Ford's first "Alternative Fuel" vehicle? Will a 1931 Ford Model A run on "alternative fuels"?
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
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I think the hotter the engine got, the better it ran on diesel. Weird. E-85 was a real surprise. Science!!
Some tractors in europe and great britain were sold with two tanks: Start and warm up on gasoline, then switch over to diesel or petroleum.
Probably something about vaporization and so on
@@AstraWerke Hey Adrian. It's all science and stuff.
Speaking of alternative fuels, does anyone run a Model A with Propane; Works well with my hot air balloons
I remember an article in “The Restorer” in the 70s or 80s about running on alcohol. The author had to heat the carburetor to get the alcohol to atomize correctly so it could burn properly in the cylinders.
My 1940s John Deere Model H tractor has 2 tanks.
Paul, the old farm tractors used to run on kerosene or distillates which is about the same as diesel fuel. They had a small tank for gasoline used to start the tractor. Once started on gasoline, they would run the engine till hot and switch to kerosene. Before shutting it down they would switch back to gasoline and then shut it down. Some of the tractors also had a water tank to inject water into the intake manifold. This would increase the economy of operation. 👍 I love your’s and Model T’s videos, keep up the great stuff!
Diesel is not anywhere near alcohol, or kerosene.
Yep. My neighbor still uses the antique dozer he has that has a gas powered pony motor to start the big diesel. What a contraption.
Yes we had a B John Deere that had two tanks, the big one was used for kerosene and the little one for gasoline starting and getting it warm, before switching over. it was designed for this, but we mostly used gas in the 50s and 60s,
Diesel is not at all like alcohol, but diesel, kerosene, jet A, JP-5, paint thinner and charcoal lighter are all petroleum distillates of varying degrees of refinement. @@garycamara9955
@@garycamara9955 Not alcohol, but kerosene is actually called #1 diesel fuel oil.
My dad was also a teen during WWII, he also used kerosene when he couldn’t get gas. My dad lived at the top of 10th Ave. in San Francisco it’s a long steep hill. Dad said his Model A wouldn’t start by turning the key with the kerosene so he’d roll down the hill in hopes it would start (it wasn’t always successful), he said it didn’t run great but got him around.
I saw an old ad for a wood gas contraption to mount on the back and run your model a off of that.
Yes, it's called a gasifier. No, I'm not gonna do that!
Ive seen one.
those wood gas things are neat but i would be to terrified to do it i mean it involves a fire to work but yeah on those history/discovery channel alaska themed shows a feller had himself a wood gasifier set up to run a vehicle
also theres more than a few video of people rigging up a gasifier on modern ish vehicles
@@GeorgiaRidgerunner Late 70s we had a US engineer who ran his big Dodge wagon on one for several years. It ended up getting hit in the rear and was very lucky there was no fire. This is South Oz
@@ldnwholesale8552 its crazy how many alternatives there are to actual gasoline
if alternative sources is something youre interested in may i suggest looking up carbide acetalyne generators as well as
homemade alternator generators (i built an alternator generator/ battery charger)
theres all sorts of ways to produce fuel and electrity its a great thing to be knowledgable about in case of a power outage
Thanks for the demo.. FYI you would have had a better chance with a higher proof mystery fuel like everclear.
I was wondering as you drove with the diesel, if it would actually start without the bit of residual gasoline, but you covered even that. That was an enjoyable experiment to watch. Thanks for doing it!
I ran out of gas in a 1985 Ford Ranger. I bought 2 quarts of rubbing alcohol and 3 cans of gas dryer. I made it to the gas station 1/2 mile away. I would not reccomend it, but it worked.
Paul, I have a jar of pure Harlen Co. Kentucky moon shine, 100proof. That should get you going lol. Stay safe Terry. 😊
We might have to save that for sippin on the porch.
I Love looking out over the Hood as you drive
I would imagine that one had to use shine straight from the still, around 95% ethanol. What you used was approx. 50% water.
Hey Paul, you sure are look 👀 good.
Guy in our club last year tried E85 with the same results as you got. When doing these types of experiments you need to stay close to home just in case.😜
Thanks!! Driving with E-85 in the tank was almost as scary as a room full of creepy dolls, but not quite.
In the future when you visit us we will instruct all the dolls not to stare at you.😵💫
What happens if they see me naked?
