VP fuel. $$$$$$ and Corrosion

[Kevin Panzino]

Folks, I am a bit disgruntled with the VP fuel situation. For one, the price has just gotten totally out of hand. And secondly, are other folks seeing the amount of corrosion in the chambers, exhaust ports and header ID ?? I realize regarding the header ID, most folks probably have the ID jethot/nitroplate coated..mine are only coated on the outside. But I am more concerned about the internal corrosion.. There is even a remnant of what appears to be some corrosion on the cylinder walls... I am stepping it up this year with a new block, and mega $$$ metric rings, and the last thing I want is to have corrosion issues wiping out those rings..

I can see oxygenated fuels doing this, but C-11 ??

Good alternatives to C-11 in a low compression combo ???

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Kevin

[Ed Wright]

I have not seen that. I run C11, and my headers are just painted.

[Alan Roehrich]

Fuel choice will not likely change the corrosion rate on the inside of your headers. And if you had them coated on the outside only, you're asking for it.

That being said, we once had a problem with fuel corrosion in a carburetor. We had loaned the car to someone else, so there is a question as to whether it was what he had or what we had. Either way, some one's racing gasoline literally ate the inside of both float bowls on our prized Clark Holroyd 3310 carburetor, filling them and the rest of the carburetor with a nasty white paste.

To say that having a fuel related problem not only damage an excellent carburetor, but also cost us a round of class and then the first round of eliminations, while it damned near destroyed a new engine by filling a cylinder full of gasoline after the car was parked, pissed me off, would be the understatement of the decade.

[Rich Biebel]

If you have iron heads and I assume you do...

When your done racing......hold the carb wide open and spray WD-40 in the engine while you crank it over and stuff rags or get caps for the headers.

You can also pour Marvel Mystery Oil in it with it running until it stalls or ATF.....or just pour it in and crank the engine.

Yea it smokes next time you start it and you might need to change spark plugs more often but it is the best way to protect an iron headed engine.

Open headers let air in and causes rust around exhaust seats and the backs of valves...

[442OLDS]

Just an opinion,but this is yet another reason why I prefer Sunoco.

[Dave Ribeiro]

442OLDS,

What kind of Sunoco fuel do you run & what's your CR ? I am still looking for VP 110 replacement with less octane 93-100 range , that's NHRA/IHRA approved ??? thanks...

[Mike Croley]

Originally Posted by Kevin Panzino

Folks, I am a bit disgruntled with the VP fuel situation. For one, the price has just gotten totally out of hand. And secondly, are other folks seeing the amount of corrosion in the chambers, exhaust ports and header ID ?? I realize regarding the header ID, most folks probably have the ID jethot/nitroplate coated..mine are only coated on the outside. But I am more concerned about the internal corrosion.. There is even a remnant of what appears to be some corrosion on the cylinder walls... I am stepping it up this year with a new block, and mega $$$ metric rings, and the last thing I want is to have corrosion issues wiping out those rings..

I can see oxygenated fuels doing this, but C-11 ??

Good alternatives to C-11 in a low compression combo ???

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Kevin

A number of racers have started using Renegade Pro 110 in lower compression engines. Very good vaporization, and easy to find.
I haven't run across any corrosion issues with the Renegade. Each manufacturer has their own formulas for race gas and some do cause corrosion.