Octane Additives?
 

I have a Crate 460 with 486 hp. I live in Michigan and some pump premium gas seems better then others. I've been trying different Octane boosters. Any recommendations on booster and/or gas stations?:confused:

The turbo crazy GN guys have been doing some homework http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octanebooster.html

Craig

Craig,
Great info, if it is accurate. about a month ago, I asked my father inlaw who is a chemical engineer how I could increase the octane of fuel. Toulene and Xylene were the first 2 words out of his mouth. Also, I found a thread at cobranet. Someone there raced a car on weekends. the rules called for 100 octane max. he made his own by mixing automotive laquer thinner with high test. He said they experimented with this untill they reaced 100 octane. They knew this, because the track tests everyone's fuel before the race. I think it was 6oz to the gallon, but I'm not sure. I will try to find it again. thanks for the great link. I am glad someone did not just tell Jsattman to do a search of this subject. Whenever I see that, I cringe, because it discurages new information like the type you just shared.:(
Steve

Steve;

You are correct in using lacquer thinner (tulene) to up the octane. The post you are talking about is probbably mine but not at cobranet.

I used to be with a dirt track race team and we did mix about 8 to 10 ounces per gallon of 93 octane gas to get right at 100 octane.We bought the generic laquer thinner at the local Auto Zone for about 4 bucks a gallon and we used about 8 gallons or less of gas a nite,so a gallon of laquer thinner went a long way and was cheaper than 4 bucks a gallon for racing gas at the track.

There are other additives out there,some are good some are not,try them till you find one that works for your application.

David

Slow dry lacq thinner seams to be a different animal than fast dry lacq thinner. Which contains more of the "active" ingredients (xylene, tolulene) for octane boosting?

Oh...the endless information! The small donation we give to Mr. Mills is far outweighed by the benefits...

Thanks for the info here!!!

Dave,
I really appreciate you chiming in on this subject. Can you please describe how they test the fuel at the track? And can you please share your experiences on how the engines looked when you tore them down after running this mix? There are a lot of skeptical people out there who will find your results interesting. I understand their fears. I have been contemplating mixing my own, but have been reluctant to do so. I think this latest info will push me over the edge. I am going to use your formula in my Dart for starters. I feel pretty foolish having bought many a bottle of octane boost. at $4.50 each.
Bob,
good question.
Tongue,
I couldn't agree more. There is just so much info of all sorts available on the net.
Steve:)

We had terrible problems with our original car until we ran out of gas one day. There was no "octane boost" around and we were forced to run the car on REGUALR!! We have a tunnel port 12:1 engine in the car.

We could not believe the difference. Just like a whole new engine. The only thing the octane boost was doing was boosing the times between spark plug changes! Absolute garbage!

I have heard Toluene is the answer. Too bad Thomas hasn't caught the bug yet. He is so knowledgeable on these subjects it is amazing. I think toluene was a secret ingredient in WWII fuels. Thomas does know better though. Hmmm, there is lots of laquer thinner around here. Thanks for the alchemy lesson Gents.

David

HEY!!! WHO ADDED SPELL CHECK?!!! CAN WE SEND MORE DONATIONS TO BRENT?:)

Steve R;

At our local dirt track they did two tests. The first they used a paper strip similar to what you would use to test swimming pool water,I think that tested for foriegn substances in the fuel. Next they took a small sample of gas out of your fuel cell with one of those turkey basters and went into the fuel "shack" and did some kind of test which was supposed to give an octane rateing of the fuel. Not real sure what kind of test,but it caught many people.

We were allowed to run up to 100 octane racing gas which they sold at the track for about 4 bucks a gallon. They usually tested us because we did not buy our gas with them,so they tried to catch us. It took a few tries to perfect our formula but we did and were never disqualified for fuel.

The paper strip test did not show the lacquer thinner and was designed mostly for stuff like nitro and other additives that some racers tried.

Our engines ran clean and showed no adverse effects. To this day I still use lacquer thinner in my 65 Mustang when I go to the dragstrip with it. I drive over to Auto Zone,buy a gallon of lacquer thinner and borrow their trans. funnel and pour it in right there in the parking lot and give them the empty can and their funnel back,drive across the street and finish filling the tank with 93 octane gas,then head out to the dragstrip. The guys at Auto Zone still shake their heads when they see me doing it. I have had no fuel related problems with my car,carb,or gas tank and I have been doing that for five or six years now.....


We tried avaition fuel for half a season and the car ran good using this fuel,I think it was about 102 octane or so. Aviation fuel has a lot of additives for those type of engines and for high alltitude and for keeping water out of the systems or at least dispersing it. After we tore down the engine to freshen it up,we found a heavy black crud through out the top end of the engine and was told it was from all the additives in the fuel,that's when we switched to lacquer thinner. We did not want to switch as the local fuel supplier was sponsoring us by giving us all the aviation fuel we used free,but it did no good to the engine and we also burned a piston using it,but not sure if that was the cause or not.

