Blown SBC on E85

[MemoryRacing]

Just wanted to start a general topic. One that I will be involved in heavily. My car is set up to run nitro/alky right now.
I will be going a more street-friendly route though. Switching over to E85.

My set up:
destroked SBC 400 (377)
8.7.1 CR
littlefield 6-71 (8% overdriven right now)
Enderlie Birdcatcher for alky
Enderlie 600 cam driven pump

A few issues I have came acrossed so far:
In Utah, we only get E70, no matter the time of year. I'd prefer E98, or at least true E85.
Big enough fuel cell? I have an 8 gallon in it now, with a surge tank up front. Surge tank is fed via Holley blue. I have a 22 Gallon sitting around, but I don't know what to look for in terms of it not rotting away from the ethenol. It is a plastic tank from summit, nothing fancy. i don't know that I trust the Holley Blue pump either. I wonder if it worth spending the money on an Areomotive pump?
Spark plugs? No clue what plugs to run with E85.
Biggest concern to date: Tuning for the street. I KNOW that tuning in mechanical injection for the street AND for WOT is a royal PITA. But I think I am going to give it a shot. It is not expensive, jsut trial and error to see what the car likes best. At some point (end of next season) I will be going EFI with a FAST XFI or AEM type set up.

THoughts?

[Espresso]

WOW.. there is alot that can be said in this thread. BUT considering alot here do not use it. I doubt you will get much.
I can give you some info, but I am sure you already know most, if you are even considering the E85.
"Forum tuning" a setup like yours is a WAY bad idea. We can talk about what you have to replace & such but that is about it.

Not to take away from this site, but you need a more specific hands on forum & these suit you ok. They are not in comp with this site, nor cater to the same type of people so I see no harm in posting this..
They do not have alot of members but quality over quanity I always say.
http://www.e85performance.net/forums/index.php

You can also get ahold of & run your thoughts by Justus Daniel on this site
http://www.raceone85.com/

If you cant find what you need from them, or you just REALLY want to talk about it on this forum, then I will gladly lend what I know about the do's & dont's as I am sure others will also.

[MemoryRacing]

Thank you very much for your reply. I will browse through both of those sites at work tomorrow, haha.

Maybe I will just update this thread the more I learn, and the the steps I take to make MY car street friendly on E85.

[Espresso]

Excellent.

Here in Panama we have M4 it is 87% E & 13% gas.
I should be picking up another Mercedes here soon & plan on going M4. Upgraded supercharger, ECU, ect..
So I will be in the "ecofuel" ring myself. SO with the farm vehicles I worked on back in Oklahoma, & what I have been reading I think it will be fun while not killing humans(I do not believe in Global Warming..we are killing ourselves, not the environment) so I am more then willing to talk & learn more about it.

I am also thinking about propane againe. I know ALOT more abotu that than E85 stuff.

[adamsvega]

Well here we go you need a fuel conversion for the surface are of your injector nozzles to size them right what nozzles do you run top ,bottom or both?? .your large pump will be bypassing alot of fuel and erosion will have its effect on anything aluminum.even the hard anodized fittings will get chewed up after time . your 22 gal cell and 1.5 gallon surge will last like 12 gal of gas .what kind of miles per do you estimate per tank 60-65? . the holley pump Black rebuild kit is alky safe and you just need to pull any foam out of the cells . this will get you a able to drive around system .but you will crap up the oil cruising with out a lean out system.

now the bad part ..... your throttle response is total depending on barrel valve enrichment and will be dumping way rich any time but w/o . even if you lean up the cruise with a wide band o2 and some kind of man. or electronic pinch/bypass valve you wont be able to nail it . prove the point by leaning on b/v adjustment on just alky one time and try to snap the throttle (hope your not in front of the hat) kapoww!!!!

now the good part .... you can plumb your manfolds and run efi on e-85 all day w/o a hassle .ditch the surge and mech.pump .. step up to the new stuff!!! and get it programed and tuned to enrich with 3bar map sensor and intake air temp to add extra fuel and the lambda sensoer dead on and safe!
you could always run carbs and a big return line and regultors .....
i tried the mech injection on the street it is not freindly!!!!

[OLDHEAD]

You are going to run real rich on cruise so you can run full throttle...Why only 8% overdrive..With my 871 on my SBC400 I ran 14% and raced and street drove it everywhere??OLDHEAD