Methanol

I can't seem to get a straight answer from any other forum so I'll turn to this one, is there a difference between methanol and alcohol? Or is methanol a form of alcohol?

Methanol is an alchohol.

Don't drink it though.  It will kill you.  Now, ethanol on the other hand is moonshine.

I heard that burning methanol is cheaper then most race gases, is this true?

By the gallon it's cheaper, but you use more of it per pass, and there is maintenance required after each race to keep moving parts from corroding.

What kinda maintenance goes into it after a pass? I've never really been around alcohol burning engines before.

i'm lost on the maintenance.   if you dont hit 180*before you shut it down for the night it'll milk the oil a little.

cool40 wrote:i'm lost on the maintenance.   if you don't hit 180*before you shut it down for the night it'll milk the oil a little.

Agreed, as long as you aren't running rich, you shouldn't have any problems. You have to get some temperature in the engine at the end of the day to dry the engine out. I start the engine on race gas at the begining of the day to get some heat then load the car at the end of the day on race gas. Maintenance solved. Of course, you can't have any components in the fuel system that can't handle methanol. Long term storage requires some additional procedures, but so does gas.

I don't think I'd run methanol just to save on fuel cost. To me, there has to be other factors to justify the switch. There is a learning curve.

Bogger,
The prior replies gave good input. I have been injecting methanol since the 90s. I originally switched for the cost factor, back when alky was about 25 cents per gallon and race gas was about $4.
The performance aspect, sound and smell hooked me. Yes, there is a learning curve and maintenance factors to consider. If you search "alky" and "methanol" on this forum, you will find lots of prior posts and debates on the topic. Also, go to KillerRONS.com where you will find info on frequently asked questions and myths.
If you are serious about stepping in to the injected alky world, there are several on this forum that will help and guide you.
Keith Fulp
678-458-2033

So pretty much as long as I get the engine up to a certain temperature before shutting it off I will be set? I'm really interested in taking the leap into alky injection, I would be good to go with running methanol in a Enderle Injection System correct? Cause I have injection hat already and TFS tunnel ram.

Get the system set up correctly and learn to use the shut off cable to warm it up.I like my enderle hat and dont really mind the effort for the gain.

When you say get "get your system set up correctly" what do you mean by that? Trying to squeeze out every little bit of info I can get   

FordMudBogger15 wrote:When you say get "get your system set up correctly" what do you mean by that? Trying to squeeze out every little bit of info I can get   

If you going injected and don't have a set up and buying new have them build it to your engine it don't cost anymore than off the self new when I called Ron's about a toilet I was looking at used and what was with it to see if it would work good on my engine. He told me by the time I bought what it needed to up grade for my engine I would be cheaper buy a new one already setup. The one I was looking was off a BBC and needed up grade for my 552 so I passed on that deal and stayed with my APD alky carb.

FordMudBogger15 wrote:When you say get "get your system set up correctly" what do you mean by that? Trying to squeeze out every little bit of info I can get   

pump, nozzle and main pill sizes. I run the enderle bird with a 80-1 pump and .036 nozzles on a 605".the biggest thing to get right in regard to oil dilution is the barrel valve setting. With a fat barrel valve setting you'll run through 5 gallon of alky and never even get the thing warm.all that alky will be In your oil.adjust it where it dont stumble when you"whack"the throttle and your good to go.pull the shut off cable a little to lean it out and build heat fast.

What are some companies that will set them up for you? And also do you recommend stainless fuel lines or rubber while running methanol? Or does it really matter?