anyone converted a turbo regal to run on methanol??
- Thread starter dantheman
- Start date
DMan
buh bye
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Way back when...(I was still in school) we took a trip from Montreal down to Knoxville, Tennessee where SAE was hosting an alt-fuels conference. One of the conference attendees was there from Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
Anyways, we were building a methanol-fueled turbo Corsica at the time, and this attendee from ORNL had attended the conference with one of ORNL's methanol fueled test cars. What was that test car???
you guessed it - an 87 Turbo Regal.
It was converted to run on methanol. Stainless tank, stainless lines, stainless injectors. Methanol injectors need to have higher flow rates since the btu content of methanol is about half that of gasoline. So the above parts, and a chip with the right injector constant is a good start.
So pros will be unbelievable knock control due to all the cooling from the methanol. Cons will be the cost of swapping everything out for stainless, and your maximum driving range will be about half what it is now.
And yes, we did take the car for a spin and it went like h*ll! I can still remember it - me in the back, my faculty advisor in the front passenger seat, and driving was the balding scientist in a 3 piece suit, shredding tires behind the convention center. Now nearly 20 years later, I'm the one who's balding and shredding tires..and occasionally I'll wear a suit too!
Denis
Anyways, we were building a methanol-fueled turbo Corsica at the time, and this attendee from ORNL had attended the conference with one of ORNL's methanol fueled test cars. What was that test car???
you guessed it - an 87 Turbo Regal. It was converted to run on methanol. Stainless tank, stainless lines, stainless injectors. Methanol injectors need to have higher flow rates since the btu content of methanol is about half that of gasoline. So the above parts, and a chip with the right injector constant is a good start.
So pros will be unbelievable knock control due to all the cooling from the methanol. Cons will be the cost of swapping everything out for stainless, and your maximum driving range will be about half what it is now.
And yes, we did take the car for a spin and it went like h*ll! I can still remember it - me in the back, my faculty advisor in the front passenger seat, and driving was the balding scientist in a 3 piece suit, shredding tires behind the convention center. Now nearly 20 years later, I'm the one who's balding and shredding tires..and occasionally I'll wear a suit too!
Denis