Don’t worry, they won’t be shocked. They see me that way all the time.🤪
@@leahbarnacle6956 I'm still scared.
Sometimes I think you are reading my mind. All the discussions lately remind me of stories my dad told. Prior to his service in WWII, he told me of people (including him) even running their cars on dry cleaning fluid (he had a 33 Ford Tudor). Yes, there was significant pinging, etc but it beat walking. Rationing gasoline caused a lot of creative solutions. I was completely surprised by the diesel. And I was in hysterics with the moonshine segment. 😂. Thank you as always, hopefully this helps settle some of the debate. Have a great week ~ Chuck P.S. Should have tried RC Cola, I know I run better since you turned me on to that.
My father was in high school during World War II and ran his Model A on kerosene. He had a shut-off valve in the full line and started the car on gasoline poured into the carb. Then slowly opened the valve to wean the engine onto the kerosene. Also mentioned that he ran two head gaskets to lower the compression. He and his buddy had to remove the head to chip out the carbon every ten days or so. Stumbled onto your site a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoy. Thanks.
Your dad was smart.
Hello Paul. Thank you so much for the videos. You could make anyone fall in love with the Ford Model A. I’m a classic muscle car person but saw a Model A for sell a few weeks ago and purchased it. Took possession of it today and drove it for the first time ❤amazing. So much fun. I am so happy and thankful to your videos I know how to get it started and how to drive it because of you.
Great job!
That is FANTASTIC!! Good work!
My friend Bob said during WW2 as a teenager he worked at a paint shop in Denver and he used waste paint thinner to drive his Model A up the hill to Golden, Colorado and he would coast to work downhill the next morning. 🙂
What a resourceful man!!
@@ModelA Yes and it probably he had to use paint thinner due to war rationing of fuel, or he would have not needed to use expired paint thinner for his vehicle.
This video reminded me of an article I read many years ago about a man who lived in Cuba that had a heavily modified 1957 Chevrolet that he used as a Cuban Taxi. In a country where most of the cars are old 1950s American cars this man modified this old Chevrolet to be a dual fuel vehicle with two fuel systems. One fuel system was gasoline, the other for when gasoline was scarce was heating oil fuel. According to the article he had to start the car on gasoline. After the car was running on gasoline he could switch over to heating oil. The car engine would make a lot less power and considerably more smoke when running on heating oil.
I remember a similar article in Car and Driver. It dealt with the impact of the break up of the Soviet Union and the end of Soviet exports of oil to the island. The car in question was used to ply the tourist trade, which is what most of these old American cars are used for. The alternative fuel wasn't heating oil (for which Cubans have no use), but naphtha. In reality, the majority of cars in Cuba are current Korean or Chinese with a number of European and Japanese cars also in the mix. There are also many old Eastern European cars from the Soviet era still being used as daily drivers. I also saw several more recent US cars on the island (Chevy Monza, Pontiac Sunbird, Lincoln Town car), probably imported from Canada or perhaps South America. Nowadays, when you see an old US car in Cuba, it's probably best not to look under the hood: many of them have powertrains out of old Soviet trucks. Whatever it takes to keep it running and earning its keep. The tourists who pay to ride in them don't really care one way or the other.
Where else in the world do we get to tag along with this kind of experiment. Thanks Shinn this just made 2024 much cooler! PS great work Model T!
Coil a copper diesel line two turn around the exaust manifold before feeding it to the carb
Gas cans, love the 5 gal army gas cans. hate the new plastic jugs.
Thank-you for being braver than almost all of your viewers. Very interesting results and commentary. Now, I have some leftover kerosene and I’ve been wondering about how I’m going to dispose of it . . .
Mix it in!
Thank you again for another informative and entertaining video. Was worrying for you about starting again on diesel. I've walked home before. Funny how Model T knows about other alternative fuels. Listerine. Fingernail polish. 🤪 Ha, Ha! Love your videos! 🙂
Model T knows WAY too much sometimes!!
Ver interesting video like always Paul.
There are some moonshine and other hard liquor that are 3/4 alcohol or 151 proof that I believe might make the engine run.
Thank you and model T for your great videos!
