MTFCA Forum

More fun with our burnt up and abandoned model t.
https://youtu.be/ri8MeFLnjjw?si=rpLHStmxBJrs3mf-
https://youtu.be/ri8MeFLnjjw?si=pY3Lm8-LmX7Dh_ej

Reminds me of a story from my youth. My bro's & I welded up and sold mini-bike frames as kids, so our garage was full of various contraptions, all of which constantly depleted my dad's gas can, much to his consternation.
We paid regular visits to the local auto salvage yards snooping around collecting things. Opened a car trunk once and found a HUGE display bottle of Aramis cologne...like a gallon of the stuff!! We'd heard the stories about antique engines burning anything, so, no gas in Dad's gas can meant in the Aramis went! Who'd a thunk? The mini-bikes ran OK on the stuff!!

The only issue was, a few passes up & down the street and the entire neighborhood smelled like a New Orleans Bordello!! Lord our neighbors just loved us.

VERY COOL STORY

Daisy Mae wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 28, 2025 3:32 pm

Reminds me of a story from my youth. My bro's & I welded up and sold mini-bike frames as kids, so our garage was full of various contraptions, all of which constantly depleted my dad's gas can, much to his consternation.
We paid regular visits to the local auto salvage yards snooping around collecting things. Opened a car trunk once and found a HUGE display bottle of Aramis cologne...like a gallon of the stuff!! We'd heard the stories about antique engines burning anything, so, no gas in Dad's gas can meant in the Aramis went! Who'd a thunk? The mini-bikes ran OK on the stuff!!

The only issue was, a few passes up & down the street and the entire neighborhood smelled like a New Orleans Bordello!! Lord our neighbors just loved us.

I got in so much trouble on a mini bike one time!

Daisy Mae wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 28, 2025 3:32 pm

Reminds me of a story from my youth. My bro's & I welded up and sold mini-bike frames as kids, so our garage was full of various contraptions, all of which constantly depleted my dad's gas can, much to his consternation.
We paid regular visits to the local auto salvage yards snooping around collecting things. Opened a car trunk once and found a HUGE display bottle of Aramis cologne...like a gallon of the stuff!! We'd heard the stories about antique engines burning anything, so, no gas in Dad's gas can meant in the Aramis went! Who'd a thunk? The mini-bikes ran OK on the stuff!!

The only issue was, a few passes up & down the street and the entire neighborhood smelled like a New Orleans Bordello!! Lord our neighbors just loved us.

You didn't happen to live in CA in the 70's did ya? LOL

Once warmed up, a Model T will run on about any volatile flammable liquid or flammable vapor. I was able to get a John Deere Model E 1 1/2 horse power stationary engine to run on rubbing alcohol, which is 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water. A Model T would run reasonably well on Everclear or other high proof liquor, as long as it didn't contain sugar.

They use to run them on kerosene after they were warmed up. Kerosene was cheap in the day but way more than gasoline to day.

When I was a kid, a few old gas stations kept a drum of kerosene on hand. It sold for about 9 cents a gallon.

My father talked about his father (my grandpop) using kerosene as engine coolant during winter in central Wisconsin. Pop said 'it smelled a little and was kinda hard on the hoses'. jb

In Sweden you can get E85 gasolin (85% ethanol) and I've tried to run one of my T's on it. Ran perfectly - maybe to the richer side which is expected. It could even coldstart the next morning.

I would not store a car with E 85 in the gas tank, especially in a humid environment. The car can be run on it, but power and fuel mileage will be reduced. If E85 is cheap enough, it might be economical to run the car on it, if you drive the car often and you are willing to do what is necessary to prevent problems with moisture absorption and decay. E85 does best in a high compression engine with intake air heat. While it can be used in a Model T, E 85 is not well-suited for vehicles with atmospheric vented fuel tanks and carburetors, since atmospheric moisture can pollute the E85 blend, and essential blend components can be lost to evaporation, both of which will hasten decay of the E85. If you do use E 85, use all of it as soon as practical, and switch to E 15 or straight gasoline in the car if it is to be stored for more than a couple of weeks.
If I wanted to run E 85 in a Model T, I'd want a high compression head and an intake air heat pipe, and I'd want the engine to run around 200F. A distributor and a hot coil that would allow plug gaps around .035" would probably be helpful, too

Now the topic was about driving a T on alternative fuels. I agree about the storage if it for example over winter have various temperatures. That evem goes for E10 or even E5.
But storage was not the topic here.