E-85 Fuel

[Jsdirt]

I agree - the one we have now is our second one. My first one I drove all the way to Phoenix, AZ pulling an enclosed U-Haul trailer ... one week after I overheated it so bad it turned the oil to milk! I failed to purge an air pocket out of the cooling system - was still learning then, lol. Only problem I had on the trip was a blown heater hose in the mountains of Flagstaff. I grabbed a 7/16" deep socket and stuffed it into the hose after cutting it in half at the leak. Ran that socket like that for 3 weeks in the Phoenix heat afterward, before I had a chance to fix it.

 

Then, it got stolen. The car was gone for a year before police found it in Bell, CA. I had been living in Livermore at the time, so was just a 5 hour bus ride south to retrieve it from the impound yard. What an adventure that was. Was like a 3rd world country. After paying the $500 impound fees, I had to slide in under the guy that drove it out to keep my foot on the gas - the battery was totally smoked. Would stall and not restart if left to idle. Luckily I found the expressway pretty quick, and made my way to I-5. At least I got out of LA before the thing stalled as I coasted down an offramp. Had to walk 2 miles there and back for a battery, got it home, spent the next day cleaning it up and changing the oil, and sold it in the local want-ad for $1,500 - paid for my trip back to MA in the El Camino. Car had 256k miles on it when it sold.

 

Yeah, I have friends that used to all work on their own stuff when we were younger, but I was the only one who kept at it. They don't have the patience to deal with modern engineering now - easier to just pay me, or someone else to do it for them. I can't say I blame them ...