Saludos, Ricardo from Mexico City
My grandfather mentioned kerosene was sort of ok. A Triumph spitfire could do that too. It might run on fine-filtered rapeseed oil, gas prices are 2.5 times higher than yours you know. Some diesel owners do this, but it must be the clear version, not the yellow stuff with residue. Btw, some years ago the city buses of Goeteborg were tested on pure alcohol. These Swedes found that the most cost-effective way to get alcohol was to distill cheap Italian red wine. Imagine the reaction of the Italian newspapers when they found out that city buses ran on their wine. With the diesel, perhaps there has to be a certain airflow to create small enough drops that the burn gets efficient enough ..
Hahahaa!! Those surrender-at-any-cost French wine snobs think their wine is so great... I can't stand it. But I don't have the taste for wine at all. Bleh.
I ran a 4 barrel carburetred 84 F-150 on E-85 as an experiment in the early 2000's.... my conclusion was that if it were easily and permanently available in my area I would have considered the mods needed. To function well I think it needed something like low 10:1 range compression ratio minimum and the ability to accurately flow about 15% more fuel at Idle and mid range.... wide open on interstate was fun .... just off idle in traffic was crazy...
I bet!
As always, Great video! The moonshine that you purchased was half water. with Alcohol made for consumption the "proof" is how much alcohol is in the product for example 80 proof products such as Crown Royal & Black Velvet are 40% alcohol by volume. 100 proof products such as Whistle Pig 10 year old is 50% alcohol by volume. when alcohol is distilled usually at best comes out of the process at about 190 proof or 95% alcohol, then cut with water to the desired proof. The closest thing you can purchase at least here in Nevada to that is Everclear which sold in Nevada is 190 proof and that is something more like the old timers would have used.
Yea, I did mention that. It still took my breath away!!
I guess when it came to fuel way back when the thought was "any port in a storm". I figured it would not run on the moonshine and I knew what Tina was going to do when she took the funnel from you at the end. I was chanting Chug Chug Chug!!
She's a hoot.
Wow nerve wracking video. You are definitely more brave than me.
Drive it like you know how to fix it, man!!
I want to hook a leaf blower to my Model A pickup carburetor and see if I can get some turbo action!
It works! We'll talk sometime...
I tried once but it killed it. Too much air? Maybe I needed to open the GAV?
I made a cold air intake with PVC pipe and Dennis Piranio put it on a Dyno. It got 1 or 1.5 extra HP!
Open the GAV way open and hold on!!
Old John Deere two cylinders had all fuels, start on gas, get the heat up and switch to diesel. Be sure to switch back to gasoline before you shut it off.
My neighbor's 1930's dozer is the same. He still uses it all the time!
I was surprised to see that the Model A would run on diesel fuel, and it likely would have run well on alcohol if it was more pure instead of a diluted form, however it would have been detrimental to the gaskets, and the spark gap would have to have been adjusted to compensate for the flash point of the alcohol.
This was an interesting experiment.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us all, and posting this video!
Please have an excellent and awesome day!
☀️✨🏎️
Thank you I agree.
Great experiments. I am not an expert not even an internet one. Alcohol/methanol fueled engines use more fuel (30% ish?) in the ratio and more timing advance than gasoline will tolerate. E-85 gasohol is sumthin like 130 octane equivalent. Your mileage per gallon will be less.
Yea, it took a lot of GAV and a lot of timing to run on 85. If I fiddled with it more, it probably would have ran just fine.
I've always been curious about this!
Me too. I think the E-85 would have been better if I re-jetted the carb.
Our gasoline doesn't have much ethanol in it. In Nova Scotia the low test and mid grade may contain up to 10% ethanol but high test doesn't contain any. So with low test or regular or mid grade which is half regular and half high test there is no noticeable difference in performance. High test will eventually have ethanol. Our cars here are E85 engines but there's not any E85 fuel here. With the A Fords there's no problem with gas lines or carburetors as they are all steel and brass and cast iron construction. The aftermarket Tillotson and others can be a problem. I never use them Zenith only.Ethanol gas gives poorer gas milage. There is a good article a year or two ago in the Model T Times the official journal of the Model T Ford Club International . It's really worth a read. I see no advantage in ethanol gas as it lowers gas milage. How can you burn more and pollute less. Makes no sense. It's really bad for any seasonally used engine or little used engine with a white metal carburetor as it collects moisture and can ruin them very quickly. Water in gasoline if left dissolves white metal if not drained before storage. The small engine equipment dealers here recommend using high test only.
