Ethanol_Removing it from unleaded fuel

[enigmas]

If you run a Classic car or motorbike and you have concerns with the corrosive nature of ethanol then this video might be well worth viewing.

[Ken Nelson]

That's an interesting video, but I'd hate to have to do that by the side of the road if I ran out of gas! We've had 10% ethanol fuel here in the US for a number of years and other than being 4% less efficient than non-ethanol I haven't seen any problems. I did replace some of the rubber fuel lines after awhile, but I didn't see any sign of deterioration on the old ones.

[Sam Bee]

For four years now I have used Millers Fuel Additive. There sales blurb is as follows:

An ‘all in one’, one shot, fuel treatment providing ethanol protection, lead replacement and an octane improver that adds up to two octane numbers (20 points) to unleaded fuel. Recommended for all classic engines previously requiring leaded fuel and now running on unleaded fuel. One bottle treats approx 50 litres of unleaded fuel.

Millers Oils VSPe Power Plus is designed for all classic engines previously requiring leaded fuel and now running on unleaded fuel. It is endorsed by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) to protect against the corrosion effects of ethanol in modern fuel.

[Jens Munk]

As a chemist myself, I would be careful using this method to extract ethanol. There are many additives in modern petrol with various purposes, and while the ethanol is the one in the largest concentration you might very well extract some other important hydrophilic additives out too.

[lagain]

Super unleaded, which we should all be using, has no more than 5% Ethanol and some brands have none.

www.classiccarsmagazine.co.uk/blog/features/ethanol-blended-petrol-and-classic-cars/

[Eric R]

does this Super fuel apply to Rover engines which have had valves replaced with Hardened ones?

[enigmas]

AFAIK Eric, all the alloy V8 Rover cyl heads have hardened seats so the lack of lead is not an issue. For the 3 litre engines, it is an issue as it directly affects the exhaust valves and seats being an IOE design. Part side valve part OHV engine.

The P76 engine (Aussie version of the 3.5 V8 but with a longer stroke) in my coupe has done over 300,000kms on LPG (a gaseous, dry fuel equivalent to unleaded.) It still has incredibly high compression (11:1) and a very strong vacuum signal.

So there should be no issues. Late ignition timing (over heating the block) and a restrictive exhaust system will do more damage.

Ethanol is corrosive with the original 'rubber type' fuel lines and with alloy. It will eat fuel bowls and petrol pumps if left in the system for extended periods of time. Best to use fuel hose and lines manufacturered for current EFI systems.
The distilling of both the water and ethanol sounds like a good idea for winter lay overs if you do that sort of thing?