My boy has been driving my 83 H/O with a 70 350 with W31 cam with later model heads with hardened seats etc approx. 9.5 compression. The highest octane in our small town is 87 which I know that would be fine for that motor but we also have a outlet that carries E30 which is approx. 100 octane. I told him when he fills up to put half and half (87 and E30) My question is the more E30 we add the better the thing runs! Plus it is cheaper! It also smells more like a race fuel than todays nasty fuel. Will this harm or dry out lines gaskets etc like they say or will it be fine?

 

Yes it will over time. Rubber fuel lines, carb gaskets,
rubber O-rings along with the accl. pump. will begin to go South.
Not sure about the man. fuel pump. Probably over time.

 

I think it's dangerous to put anything other than E10, the normal "gasohol", into a engine designed to run on gasoline. Regardless of how well it makes the engine run, you run the risk of damage to rubber components and even the possibility of an engine fire.

Where to you live? I find it hard to believe that no gasoline with octane higher than 87 is available. What do people who need premium for their cars put in?

 

You know I found on our road trip many of the small towns only carried one or two grades of fuel, sometimes 85 octane and diesel. This was off the beaten path in Montana or Wyoming. Probably their clientele were farmers and the occasional lost tourist.....Tedd

 

First time I went to Denver in the late 80s I was shocked to see that the fuel grades were lower octane than what I was accustomed to on the Gulf Coast. Seems like I remember Premium was 87 (or maybe 89) octane and Regular was 85. I figured it must be something to do with the altitude?

 

Yup.

 

In my opinion, the engine bores will wear a lot faster with the 50 50 mix than with regular gasoline. Have you played with the timing on the different fuels?

 

The biggest drawback to E30 is corrosion of fuel system components and the degradation of rubber parts. The fuel stratifies meaning that at different levels of the tank at the service station you can get different concentrations of the mix in fuel. If the new car manufacturers are against it being run in cars that are not setup for it and will void warranties. Then why would you want to run it in your car?

 

Rubber degridation and corrosion ,it's your car and your choice.

 

It isn't clear if a 1983 model car already has ethanol-compatible materials, but if not, this is a risk. The other issue is that ethanol needs a different air/fuel ratio than gasoline. The more ethanol you add, the leaner the mixture gets, until you melt a piston. By the way, a 50/50 mix of straight gasoline and E30 gives you E15.