I thought e85 would work too! I was surprised diesel worked at all because of the low compression. One time, I threw match in a puddle of it and it put the match out.
It was a surprise to all of us!
I always had the feeling that Tina was a party hgal! LOL - She is so much fun! lots of laughs, great vid
You and I could never keep up with her
it takes compression and heat for alcohol to work and that shine was probably 50 50 alky and water. alcohaol racers usually start on gas unless the eng is warm.
Yea, true
I think the problem with the "moonshine" was that it didn't actually have enough alcohol versus the totally incombustible ingredients It is probably half alcohol and half water. Everclear might have a much better chance. The thing about E85 is that it is 100% combustible, with the other 15% being actual gasoline. But alcohol requires a very different air to fuel ratio than gasoline, and it needs more volume of air and fuel as well. My "flex fuel" F150 ran great on E85, but got truly half the mileage that it did on regular gasoline. Alcohol has less energy than gasoline. You can get more power with E85 than on gasoline alone, but you have to get more air and alcohol into the cylinders than for an equivalent amount of power with gasoline.
So, I'm not surprised that it ran, but not well, on E85 and didn't want to run at all on that moonshine. The surprise to me was how well it ran on diesel. I figured it would run, but that it was actually driveable was nice. Of course, if gasoline were scarce, diesel would be as well for all the same reasons, so it would not be a very realistic alternative.
I was very surprised!!
Model A Guy words of wisdom - “I’m never doing that again.” I didn’t think your car was going to run on any of the fuels and was amazed when the diesel fuel fired and idled. Model T is the real hero to save the Moonshine!
Hahaa! Yep
Now I had always heard that it would run on other things. What I always heard was if you had a broken spark plug and didn't have a replacement that a small length of broom stick and a nail could get you there in place of the broken plug I think that was just bunk! After thinking about it over the years I think that was bunk also because you wouldn't have a way to create a gap, right!?
Thank you. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. And Yes I thought E-85 would have worked just fine. Diesel was interesting too. No need to waste moonshine on a car anyway lol.
Glad you enjoyed it Craig
Hmmm; maybe will run on anything except Diesel. Doesn’t Diesel need a lot of compression for it to work? The compression ratio in these is low. At least you give the motor a little cleanup inside 😉
Diesel will burn on low compression with spark plugs. Not that great though.
@@ModelA I wish I could get me one of these Model A’s. I am familiar with aircooled VWs and early Porsches and Model A’s share the same spirit. I love those cars; by the way I am also a Ford guy; my daily driver is a Lincoln 😉
Diesels have high compression because it auto ignites instantly when injected. If run through a carburetor into an normal engine, it need very low compression and the diesel should heated so it partially vaporizes. Vapors are vital to a gasoline engine. Any compression above say 5 to 1 could cause engine damage due to pre-ignition. It would be extremely inefficient to use diesel in this fashion.
I wonder if you could use used vegetable oil, Trans fluid ect like some diesels can run on?
Try it!
Thank you. I really enjoyed this episode.
Glad you enjoyed it
LOL I didn't know your wife had a drinking problem..😂😂😂😂. Great video good to know GB🙏
Hahhaaa!! Yep!
It probably would have ran ok on kerosene. We had a tractor when I was a kid that started on gas and you switched to kerosene. We always ran it on gas but the old Farmall M had the provisions to switch fuel.
I bet it would
Contrary to popular opinion, gasoline doesn't come from dinosaurs. It actually comes from ancient ocean plankton, that died and settled on the ocean bottom in an anaerobic (lacking oxygen) environment and covered with silt. There's a lot more that has to happen before it becomes petroleum, but dinosaurs were not involved...
It was just a joke. I believe in creation, not bilkion year old dinosaurs.
You need to run Bacardi 151 rum. 50% is too much water. With the 151 it will run like the E85. I tried it in my '29 Model A just for grins...
But how does it taste? You know, in case the car doesn't want to drink alone.
From what i understand, alcohol likes compression. A model a at 4.2 to 1 probably isn't the optimum. Some street rodders running e85 are running 11 to 1. Alcohol compesates for poorer breathing as it has a high oxygen content. That's why less btus
I think if I could have gotten the mixture even more rich, it would have ran better.
If it smells like French fries, it is not “diesel”. It is recycled, vegetable oil.
Biodiesel
Can I ask you a question on my model AA on why it’s not running right?
