Question For People Using Gas Primers For Methanol

[TurboDiverArt]

Hi All,

For those people that use gas primers to warm up their methanol engines. Has anyone built their own that is controlled electronically by the pump? I know you can use a Primer Plus from Ron’s but the flow control is mechanically controlled at the intake manifold and can’t be tuned from within the cockpit. If I started racing on Methanol next season I’d need a gas primer since I also race early and late in the season when it’s cold. I’d like to use the gas primer for not only warm up but from pits to staging lanes as well as from finish-line back to pits. I think this might be easier done if you could control the pump voltage with a 12V POT which would raise or lower the gas pump’s output, hence richening or leaning out the mixture. I think with a mechanical setup I’d have to set it to a richer mixture all the time so I could actually drive the car at faster than idle speeds. Having a rich idle all the time wouldn’t heat the engine as quickly. I know I can’t be the only one interested in doing this so I’d like to hear what others are doing.

Thanks,
Art.

[Solid Rock]

I don't see the need to do all that. I start my car with gasoline in the squirt bottle but then let it run on the alcohol.
IMO, What you are suggesting will only cause you a whole bunch of problems and I see no need for it.

[TurboDiverArt]

You can get enough heat in the engine in say 45-50 degree weather on alcohol alone?

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Sure Art, just trim the fuel shut-off lever to lean it up a bit to build heat. I did that all the time back when I ran Alky. Rocky is correct, the things you are talking about occurs to everyone as they are planning on running Alky. Then when they actually see how easy it is to run, the primer system and trying to idle on one circuit and run on another proves to be a big waste of time.

Most often when I ran my super gas car, I would prime it with gas at the track for the 1st time of the day. The rest of the day there is enough heat in the engine to just crank if for a bit, then hit the ign and fire it off. By spinning it a bit first the pump will quickly pick up the fuel.

Good Luck

Rapid

PS, if you are determined to run a primer system rather than just squirt fuel in to fire it off. Put a small gas tank somewhere in the engine by. Hook up a small electric pump and a nitrous selonid. Turn on the pump to pressurize, a couple of squirts of fuel and off you go.

[greenracing]

I agree with these guys - you can put all the heat in the motor you want if you pull the shutoff partway - that's the way we've always done it. We've primed with both gas and alky in the past. One issue we've had with gas is that after a few times, the plugs will start to get dirty - you'd think that the little bit you put in it to prime it wouldn't make a difference, but it seems to.

On the Prefect I just put a tee in the fuel line and run the electric pump off of the tee so I don't need to worry about a primer tank and always forgetting to keep fuel in it.

45-50 degrees isn't that cold. It's when you get down in the low 40's and below that they get unhappy trying to start on alky. There were a couple times when we were pulling in the middle of winter where it was below freezing. We'd leave the fuel off and burp the gas primer to nurse it for a little, then pulled the fuel on. Once it was warmed up the first time, it started fine the rest of the night.

Perry