race methanol vs Industrial Grade....pros & cons.....

**lcp** · 04-16-2013

i just wonder what most of the pro guy running out there....is that safe to use industrial grade?...need some advice from you guy....

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-16-2013

Been many years ago, and specs have a way of changing, but this is what I can tell you from our experience....and from what I remember of the specs from those days. Industrial grade was in a range from 90 to 95 percent methanol with the rest being isopropyl and whatever else was in the spectrum Technical grade was 95 to 98 percent methanol. The only time we never raced tech grade was when a promoter said, "come on. We have the fuel". It was the NOA North South Championships at Rogers, Arkansas. We knew the guy, so we thought he would buy tech grade, but he bought industrial grade. It might have been okay had the weather been good. The race course was laid out great, and was more than a mile, but on race day the wind whipped up, and came straight down the course. It was a bumpy ride, and no one could open the engines up. With that industrial grade methanol, we did not finish a heat except for the A hydro. We had just finished experimenting with nitro before we headed out for the races. When the wind had picked up so much and we couldn't keep the motors running with reduced throttle, Baldy loaded up the A with nitro (the only engine we planned to test it with), and I blew the motor on the way to the starting line. I was able to coast into the pits where we swapped another A to make it out in back to back heats. With nothing to lose, Baldy cut back some on the nitro, and we won the second heat of A hydro, but that was the only heat we finished that I can remember. We learned a great lesson that day that ONE....never trust anyone else to provide fuel for you and TWO....Never buy any methanol but tech grade (which we always did before and since....and were told about by every alky racer we knew.)

**lcp** · 04-16-2013

Wayne,thank for the reply .im enjoy reading your story.asume that tech grade are more safe over the industrial grade. can u tell me more about the nitro blend?

**Gene East** · 04-17-2013

More engines have probably been destroyed by nitro than for any other reason!

**Fastjeff57** · 04-17-2013

They don't call it "grenade juice" for nothing!

Jeff

S: My buddy ran methanol vs. ethanol in his drag car. Said it was far superior.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 04-17-2013

Gene and Jeff got it right. We only tried it in the A. We tested it at home, then brought it to the race. During testing the motor ran away when we cranked it on the stands. I pushed in the kill switch and it kept running. Jack Chance pulled the spark plug wires right after that and it kept running. I didn't had no hand on the throttle, yet it was wound up so high that Floyd Hopkins ran and hid behind a willow tree to shield himself from shrapnel. Jack stood his ground and killed it with both hands on the carbs. We thought it was a fluke, but it happened the same the second time we cranked it, but we were ready this time and able to kill it right away. Jack then altered the timing, but I don't remember how much, and we were able to test it. Best I remember is that you have to increase cc's in the head a little for best results. The most expert nitro guy we knew was Chuck Simon from Canada. He said use 10 per cent or 25 percent. You are wasting money with anything in between because there is no further gain until 25 percent. We went with 10, and after that race in Arkansas, we never ran it again. We forgot to clean the engine out, and had to pull over on the side of the road on the way home and flood it with the industrial grade methanol to remove nitro residue. It is very corrosive. Chuck Simon won a lot of races with nitro mix, but not near that many championships. He usually blew and engine in one or the other heat. I would't recommend it.

**lcp** · 04-17-2013

Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team

Gene and Jeff got it right. We only tried it in the A. We tested it at home, then brought it to the race. During testing the motor ran away when we cranked it on the stands. I pushed in the kill switch and it kept running. Jack Chance pulled the spark plug wires right after that and it kept running. I didn't had no hand on the throttle, yet it was wound up so high that Floyd Hopkins ran and hid behind a willow tree to shield himself from shrapnel. Jack stood his ground and killed it with both hands on the carbs. We thought it was a fluke, but it happened the same the second time we cranked it, but we were ready this time and able to kill it right away. Jack then altered the timing, but I don't remember how much, and we were able to test it. Best I remember is that you have to increase cc's in the head a little for best results. The most expert nitro guy we knew was Chuck Simon from Canada. He said use 10 per cent or 25 percent. You are wasting money with anything in between because there is no further gain until 25 percent. We went with 10, and after that race in Arkansas, we never ran it again. We forgot to clean the engine out, and had to pull over on the side of the road on the way home and flood it with the industrial grade methanol to remove nitro residue. It is very corrosive. Chuck Simon won a lot of races with nitro mix, but not near that many championships. He usually blew and engine in one or the other heat. I would't recommend it.

thats rigth...not more than 10% to 25% nitro..that what read from corky bell book....he say 2 stroke not fussy on methanol.....but the more nitro.. the less compression to go with....

**Jeff Lytle** · 04-18-2013

I still have the recipe for the Simon fuel mix I used to run in one of his engines:
Per 5 imperial gallons:
40 oz. benzine
44 oz. castor oil
160 oz. nitromethane (20%)
Balance methanol.

**jrome** · 04-18-2013

Louis Williams and I ran alot of nitro . We had a A motor that you could set your watch by 14 heats is what it would last. What we found out was 10% you had to go to 20% then you had to go to 40% to see improvement The most I ever hear of was 70% I think it was a man from ga, I think was Haveman. Ralph Donald might remember.