I wonder if substances such as Everclear (basically 200 proof alcohol) or rubbing alcohol would work?
I would suspect yes
Am I correct in saying the fuel water separator is also called a sediment bowl?
Yes
Hi Paul I tried mixed fuel once it wouldn’t start
It won't run on mixed drinks, like margaritas?
Soo ... This is how you convince the wife to help you clean out the fuel system on the car!
By the way "Moonshine" is whiskey, if you've made it too strong then it is qualified to be labeled as Vodka!
I grew up in north/west North Carolina bordering Wilkes County, I’ve heard it called “moonshine capitol of the world”. No idea if that’s true but I do know growing up there that if you wanted some moonshine all you had to do was ask. I had so many friends over the years say “taste this, it’s like water”, yeah water with gasoline in it!! I never developed a taste for it until,,,,,, my father in law said “taste this, it’s like drinking water” . It was peach flavored moonshine and was the best I’ve ever tried, the only I could ever drink!!!! Unfortunately the old timer who made it passed shortly after and I never was able to buy a “case” of it.😉. Paul if you ever get out this way let me know,,,,,,,,
Some unscroupulus moonshiners would add some battery acid.
For sure!! I tried a home made apple moonshine once that was so smooth, it was like fruit juice, that kicked you in the brain a few minutes later.
Interesting re: diesel. Fine if that's all you got.But why pay more for diesel if you don't have to. I had a neighbor who worked as a maintenance mechanic for Hawaiian Air. He'd bring home fuel drained from tanks at his work. We used it for my model-a and the lawn mower mixed 60/40 with gas. Worked just fine lowering my cost per gallon and in Hawaii gas ain't cheap.
Yea, I bet that would run just dandy!
Throw some avgas 100LL or race fuel just to make the motor happy....
It LOVES avgas.
Well I see the E85 and "moonshine" test was a bust!! You didn't try kerosene? From my book reading history article's on gasoline (Younger generation doesn't do that today, just Google it!!!!) I think that gasoline was one of the byproduct's of making kerosene back in the "day" that wasn't "useful" at the time. I'm sure model T Shinn was happy that you used the 31 Sport Coupe instead of the 29 Roadster!! Thanx for donating your Sport Coupe in the name of science!! Thomas Dolby would be proud!!
SCIENCE!!!!
That was truly interesting!
G
Congrats to Paul I would never do that to my Dixie. And I have to say I want to party with model T .lol
Drive it like you know how to fix it.
Whar adout Webber Carburettor \ Carburettors on a model A
I think I know what Paul will say about the Weber Carburetor...
@@ModelAToo What would he say? It's not original?
After making an icky face, he would say "Junk!". Just guessing.. I'll go ask him.
😒😅
@@ModelA LOL! Thanks Paul.
paul run some av gas in it and clean it up! it will make it real happy!
I ran avgas once. It really liked it!!
Ethanol has 66% of the energy of gasoline... so you have to make big adjustments in mixture
Good to know! Thanks Ted
Is there anything a Model A can’t do!!?👍
Swim
Diesel and Kerosene needs to preheat for better combustion, the tractors from the early 50's and before had a small gas tank to start and heat up with then switch to kerosene. Alcohol fuels of 75% purity or better should run fine but the mixture needs to be richened up a lot.
@dickvercouteren1424, during WW2 gasoline was rationed and if your sticker only allowed a few gallons per month, you tried whatever would burn and move the car.
No, trying to get credit and medical bills paid down so I can get my own place.
Maybe the next one…😊
Roger that. I built my house with cash. Maybe that's why it's a dump!
Well my Model A computer and sensors work sometimes and sometimes not, LOL
Same here
You have to use a higher proof like everclear 190 proof
Hooke me up with some!
@@ModelA it’s illegal here in Massachusetts I think they sell it in Rhode Island I’ll check back with you for shipping information
Maybe I’ll drive down there to get it in my 28 Hupmobile it’ll be like an old fashioned shine run!
I found some 160 proof. I still don't think that's enough.
