Jsdirt

Wow, spendy bulbs! I had the same experience with the regular Silverstars when I threw a set of H11's in my '07 back around that time. Couldn't tell a difference in light output, but also couldn't see a difference in looks either. Strange part is, they're still in the truck - haven't burned out yet! Every sealed-beam Silverstar I bought for the vintage vehicles burned out after less than 10 hours use! The H11's have a much longer life - maybe better construction there.

Wow what a dipsh*t. People like that make it extremely hard for me not to feed them my fist ... I'll never forget the first day I had my El Camino back in MA after my cross-country drive. This woman whips out in front of me out of a McDonald's parking lot and nearly takes my front clip off. I blow the horn at her, and she turns around like the girl on Poltergeist speaking in tongues HAHAHAHA! What a psycho. Worcester, MA for ya ....

My truck is the LMG flex engine. I haven't run E85 personally, but just running the 20% that some unethical fuel sellers dilute the gasoline with (posted 10% at pump), kills my mileage and seat-of-the-pants power. It's very noticeable. I can tell how bad the fuel is after a fill-up about 10 minutes after I leave the station. Whenever I am out of state and find ethanol-free fuel, it seriously feels like the truck gained 50 HP at the rear wheels. Mileage goes way up as well. That was the whole reason I found out I was at 20% alcohol content that one time - truck had lost so much punch that I grabbed my scan tool thinking I had some major problems about to show up. Only thing I found out of the ordinary was the higher than expected alcohol content, and the mileage I got off that tank (13 MPG, when I normally get 15-16.5) backed that up.

Ok gotcha - now I understand!! I was under the impression that everyone was trying to convince me that engine for engine, e85 will beat gasoline. Little misunderstanding on my part. And you guys friggin type a billion times faster than I do - looks like I made a few comments to posts that were already 3 comments deep ...

Alright, well then that proves my point these engines ARE indeed optimized for E85, and NOT regular unleaded.

I don't see how it;s possible. If you raise compression & advance timing to the level required to make good power with E85, the computer would have to retard timing so much in order for the engine to live that it wouldn't make crap for power on unleaded. Maybe this explains why with these trucks, E85 DOES have more power than regular ....

???? So you too are telling me E85 has more BTU's per gallon than gasoline? WTF is everyone smoking over here???

Here;s some more proof for you E85 lovers, straight from my own window sticker. See the note on MPG for E85?

YES - when the engine is OPTIMIZED TO RUN ON ALCOHOL it is NOT OPTIMIZED TO RUN ON UNLEADED. Like I said before, there is no free lunch. Try to run regular unleaded at 14:1 compression and watch what happens ...

Really???????????????? "1 gallon of E85 has 73% to 83% of the energy of one gallon of gasoline (variation due to ethanol content in E85" http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/fuel_comparison_chart.pdf Do you need more links on this? Just let me know. There are thousands out there .... just look for yourself.

You are , by telling me that E85 is more powerful than gasoline. Its NOT TRUE, never was and never will be!!

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? My truck IS computer controlled, and it ABSOLUTELY loses power and mileage on E85. Are you telling me otherwise?

Explain what part of electronics I don't understand? I don't get where your going with that claim ... Sure, if you raise compression to compensate for it's lack of "bang". There is no free lunch - it the truck is optimized to run on E85, then it is NOT optimized to run on regular unleaded. No fancy wiz-bang electronics can change the laws of physics. I still call b/s on that claim. Unless I saw back to back dyno results using E85, and then unleaded, or vice-versa, I don't buy it, because it's not possible without engine modifications. So in your world, gasoline beats diesel. Just because the internet & GM might say so doesn't make it true. I don't see Freightliner or Peterbilt scrapping their diesel programs any time soon ...

Me too, when I go out of state. This state forces you to run ethanol diluted fuel. No gas available without ethanol, unless you go to an OPE dealer or speed shop and buy VP race fuel or something similar at $15 / gallon in a can.

I am - in MY truck and any other non computer controlled vehicle, you LOSE power .. because E85 has LESS BTU's per gallon than gasoline. FACT. Look it up.

I don't understand how a computer can change the laws of physics. That's like saying the new gas engines will beat a diesel, just because the computer is engineered to run it.

I'd never put that crap in my truck. Less power, less MPG, loves water - zero benefits.

In SC last week I saw $1.84 for regular. Cheapest I've seen up here is $2.23. I gotta run high test in my 5.3 or it'll detonate itself to pieces when I tow - cheapest up here is $2.77.

