Those who say methanol is meant for minimum compression engines haven't used it much apparently. I've run it on everything; 5:1 briggs to 16.5:1 V8's and about everything in between. Had an interesting experience once with it. Had a Murray Widebody riding mower, 4 speed manual. It was given to me and the deck was garbage; intact but rusty. I had it running but real rich like the choke was on, then it died. Looked in the tank, empty. Grabbed a can, dumped it in, and fired it off. Ran perfect. It was funny though; that was the methanol can. Briggs 12.5 L-head, I think 5.6:1. Made more power too.

Local racer had a pit bike that ran too rich on gas. They filled the fuel tank with alcohol and the engine ran much better.

quote:

Originally posted by ActionRacingPhotos:
I think I read in the past lower compression engines will see a larger gain from gas then a high compression engine.

This is generally true, and the primary reason is because liquids do not compress. Since your air/fuel mixture will contain a significantly higher percentage of liquid on alcohol than it will with gas, it increases the "dynamic" (running) compression ratio.
(That is how it was explained to me, by a guy who literally IS a rocket scientist).

starting cold get a mustard or ketchup squirt bottle, put some in before you crank it, put some in the vent tubes, crank it over about 1 second then hit the ignition while it fires with the blades about 1/3 open and keep the idle around 1600. done, regardless of the time. NEVER spray while you are cranking or while it is trying to start.