nitromethane/methyl alcohol gasoline mix?

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MX500
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nitromethane/methyl alcohol gasoline mix?

Post by MX500 »

Has anyone tried to mix RC car fuel (10-40% methanol in a methyl alcohol base with pre-mixed with castor oil) with gasoline? I was thinking of adding a quart of the fuel to 4 gallons of pre-mix and seeing if i gain any power. I just need to find out the specific gravity of the RC fuel and see if it will mix with gasoline.

I know I'll need to richen my jetting beforehand to avoid detonation and a lean mixture.
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Post by fuzzy »

Meth and gas don't play that well together, but I've seen it done...No huge gains though. If you want to play with nitro, you're best just converting over to pure methanol first. Double your jetting, put alky parts in the carb. Be prepared to play around with jetting a lot. Don't put nitro in until it's right....Adn even then go even bigger on your main. I wouldn't go higher than 20% nitro EVER, and be prepared for a lot of heat. The pure meth will run cooler than gas though. Fuel mileage will half. Best to run pure castor. Pure meth, 10-20% nitro, 5-10% acetone, then 12-16:1 on the castor. Have fun....Order plenty of pistons. Best results will be had when the porting/head config has been prepared around this. Just straight meth over gas shuold yield about 10% more power. Oh yeah, advance timing a tad.
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

Have you tried Toluene yet?

I mix a quart with 5 gallons of premix

Much better bottom end pull...
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Post by MX500 »

I havent tried toluene, but I've seen what it does to spark plugs. :shock: I may give it a shot with my next premix batch.

Has anyone tried acetone? I added about a cup to a tank of gas and got 2 more MPG every time I tried it with my 240SX.
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

What does it do to plugs??

I've never had an issue with it
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Post by fuzzy »

What are you going after? Just more power? Have your head cut for race gas, and run a pump gas/tolulene blend (home brewed race gas).

I've never run acetone in gas....Only in alky as a catlyst.
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Post by MX500 »

Toluene tends to wear plugs out faster and leave white deposits.

http://www.fast16v.com/plug.jpg

google "toluene" and "spark plug."



I'm just looking for more power. I don't want to mill the head for race gas because my bike is plated and I don't want to have to find octane boosters every time I fill up.

I would just port my cylinder if someone would give me general specifications of their porting job, but so far nobody has offered any. I may just take off the cylinder and open up the ports a bit and raise them a mm or two (for more top end) and hope for the best.
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Post by fuzzy »

Toluene is part of gasoline, and a bit more of it will raise the octane. It's all 'octane booster' is. The effects of it on a car that doesn't need it, and isn't tuned for it can be what you've shown. 2-cycles are different. The higher octane will provide crisper throttle response. However, just like a 4-stroke, raising octane on a motor w/ compression set for a lower octane will actually produce less top-end power.

I certainely understand not wanting to use wierd things when filling up. Also, if this is the case, why did you ask about nitro?

No one has any 'top-end' port specs on here for an air cooled cyl, or any cyl for that matter....The ports need 'mapped' in order to sucessfully copy, and of course you're never going to get this info from a builder. There aren't many ported cyl users on this site.

Might want to read an entire book on 2-cycle modifications before doing anything like this....You can absolutely kill performance with 2mm's in the wrong direction....It's NOTHING like a 4-stroke head.
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Post by MX500 »

I am fully aware of this, I have read all of the information that used to be listed on Eric Gorrs website amongst many others. I don't doubt my ability to port a 2-stroke engine, I know that raising a port increases top end power and lowering it increases bottom end power. I think 2mm would be a bit much, I was talking out of my ass when I wrote that post.

I asked about nitro because I can set up a carb to run nitro and then swap the jets out in 20 minutes and go back to running gasoline. Its much easier to change jets than a cylinder head.


I think I'll stick with plain gas for now and then port my cylinder when its time for a rebuild.
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Post by Indawoods »

Acetone helps break the surface tension of gas and help it atomize better but is terror on rubber parts. It does raise octane a bit but at 2 oz. to 5 gallons (only safe ratio) I bet the effects on the octane is neglegable.
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Post by fuzzy »

What you're really looking for is nitroethane for mixing with gasoline. Use with extreme caution, and I hold no responsibility...LOL. I would add an oz of acetone as it helps keep everything mixed with pure castor(the only thing I'd trust on nitro).
raising a port
Which one? :wink: You're right, A mild work over to simply shift power range isn't rocket science, just don't screw up or your cyl is done.
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