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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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| | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 | Based on every other parameter being equal, line my wife’s 2016 Dodge Durango R/T 5.7 Hemi which has run on real gas since the day we brought it home with 7 miles on it, next to a 2016 Dodge Durango R/T 5.7 Hemi that has run on ethanol since new and I guarantee hers will smoke the ethanol run car. Probably by 4-5 car lengths. And get better fuel mileage doing it. This observation is based on personal experience not something read in a blog or magazine. Bring it on!
Martin
'62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress)
'47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project)
‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily)
‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence)
“I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one!
Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop!
USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
| | | | | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 | You can think of ethanol as a hydrocarbon that is already partially oxidized (C2H6O). It's like it has already started its trip across the oxidation table to CO2. I think the MPG you get from the 10% ethanol stuff must be lower than a pure hydrocarbon gasoline under the same conditions.
That said, I use the ethanol containing gasoline and don't worry about it.
1948 3/4-Ton 5-Window Flatbed Chevrolet 34 Years. Now with a '61 261, 848 head, Rochester Monojet carb, SM420 4-speed, 4.10 rear, dual reservoir MC, Bendix up front, 235/85R16 tires, 12-volt w/alternator, electric wipers and a modern radio in the glove box.
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,772 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2021 Posts: 6,772 | Of course the mileage will be lower. There is less stored energy in ethanol than there is in the same volume of gasoline. It is physically impossible for fuel economy not to be diminished when using ethanol fuel.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
| | | | | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 | You agree but I'd say chemically impossible.
1948 3/4-Ton 5-Window Flatbed Chevrolet 34 Years. Now with a '61 261, 848 head, Rochester Monojet carb, SM420 4-speed, 4.10 rear, dual reservoir MC, Bendix up front, 235/85R16 tires, 12-volt w/alternator, electric wipers and a modern radio in the glove box.
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,275 Renaissance Man | | Renaissance Man Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,275 | For reasons I won't go into, I once had access to free AvGas (100 Octane Low Lead). The '49 Chevrolet (235 at the time) ran like crap on it -- didn't like it at all. But ... the '51 Farmall M came ALIVE on that stuff! It would get down and BARK and pull a 2-bottom plow through hard pan like a hot knife through butter. I've heard that AvGas is strictly verboten at the tractor pulls around here ...;) Anyway, I get the higher octane non ethanol primarily for the boat and the little engines. My friend Milt -- our local Stihl dealer, told me long ago only to use 89 octane non-ethanol in the chainsaws and other Stihl and Kohler engines.  That is where the "octane selector" on the distributor comes into play. It is precisely why it is there. Back when these trucks were new, there was a vast difference in octane from gas station to gas station, or even in different batches from week to week at the same gas station. Their octane standards were not strictly followed. I know that you no longer have the original dipper 235 in Charlie anymore, but I would bet it would have run a lot better on the AVGas by tweaking the timing with octane selector.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
| | | | | Joined: Nov 1995 Posts: 5,716 62401 | | 62401 Joined: Nov 1995 Posts: 5,716 | Good point, Carl. Never thought of that...
~ John A kid raised on Hotwheels, Matchbox and Tonka cannot be reasonably expected to own only one vehicle as an adult. 1949 Chevrolet 3804In the Legacy Gallery | In the Gallery Forum1973 IH 1310 Dump1963 Kaiser M38A12001 International/AmTran RE3000 "Skoolie"2014 Ford E-350 4x4 (Quigley) | | |
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