Model T the flex-fuel universal car

[Been Here Before]

During the period the Model T was the universal car on the road (1908-1927+) there were various articles about changing the carburetor to better use the heaver gasoline produced after 1917. The heavier gasoline was a result, caused by both a drop in production of light gasoline, and the introduction of a heavy gasoline, with more kerosene. And the war in Europe.

Methods were introduced to better vapourize gasoline and use kerosene in certain Ford motors. Although some disagree that Henry experimented with a multi fuel vehicle, maybe multi-fuel is the wrong designation...maybe the model T is a flex-fuel vehicle.

[Kerry]

Agreed, I'm sure that the boundry was explored without mechanical changes like the carburetor for what fuels could be used, example, one of my T's still had it's dealership sales invoice with it and had on it that the T was filled with 8 gals of Benzine. Benzine, not to be confused with Benzene comes in on the distillation scale in between Naphtha and Kerosene.

[Harry Lillo]

We typically refer to the distillate that come off the petroleum fractionating
tower between Naphtha and Kerosene.......gasoline.
Yes, you are right in both instances.
Harry

[Harry Lillo]

Frank.
It looks like you edited your post to include an image of a distillation tower
to demonstrate that Gasoline is cut above Naphtha in the tower.
I am sure you also saw the other images which shows Naphtha (3 carbon atoms),
Gasoline (4 to 12 carbon atoms) and Kerosene (10 to 16 carbon atoms) being extracted in that order.
In most refineries today Naphtha is actually reformed into higher value Gasoline so the actual order becomes
confusing.

[Harry Lillo]

I meant to add that here in Alberta, oil field workers would take a raw blend of oilfield condensate
and burn it in their truck in the 50's and 60's.
I am not aware of any T owners doing so but I expect there were those in the earlier days who did so.
True flex-fuel in the most primitive form.

[Novice]

Tomball used to have oil wells all around town. My late Brother in Law said that back in the fifties and sixties He and other kids would sneak into the collection sites at night and drain off what they called casing head to run in their cars. It was light close to naphtha and rose to the top of the storage tank and would often be flared. Kids short on gas money would put it in their tank for late night joy rides. and the car would have a full tank when Dad went to work in the morning none the wiser but wondering why the car was sluggish and ran a little rough. (The good ole days)

[TXGOAT2]

I've used thousands of gallons of "drip" or "casinghead" gasoline. Quality varies from very good to poor. Good "drip" gasoline is gin-clear and very low in sulfur. It's volatility is similar to "store bought" gasoline. Octane varies widely, but is never as high as "store bought" gasoline. The poor quality, kerosene-like drip gasoline has the lowest octane. The more volatile drip is higher octane and vaporizes very easily. It can cause vapor lock in hot weather. Some "drip" gasoline contains a lot of paraffin. It can be used in a gasoline engine, but some of it will will wind up in the crankcase, which can lead to serious problems. Gasoline that is high in sulfur or hydrogen sulfide will destroy modern type crankshaft bearings. A Model T will run well on any good quality, low sulfur "drip" gasoline. I've driven high compression modern engines tens of thousands of miles on good drip, or a blend of good drip and pump gas. It will not cause problems if you pay attention to what you are doing. If you don't, you will destroy your engine in short order.

[John E. Guitar]

Harry, that’s interesting. I’d heard of cracking but didn’t realise there was also reforming to go in the opposite direction.

One of the guys in the local club has re-jetted his carburetors for modern fuel. I tried one of them on my car and it seemed to run better.

[Altair]

Kerosene was also used as coolant/antifreeze

[TRDxB2]

Kerosene was also used as coolant/antifreeze

Interesting, what people did back then. Its not water soluble and has a Flash Point of 100°F.

[TXGOAT2]

I think that yellow kerosene, which was once widely available, will mix with water to a slight degree. I'd think that any entrained water would tend to settle out of it if it wasn't agitated. I don't know what its flash point is, but it must be a lot higher than 100F, or it would burst into flame in the open air around here. My dad used to put a splash of kerosene in a bucket of water when washing a car. It helped remove bugs and gave the car a nice shine. It never caused any problems. Among the problems with kerosene as a coolant is that it has a low specific heat and a low boiling point. It's also flammable. I don't think it would circulate as effectively as water in a thermosyphon system. Its much lighter than water, and its rate of expansion when subjected to heat may be lower. Boiling point could be another problem.

[Tim Moore]

Flash point refers to "with an ignition source".

Tim Moore

[TXGOAT2]

You can light kerosene with a match at very low temperatures.

[TXGOAT2]

I was under the impression that "flash point" was that temperature at which a combustible substance would ignite in the presence of air without an ignition source.

[TXGOAT2]

Stanford U: "The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature needed to evaporate enough fluid to form a combustible concentration of gas"

I had auto-ignition point and flash point confused. ( I shall report to Study Hall when the bell rings)

[TRDxB2]

Stanford U: "The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature needed to evaporate enough fluid to form a combustible concentration of gas"

I had auto-ignition point and flash point confused. ( I shall report to Study Hall when the bell rings)

So sounds like it wouldn't take long to evaporate out of the radiator. There is no question that people tried many things to try and fix a variety of problems and likely were satisfied with the results, the word spread. But as you all know, not many people discuss failures and they aren't remembered as much as a "Try This"

[Harry Lillo]

If you consider the conditions under which Kerosene was used as a coolant, the
evaporation was not a huge issue.
If you picked up your best gal and went to the dance Saturday night
in January in Northern Alberta you carried a bucket to drain the waster
and put it beside the wood fired heater in the dance hall.
At 20 below you had little time after you put the water in to get it started.
My Dad said they usually started the car then the wife or girlfriend would bring the
water out and put it in the rad/engine.
When they did use Kerosene as coolant life was much easier. At those radiator temperatures
evaporation rates were low enough not to be an issue. If you could afford to buy that
much Kerosene in the first place the little that boiled off didn't matter.
Harry

[TXGOAT2]

I saw a "Jay Leno's Garage" episode this morning featuring a ride in a Model T equipped with a wood gasifier, and a trip on the Mt. Washington (coal fired) cog railway.