Hope this helps.

David

David or anyone???,

I am wondering, since California is so strict on everything chemical, if the lacuer thinner you are using is the same blend as I would buy off the shelf here in Cally. Or would that make a huge difference if it wasn't.
Also you say 8-10 oz. per gallon to achieve approx. 100 octane. What about more or less of a mix?

Thanx...

WOW!!!
 

WOW - - YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE. THANKS VERY MUCH FROM ALL THE GUYS IN THE "DUMMIE SEATS".

Y'ALL HAVE A REALLY GREAT DAY,

BLACKJACK

Thought I would give it a whirl in my Fiat which is running about 10.5:1 compression. Seems to be working like a charm so far!

Thanks for the tips! :cool:

Tongue Pirate;

I am not sure on that one. Looked for an old can but can't find one for the ingredients. The main chemical is tulene (not sure if the spelling is correct).

More should give more octane and less less. Scroll up a few post and go to the site 750 has listed and it gives formulas for tulene and other octane additives. You could experiment with the amounts,for my car I just add a gallon to a tank of gas (16 gal.) and let it go. Never really sat down to figure the octane of the spiked gas,but I do feel it helps when I'm at the drag strip,especially when the car gets hot. Sometimes sitting in the staging lanes or if there is a problem you end up sitting idling there for a while. When my engines get 200 or better on the water temp,I can hear a slight "knock" at low rpms,the lacquer thinner spiked gas eliminates that alltogether,that's pretty much why I use it for racing.

If you have any local racers around or a race track nearby,you may bring a sample and ask them to test it for you and then you would know the formula needed for the gas you use.

David

This is a very helpful topic. Just so happens that one of the the solvents we buy at my printing company is toluene. Guess I'll have to bring some home and dump in my Superformance. The toluene costs me just over $2.00 a gallon. Won't be long, and it will be less expense than the 93 octane fuel I add it to.

I don't know about Calif and all of your problems there, but we are able to go to the local hardware store here and buy 100% toluene in the paint department.

Just go to your local Eagle, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears, etc and you should be able to find it in the paint department.

David

Thanks for the topic; however, can I mix this for my daily driver truck? I have a newer ram truck that pings madly whenever I am towing my trailer. Will this mixture just eat my injection system?

Jim Hunter

Ok guys,
It seems our little group is up for some experimenting. We have a rare opportunity to compile some real world results. This is great!. I propose that everyone posts the additive used, what brand it is, where you got it, how much you used, to what brand and octane gas it is mixed, compression and general profile of your engine, how much more timing you can advance ( please use total advance figures to supply more useful info) , how it effects the running temp, performance gain realized, adverse effects. and general comments. I'm probably missing some indicators, So don't be bashful about helping us out!
I will start:
ADDITIVE USED: automotive acrylic lacquer thinner- "wash grade"-this is the general purpose type. BRAND:Tasco
SUPPLIER: Tasco Autobody Supply, Houston Tx
AMOUNT ADDED: 1 gal to 15 gal 89 octane Shell unleaded.
ENGINE SPECS: bone stock 1968 Dodge 318 2 barrel. 230 hp, 9.2:1 advertised compression.
TIMING CHANGES:I indexed the distributor with a permanent pointer, and pen mark on the dist. housing. I was able to advance it a little, but not much. I will supply the actual timing figures tomorrow.
RUNNING TEMP: seems to be uneffected.
PERFORMANCE GAIN:Seems to accelerate a little better
ADVERSE EFFECTS: None so far.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Seems like little to no advantage. keep in mind this is not a high compression, high performance engine, so I din't know if even racing gas coupled with timing changes would make any difference. I will try it in my 427 s.o. Stay tuned.
CAUTION!!!!!- don't spill these additives on your paint. Damage could result!!!.:(((
Steve R

:CRY: Ok,

Let's say I go get a bottle of toluene. How much per gallon should I use? Would it be the same as laquer thinner?

Tongue Pirate; (love that handle)

I think if you could buy just plain old toulene you would be better off and it would be cheaper. According to the site 750 refers to,for every 10% of toulene you add to 92 octane gas the octane goes up by 2.2.......So for every 12 ounces per gallon your octane would increase by roughly 2.2,not too bad.I would not exceed 30% as the site suggest also. I do not know about fuel injectors and I have only used it in engines with carbs,maybe someone else could add to that one.

So far,it has done no harm to my 65 Fastback in the last 5 or so years as for as the tank,carb,and fuel lines go.

David

Great-Thanks

I'm just nervous about the whole situation but excited at the same time. I'm going to try it!