Brazos River Rat ( Billy) E-85 Problems

[73 Sanger Flat]

OK
Here are the damages from last weekend testing
Melted number 5 piston really bad and broke number 4 piston .. Pushed the head gasket out on almost  every cylinder on the even side .. Burnt spark plugs really bad .. The number 5 hole is the worst , but it may just be all the melted piston stuck to it .. I will try and clean it off and then I will be able to see if I can just bore it one size bigger , if not a sleeve will go in .. Do not really want that .. ..

I believe what happen it that it went lean on the E-85 on top end  and with me pushing the timing up to 39* , it just melted everything .. 39* of timing should not have caused this , but if it did go lean the timing did not help it then .. Oh well ! A very expensive lesson learned ~

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

more

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

couple more

 

[FL350]

Yeap she leaned out!!

 

[turboed-tx-20]

what caused it to go lean?

 

[Patchman]

what caused it to go lean?

think.gif That's a little strange! think.gif

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

From what I have been told , my mechanical fuel pump could not supply the volumn of fuel it need , I still had fuel pressure but not enough fuel  volumn ..  Apparently I need a belt driven fuel pump to keep up .. I prefer to stay away from electric pumps ..

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

Yeap she leaned out!!

I have never seen head gasket get pushed out that far >>

 

[Patchman]

That sucks man!  :smile25:

 

[HellinnFrnt]

what number are those plugs Billy ? Are they 5/8 ? The 13/16 ones won't go in the holes on mine and the 5/8 I'm getting are tapered and don't seal good. Can't run the motor up cause of all the leakage and don't want to blow a plug outta the hole .

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

Here are the numbers on the plugs .. Are you head aluminum ?? If not -- DO NOT USE THESE .. These are for aluminum heads ..

NGK  R 5671  A - 8  stock # 4554  ~ they are 5/8

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

Anybody want a couple of pistons  for cheap ..  Don"t think I will be able to patch these with JB weld .. LOL

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

I think this is my last time to try E-85 .. This has happen to me twice now and I am sending the E-85 Carb back to BLP to convert it back to gas for me .. It going in the mail Friday .. That way I can not try E-85 again ..

I am going to build the new engine to about 11.5-12.0 to 1 compression and run AV gas .. I like the way it smell over the E-85 anyway , Plus I can get it at my local airport about 5 mile away from my house ..

Maybe I will be ready next spring  for the River ..

 

[sturat]

Billy sorry to hear you did not have good luck with the corn fuel..

on a side not I love your sig....

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

I thought that would be an appropriate signature for a while ~ LOL

I tried to get it to work for me , but I have bad luck anyway .. I know Jim and EO both have has good success with it so I will not knock it .. But I am out for now on running the corn fuel ..

 

[Michael Swindoll]

Billy can u post a pic looking in the plug at the strap and Porcelain (not that we can tell anything but maybe,) what was the timing mark on the plugs look like where was it located?

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

I will look tonight when I get home .. Not much plug strap to look at on that one side of the engine to see where the timing burn was at .. But I will look at the other side  and look inside the plugs also if I get a chance tonight ..

I hate to go out to the carport ~ it more like a cemetery right now with engine part everywhere .. LOL

I pretty sure the 39* of timing , not enough fuel volume and the longer stroke is what did it ..

Time to build a 11.5- 12.0 to 1 engine and just have fun ..

 

[jimsplace]

I thought that would be an appropriate signature for a while ~ LOL

I tried to get it to work for me , but I have bad luck anyway .. I know Jim and EO both have has good success with it so I will not knock it .. But I am out for now on running the corn fuel ..

If you are no longer going to run E-85, you might want to just sell the carburetor and buy new carburetors for gas.  They would be set up close for what you want.
It depends on what the cost is going to be to convert the carb you are returning to gasoline, if it can even be done.
Sorry to lose an E85 user.
  :smile17:

 

[fenceman]

Sorry to hear Billy. 39 deg on a 4.25 stroke is a no-no. On my 565 anything over 38 made no more power on dyno anyway. Are those regular felpro head gaskets?

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

Sorry to hear Billy. 39 deg on a 4.25 stroke is a no-no. On my 565 anything over 38 made no more power on dyno anyway. Are those regular felpro head gaskets?

Brian~ yes those were regular fel pro gaskets .The held up fine until I advance the timing ..  I will be going back with MLS this go around.. I was thinking with the E-85 being mostly alcohol , it could handle more timing .. I talked to an E-85 carb guy and he was telling me they even pushed the timing to 45* on some of his 540 they built.. Hard leasson learned .. That what I get for listening to some one I do not know ..