@@ModelA I’ll be watching for the video, if you attempt to drink some don’t drink it near a open flame 😂
@@ModelA The only other option I can think of is if you can get ahold of those fellas Mark and Digger over at Moonshiner’s and see if they can make a special model A blend
Hola Paul y Tyna, por favor, trata de poner opción de subtitulos en español para todos los fan's del Ford modelo A,, de Sud América.Saludos desde CHILE. / Victor
Hola Víctor. Lo siento, probé los subtítulos y no funcionaron bien. Entonces dejé de intentarlo. Dios te bendiga, amigo mío.
MUCHAS GRACIAS AMIGO te cuento un truco, pongo la velocidad del vídeo más lento de normal y así entiendo ya que practicamos poco el inglés hablado.
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR LA MOLESTIA DE RESPONDER. Saludos afectuosos desde el Sur del Mundo.Dios bendice a las buenas personas como ustedes, gracias por reunir a esa gente a través del Ford modelo A
You didn’t use moonshine. Moonshine is by definition untaxed spirits. You purchased yours at a liquor store. More importantly the booze you used was way too low in alcohol. What you had was probably 80 to 100 proof which is 40 to 50 % alcohol. You need the real deal. Straight from the still it was usually 160 proof which is 80% alcohol. Not that I would know anything about operating a personal still because that would be breaking the law and I don’t break the rules.
So would your “A”run better with ethanol free gas? No alcohol just pure gasoline.
Yes. Noticeable improvement in fuel economy with pure gas.
Funny experiment
Great experiment for a "what if" situation. Both of our trucks have the E85 option, tried it out in Cheryl's Avalanche twice, really didn't notice a difference. Now E85 is not cost effective anymore here, we just stick with what ever is the best price on that day. Knowledge is power. Thanks. de N8IWS / N8KIG 73
Them computer-machines are fancy! 73, OM.
I think it would have run on moonshine if it wasn't half water.
I would have bet my dog on it. was surprised.
Good thing they don't have check engine lights, lol
For sure.
You found a.unicorn my friend.
Everclear 95% alcohol
SCIENCE!
Shine has sugar in it, not so smart...
so what?
Now change your oil...
Absolutely!
Um, let's see ,abusive, cataclysmic, malpractice, shameful, and extremely entertaining.....You guys Crack me up! That was entertaining. Glad I always have diesel on the menu here. LOL
Well...I see ya aren't tea todalers.
I have a sip on occasion, so not quite tea totalers, but very close to it. My birth dad was a raging alcoholic, so I tend to steer clear.
👋👍😄🤗🎚️
Very interesting video, but you obviously didn’t think this through. You just voided your Ford warranty.
Oh no! Hahahaa! Are they talking about this on the web forums yet?
Wish you were my neighbor.
You'd want to live next door to an autistic guy who hates wearing clothes?
High fences make good neighbors😄@@ModelA
@@weslynn8905 Hahahahaaa!
very lucky there's good people like you that take the time to share there knowledge . Bought my first model a last week joined Utah county a club, ordered repair manual . A LOT to figure out . THANKS@@ModelA
What about kerosene?
Diesel and kerosene are almost the same thing
Excellent video! Thanks for trying out the different fuels. I once knew a fellow from Tennessee, who he replaced his spark plugs with corn cobs. How he did this was to run thick wires through the corn cob(electrodes) and shove the corn cob into the cylinder head. The car idled fine. But when he accelerated, the corn cobs flew out and dented his hood.
OK, so I know that Paul knows this, but for folks watching: "moonshine," or any other hard liquor like vodka, is about 50/50 alcohol and water. Water has a very high specific heat, meaning that it absorbs lots of energy. When you atomize the moonshine, suck it into the combustion chamber, and spark it, even assuming the alcohol ignites, the water in the mixture will absorb most of the combustion energy, leaving little to power the piston. That's why it won't run on moonshine. Too much water.
Some of the grain alcohols go up to 190 proof, which 95% alcohol and 5% water. I bet it'd run on that. Hell, E85 is only 85% alcohol, I don't see why the strong stuff wouldn't work.
@@rileysmith8288 Oh I bet it would work, I'm just saying the stuff he bought is likely 100 proof or less, as is most of the liquor people might think to try, and that's why it won't work.
Interesting video. You mentioned that the diesel smelled like burnt french fries. No chance there was frier fat mixed in. I've seen Dodge trucks with the Cummins diesel running on frier fat from restaurants and it smelled strongly if french fries. Straight diesel oil had no trace of the french fry smell. They don't seem to use it here as there's not a dependable supply and trouble with viscosity in the cold weather at times. Nice to know in a pinch we could use diesel to get home or to a gas station.
