Hey all, Hadn't too long bought a 71 Skylark from a guy that says he only put non ethanol gas in it since he had it (2 years or so). I don't really believe him but going along with what he said I filled it up yesterday for the first time with non ethanol gas after going to 7 different gas stations. With that being said ethanol free gas is not overly available in my area. So how many/what kind of problems would I face if I switched to premium or midgrade pump gas?
Maybe it would slowly degrade any rubber fuel line, and any non ethanol resistant parts of the carburetor like gaskets and the accelerator pump. If you store the car for the winter, you'll want to use some sort of stabilizer, or better yet, fill the tank with non ethanol fuel.
I'm just not convinced if its really anything special, I tried it in my lawnmower and my Camaro different stations and it ran like crap especially in the mower
I've used E-10 as my fuel-of-choice for about 40 years. Back in '79--80, it was a "big deal" to see "gasohol" at the pump. At first, they used Methanol, but after a few months that changed to Ethanol. I've run "Gasohol" or E-10 in Mikuni, Keihin, Rochester, Carter, Holley, and small-engine carbs. TBI and multi-port fuel injection. Cars, motorcycles, a boat and numerous small-engines like weed-whackers, lawn mowers, snow blowers, a John Deere riding lawnmower, on and on and on. I've had problems I can blame on the gas station's leaking underground tanks, but never on the fuel itself. My uncle and I both suffered from water pumped from the gas station tank into the vehicle tank--he in Denver about twenty years ago, and me at a local marina about fifteen years ago. Uncle had a Tempo that ran shitty for about a thousand miles, and needed the fuel filter replaced a half-dozen times. As it turned out, it had 700 miles on it when he got to me, and I installed one of those filters. Probably should have dropped the tank and cleaned it out at the source--but he was off to the next relative on his journey. I pumped gallons of water out of my twin fuel tanks in the boat. Gave me an excuse to re-plumb the fuel system. SUPPOSEDLY, gas stations are EPA-mandated to have water sensors in the underground tanks, dual-wall tanks, etc. I think this is MOSTLY a problem that "used to happen", not a problem that still happens. Mind you, I'd be leery of buying ethanol-blended fuel from a gas station that just started selling it. I can believe that the Ethanol will clean-out whatever contamination is in the underground tanks, and deliver it straight to your car. The actual E-10 FUEL is a non-issue--at least around here. I've heard so many horror stories, that I've developed an untested theory: Some areas are putting something ELSE into the gasoline that causes problems--toxic waste, industrial chemicals, cosolvents. MAYBE this is done so that YOUR catalytic converter can destroy the toxic waste rather than send it to a Hazardous Waste disposal site. The Ethanol content gets the blame for the problems caused by some "mystery ingredient". The worst problems I have with fuel systems is the sh!tty Chinese plastic fuel tubing used in small engines. I think the stuff is just horrible no matter what fuel it's used with. It just happens that it's used with E-10 in my household. Similarly, I have a Generac Briggs-and-Pitiful generator. They filled the gas tank with anti-slosh black, open-cell foam. Ten years later, the foam rotted away and now it fills the carburetor with black plastic-y sludge. Is that the fault of the Ethanol, or the fault of the ****-for-brains who put cheap, easily-degraded foam in the tank to begin with? Given a choice, I suppose you should not store vehicles with Ethanol in the fuel system. I have not been overly concerned about this. Maybe I should be. HERE's a tip that actually makes sense: Buy your gasoline from a station that advertises "Top Tier" fuel. Top Tier fuel has added detergents to keep the fuel system clean.
It might be a good idea to upgrade any rubber lines in the fuel system. It takes close to twice as much ethanol to make the same power as straight gas. So if you have 10% ethanol, a 5% increase in fuel may be required across the entire fuel curve. A lean factory Rochester may require some upgrades. Maybe timing and spark plugs. Good luck. https://theshopmag.com/features/ethanol-hates-carburetors
I want to thank everyone for their input and support. My car is unfortunate in the shop for a distributor problem but when it gets out I think i'm going to go with hugger and try a little 93 octane and see how it does after I burn through this thank of non ethanol. I put some mystery oil in the fuel to help clean things up as well. I will also change out my rubber hoses to higher grade as suggested by a few of you guys. Thank you again!
