The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop stovebolt will run on kerosene or fuel oil?????

I was reading some post on THE HISTORY OF CHEVY 6 and a guy said the head and valve design caused a turbulance that would allow the engine to run fine on fuel oil if started with gas. He said during ww2 when gas was hard to get they did do it. IS this TRUE? DID IT SMOKE?

Kerosene is approximately the same stuff as #1 Diesel, which is used in extreme cold weather. Yes, a relatively low compression engine will run on Kerosene and/or #1 Diesel. #2, not so much! I have a 1936 Allis-Chalmers tractor with dual-fuel capability- - - -starts on gas, runs on Kerosene. It's a good idea to switch back to gas before shutting down, otherwise the carburetor is full of kerosene and it's hard to restart when cold.

My father used to run a Model T Ford on Kerosene by holding a gasoline-soaked rag to the carb for starting, then letting it run on the Kerosene.
Jerry

I LURN something new every day.AMAZING

very cool! I did not know this either!

My dad had a 1941 John Deere"B" with two fuel tanks, It started on Gasoline and ran on what I remember to be called distillate. In the winter, they also drained the oil and brought it in and stored it overnight behind the space heated to keep it thin so you could hand crank the tractor the next cold morning by its big open fly wheel. Had to have the tractor to haul cow poop every morning after milking. I also remember gasoline at the pump (one grade) was .19 a gallon and a package of "Lucky s" was .19, A glass of tap at the bar was a nickle and a Hershey bar at the grocery was 5 cents. OK, Enough this morning. Jerry

Interesting, I never would have thought it would work. I could not even imagine holding a gasoline soaked rag at the carb air horn. One backfire and your hand is on fire! My uncle was killed doing something similar...he was squirting lighter fluid on lit charcoal and the flame climbed the stream and the (metal)can exploded in his hand.

I know in Europe after WWII they used to convert cars to run on kerosene (or what they referred to a paraffin. They would add a plate between the head and the block to lower compression and built a heat shield around the exhaust manifold and intake to warm the intake from the exhaust.
You would probably have about 1/2 the power running on kerosene.

John

At around the same time some folks put small wood stoves in the back of their trucks and ran on the gasses from the wood smoke...
Really.

Yes, lots of the old tractors came from the factory as an (All Fuel) model. These are considered sort of rare now. I have had several John Deeres up to 1959 models that were (All Fuel)
They had a one gallon tank for gasoline to start the engine on, and a big tank for fuel, then a lever to switch it over to tractor fuel (sort of like kerosene back in day. It was cheaper than gas and you would plow all day on the fuel. The engines were a lower compression and maybe a different carb. Also it produced a little less horsepower.
But those old things would run on just about anything you put in it. They did have a petcock on the side of the oil pan to drain off excess fuel that made it's way into the oil pan. You would just open it up and let it run out until it reached the petcock level. Then close it up and go to plowing again!

CASO,

You beat me to the punch. During WW2 in Europe gas was in such short supply that citizens began running internal combustion engines on firewood. It is still done by some today, but it is more difficult to reprogram the computer.

http://energyfarms.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/biomass-instead-of-gas/

My dad ran his 40 ford coupe on kerosene during the war. The problem was it burned hot and would take the valves out over time. he did many valve jobs on that car.

gasification.....

Pretty interesting article... Doesn't leave much room for hauling though does it :-)

John

As the son of a house painter working in some remote mountain areas, there were several times when we used paint thinner to get home in the 79 Chevy with a 350 in it. Too expensive to do nowadays but it ran fine. It did, for some reason after the key was turned off, knock like hell and ran for a while before quitting.

Problem in rural Kansas is, Kerosene is either hard to find, or, its about $10 a gallon. Interesting historical fact, but looking forward, notsomuch.

Back in the 50's, there were still some old Fordson tractors that started on gas and would run on kerosene. Kerosene was cheap in those days and it was used as heating fuel. In cold weather my father was out delivering Kerosene all night much like the propane distributors in rural areas do now. The last kerosene I wold was about 10 years ago and it was actually Jet-A. But the government put a stop to that. Kerosene has to be dyed like dyed Diesel fuel to be used off road. Jet-A is not dyed and requires a special permit to buy it now. The Chevron distributor here still sells K-1 kerosene in bulk for $4 a gallon.