101 octane, ethanol-free, in a 5-gallon can for my Mach 1. I mix the 101 octane fuel in a 5 gallon can with the 94 octane fuel sold at the same Oil Company's gas pump. With these two fuels mixed together, my 429 SCJ, with 11.3 compression pistons, remains happy on the road.

 

[Stanglover]

I use a classic car (a 1979 Ford Thunderbird) as a daily driver, and drive my 1971 Mach 1 429 SCJ, 2-3 times per week. So, consequently, I have had to find non-ethanol fuel for both. Wawa sells ethanol-free fuel for my 1979 Thunderbird.

But I found a local oil company that sells 101 octane, ethanol-free, in a 5-gallon can for my Mach 1. I mix the 101 octane fuel in a 5 gallon can with the 94 octane fuel sold at the same Oil Company's gas pump. With these two fuels mixed together, my 429 SCJ, with 11.3 compression pistons, remains happy on the road.

I wish we could get "good stuff" like that here in Ontario. Even AV Gas is unobtanium unless you own an aircraft these days.
The best I can get is 94 with 10% crap in it. Even Shell 91 V Power is watered down now due to the good ol' government.

 

[c9zx]

I have used Sea Foam as a fuel stabilizer within -tank h great success for many years. In addition to the vehicles it works well in the many small engine powered tools I have. The best fuel system cleaner I've found is BG 44K. There are Octane boosters that actually work, most are not found in parts houses. "Race Gas", VP Octanium, and Klotz to name a few. Another option is mixing race fuel with pump gas as Ponypastor described. ( [ % Fuel A ] x [ Octane of Fuel A ] ) + ( [ % Fuel B ] x [ Octane of Fuel B ] ) = Octane of Mixture Chuck

 

[rcadd1ct]

NOS and torco seem to be the best octane adaptive from my limited research.

I use stabil storage in every tank of my vehicles as I work remote so I don’t drive that often.

 

[71coop]

Tuning for E10 is the most cost-effective strategy IMO. The effort is pretty minimal, as long as you address the rubber parts and pay attention to how stoic for E10 is different and tune for it between carburation and ignition timing. It "burns" slight faster, meaning you need less overall timing (but still need adequate initial to keep idle temps low). Stoic is 14.1 vs 14.7, so a slightly richer fuel curve is sometimes needed. If you can get over the stoichiometric & timing hump, the only downside is long-term storage.

 

[machattack]

Right on rcaddict
Ive also used Marine Stabil for 20 plus years. Ive Never had a issue of a gummed up carb since. The MARINE stabil actually neutralizes the ethanol ! says it right on the bottle. Just like Don C uses, I also use Lucus Gas as a combination.