[TR] Ethanol

[John Macartney]

Fellow Listers
 
I rarely post now as I no longer own any Triumphs as where I
live was built before the days of the car, hence no garage space.
 
That to
one side, I've noticed of late that the FBHVC (Federation of Historic British
Vehicle Clubs in the UK) seems to be getting very despondent about the use of
ethanol in modern fuel and the fact that ethanol is judged by the FBHVC to be
harmful to older cars of our preference. I'm making no claims or statements
one way or the other but I've a feeling this hue and cry is vaguely redolent
of the situation 12+ years back when leaded fuel was finally abandoned in the
UK. In those days, if you listened to the prophets of doom at the time (and
believed them) most classic cars would completely vanish from the scene within
a few years. Well, I never believed any of the trash published by the classic
car press (and some clubs) and we've still got those cars in probably the same
numbers? 
 
As I knew at the time and did my best to present an alternative
view based on technical evidence from the Engineering Divisions at Rover, Land
Rover and BMW Mobile Tradition, even re-seating exhaust valves truly wasn't
essential, neither was the use of octane boosters or lead substitutes. Cars
were happily running on lead memory - and thousands still do!
 
I'm simply
curious to know what you guys think and may have discovered in the unavoidable
use of ethanol in your tanks? AFAIK you've been using it a lot longer than we
have - and without any problems if the lack of posts on this list are to be
believed? When I drove "uncle jack" across the States and Canada in 2009
(18,000 miles in just two months driving) the only issues with fuel were two
blocked fuel filters and a failed Facet pump in Vancouver. Since then, I've
not seen anything from Phil Ethier who now owns "uj" about ethanol probs he
has (or hasn't) had and all this leads me to believe the whole scenario could
be something of a 'red herring.'
 
Comments off list would be interesting. As
I said, I no longer own a classic car and my daily transport is diesel powered
and came out of Korea.
 
Cheers, Jonmac