That swill the Commiefornia stations sell is "biodiesel blend", whatever that means. Not sure of the recycled fryer oil content, but it sure smelled like burnt hashbrowns. Alex is right, that moonshine was 100 proof according to the label. It would run with a lot of choke, but barely put out any power.
After trying Moonshine many years ago in Tullahoma, Tennessee(Just a stones throw from Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniels) I can certainly say not only is it not for any automobile, it's not for people either! Lousy tasting stuff! My advice if you want to try it; SMALL SIPS ONLY.😂
That moonshine has been "proofed" meaning diluted with water.
Ah. Makes sense.
They proof it for two reasons, first a run goes farther , and secondly , most people couldn't handle shine straight from the worm .
Diesel has about twice the BTU content of gasoline while alcohol has about half. I ran my race cars on straight alcohol and the fuel air mixture has to be really rich. One time while towing to a race, I ran my tow vehicle out of fuel. I had a lot of alcohol available so I dumped about 5 gallons in the tow truck. It started, but wouldn't pull. I stopped and adjusted the carburetor choke to where is was almost closed. It then started and ran pretty well. It was at least enough to go about 5 miles to a filling station.
Popcorn Sutton run his on moonshine .haha
i literally took one sip of illegal shine one time and said never again it tasted the way that i would imagine rubbing alcohol would taste
My dad had an old Plymouth truck with a flathead 6 engine that he ran only on diesel. 2 Cylinders were configured as an air compressor, and another 2 were just disabled... When I bought my first vehicle a 1946 Ford Jailbar I ran that on diesel too 18 years and never missed a beat. Also my jailbar only had 3 working cylinders.
I remember "dual-fuel" tractors ... starting on normal gasoline and once warm you had to change to kerosene. (was a lot cheaper than gasoline)
I suppose that, if you could warm-up the diesel-fuel just enough to "vaporise" better, the engine will run more or less OK even if you'll have to make the mixture "richer" (maybe).
Another test that you could do is using "thinner" (for paint) or "White-spirit" but I think that especially with that last one, you'll have the same result as with kerosene.
I had my doubts when you started this Paul...but this turned out to be a really fun video!
Great. Thanks!!
Wow! I was so scared when you put that diesel in there...never would have done that myself, but now I know in a pinch its ok. Thanks, that's science! 😁
It could get you home!
What about a Flathead V8?
Also, you should make a follow up video, and take it to a dyno, and test it with each different fuel. Also Kerosene.
I don't know squat about the V8s
Hi guys. That was very interesting. This is not a criticism, but I think if you had NO alternative to running Kerosene or diesel or moonshine and you spent more time fiddling with timing and mixture that there may be a way to have a model a run reliably on an alternative fuel. I remember that in the 70s the Offenhauser Indianapolis cars ran alcohol as their fuel., so running on alcohol is possible just don't know what was involved in making that happen. Your moonshine sip made me laugh. Thanks for an entertaining and educational morning!
Agreed. Like I said, if someone were playing with the GAV, I think alcohol would have worked better.
Excellent test!!!! Funny thing in a recent video you were talking about how you wanted a Model A because it has no electronics and I commented that my wife and I wanted a duece an a half for the same reason. But, the duece and a halfs are actually labeled as multifuel engines! They can run on anything that goes bang including used motor oil and vegetable oil! There are warnings about running straight gas due to the lack of lubrication, but it will do in a pinch. Thank you for today's science lesson!
I have a friend (Weird, right?) who has one. I can confirm it will run on most oils, if you preheat them (it has a fuel tank heater). It does NOT like gasoline at all. If you heat up and filter the heck out of used motor oil, it runs happily. If the oil isn't preheated, it will complain.
As someone from East Tennessee, you bought the watered down crap. Guess y'all don't have access to the real stuff out that way. 😂
I've seen the real stuff eat out the metal lid to a mason jar.
That said, a little diesel or kerosene with the gas might not hurt. Maybe biodiesel would be better?
Next time I'm in Tennessee, please hook me up with some of that real stuff!!
@@ModelA I'll see if my cousin up in the mountain still runs any. Had a great setup at one time. Everything left over got fed to the hogs.
HOOK ME UP!!!
@@ModelA alright. If he's still in the game, will do.