Yep - Amsoils got some good stuff. I use it in everything I own that rolls or rotates.

That's about how long I can go on a tank pulling an empty 2k lb. trailer at 70-75 mph - maybe less. I know it's right around 5 hours. That's what I was getting on the way back north from FL last week. Sounds good Sarah.

You've got some of the crappiest fuel in the world there though - even worse than MA! All in the name of "clean air". What a joke. When I was in Livermore visiting a buddy in '13, I had brought my '84 XL350R out there to tear up the twisties. When I got home, the thing sat a year with Chevron gas in it from out there. I ended up dumping it in my new Z-turn mower. Thing would diesel for a few seconds when I shut it down! wasn't even a full tank of the stuff. Just 2 gallons or less. Know it's not from carbon - thing only has 20 hours on it. Even MA fuel won't do that unless the fuel can is exposed to air for a long period. My truck knocked so bad on the fuel out there, I couldn't give it more than half pedal. 91 octane too. Man, that's some bad stuff! Must burn up lawn equipment like crazy. Once I hit a gas station in NV, I fueled up and gained 3 mpg ... doing over 90 mph for nearly the entire tank! Gained another mpg over that in WY.

This is why I like my clear glass catch can by Conceptual Polymer. At a glance you can tell if it needs cleaning or not. Water is not a very good oil solvent. I use acetone, or brake, or carburetor cleaner & a paper towel. I'll use a combo of that and compressed air to clean the filter in there. 2700 + mile trip last week netted only an ounce of oil or so. Not bad. Zero moisture or condensate in the hot summer months.

That has to be the CLEANEST garage I've ever seen! Cleaner than my house! Some nice looking headers there. Ceramic coating is where it's at. Back in the day those things would rust out in just 3 years up here. Coating made all the difference. I was supposed to buy a lift this year, but it ended up being more of a project than I planned on. Don't have the ceiling space in the barn for one, so it would have to go outside. Has to be a full sized lift for what I do around here, if I'm going to spend the money for one - I won't settle for a half lift, or a portable one since they're 75% of the cost of a full sized one. I refuse to leave it out in the harsh New England weather to rust away, so it would have to be in a soft garage - more $$$. Then, there's where to put it. I've got a 25' long culvert that would need to be piped, then filled, then a pad poured, otherwise it would be set way in the backyard, far, far away from my toolbox. I'd rather have it in the barn, but that would require extensive engineering of the roof support, since I'd have to remove 40% of the loft floor. Nothing is ever simple (or cheap) around here. Guess I'll be rolling around on my back for the foreseeable future ...

Yeah that's the other half of my issue here too - storage. I've got a good sized barn that could fit 5 full sized vintage vehicles, but it's pretty much full now. Never thought in a million years I'd ever fill that thing up when I first moved in. Filled it in 6 years ... I don't want to park the Silverado outside, since I believe garaging it has contributed to it's good running - leaving it out in the humidity at 8 years old is a good way to get constant check engine lights. Got enough on my plate - don't need to be dealing with that! I flat refuse to leave any classic car out in the weather, so there's the conundrum ... It's just as well, because I'd have to have the funds to buy one first ... What kills me is I only paid $500 for that Camino back in '00!! Now pieces of crap with no driveline or interior are selling for 4x that. You'll never guess what my buddy paid for that T/A! $200!!!! It had no keys, and the woman selling it said "it needs to be gone today". He threw out that offer and she accepted!! Talk about the deal of a lifetime. Guess there's always hope I could score like that, but I think I have a better chance of being struck by lighting ... right after winning the Mass state lottery ...

Thanks man! I wish I could afford to be a collector! That T/A is a buddy's - he just bailed out of Massachusetts for better days in Florida. I hauled that down there for him this week. We left Sunday, and arrived late Monday night. I stayed a couple days, then blew out of there on Thursday, arriving back home yesterday morning. I've seen enough of the interior of that truck to last a few months I think, LOL. The El Camino in my sig I sold a few years back, like an idiot. Should've kept it. Mice destroyed the interior, so I got all panicky that it was going to get worse and worse every year I held onto it (plus funds were getting tight at the time), and sold it in a moment of poor judgement. I've regretted that decision ever since! To replace it, I'll have to shell out double what I got for it. I checked out a '65 Fairlane 500 down there - was hoping to buy something on the credit card (since I forgot to bring more cash with me) and haul it back to MA to flip and make money off of. Thing was friggin MINT. Guy said 33k original miles, and it looked it. Wanted $18k for it! I almost laughed in his face. People are watching too much Barrett-Jackson these days ...