Technical So school me on Nitromethane

Remember one thing...nitro has no heart. Make one mistake and it's over. There is absolutely no nitro freebees!

 

I had a Harley Top Gas dragster in 1969 that I converted to nitro. The best time on gas was 121 mph in the quarter. I used only second, third and high gear. The only changes I made was to remove second and third gears and change the carb, which was set up to run 70% nitro and 30% alcohol. That was the only changes except timing. NO other changes to the engine period. I took it to an 1/8 mile track first. I started off in high gear and smoked the 4 inch Avon slick all the way to the clocks. It turned 128 in the EIGHT! That is a very good comparison of how much power nitro makes vs. gas.

 

She should be around 46 , she finally found a car Guy !!!! Dam
Like to see her continue to play on the Strip
I still Cannot Believe Ashly Force gave up her Ride so early, John had to bent & still to this day,But the other two are coming around .

 

0 to 50%...you can feel it pretty good bump. 50-80% not much change, 80-100%.......yup! Percentage is not your enemy, VOLUME IS. Lippy

 

Chavin Emmons took a modified roadster over 300 at Bonneville with no blower. I was good friends with him and his team. They told me that the difference between 95%and 98% was a new engine. One of his tuners a gentleman named Nicholson gave me information and theory on nitro. Gene Adams gave us our original set up which was too lean for the Bonneville long course. Always start rich is the best information I ever recieved.
Doug "Cookie" Cook helped me with my first use of nitrous oxide on my GMC's. His help was invaluable and I never hurt a part... I'm lucky to have had such good friends...

 

This comes from a guy that just started to learn about nitro. Why can't you put 1% or lower if needed to get a little power from a daily driver?

 

For one thing, nitro does not mix with gasoline...it does mix with alcohol, but not gasoline, so if that's what you use in your daily driver, it won't work. Also, nitro is highly corrosive, maybe as little as 1% might be ok, but I would not risk a daily driver engine just knowing what nitro can do to rubber, gaskets, etc...

 

At 1% you wouldn't know it was there. One of the NHRA big show guys claims that up to 3.5% of Nitro by weight will dissolve (mix) in gasoline. I have not tried it = call me chicken, but he claims that his classic car will "pick up between .10-.15 in the quarter on 3.5% and says he had to up the jet size "a couple of numbers". I might try it one day but I haven't seen any Nitro cans around my shop. (probably a good thing).

 

i didn't notice much performance increase below 20 percent. at 30 percent there was a noticeable change in the sound and smell. the power was up to. at 40 percent and above things really started happen. i agree that 1-3 percent would not make much difference. with fuel checks i don't know how the guy gets past tech. i do know a a/sa max wedge record holder that told me they would soak the air filters with nitro. going down the track at wot allowed the nitro to get sucked it. it was all gone by the end of the run and pass tech.

 

If you want to spike your gasoline, theres a better oxygenate than nitromethane. Keep in mind that any time you add any oxygenate to your fuel, you have to increase your main jet, or you will be effectively leaning it out.

 

I'm very interested in getting some advice on running low percentages of nitro. I was testing last year(2022) with 15% and didn't see much increase in performance.

 

Nitromethane is not miscible w/ gasoline, nitropropane is. Ran in the late 1950's along with tolulene
per Don Francisco.

 

I was about 11, my buddy on the next block had a mini bike, but no gas. I offered to "borrow" my dad's mower gas can... but he said, we have NITRO. His dad raced and had a can of it in the garage.

So we fill it up. The deal was, he would go down the block and back, then it was my turn. I never saw the bike go so fast... on the way back I hear a CLANK and there is a cloud of smoke out the straight pipe. Pull the cord, seized or busted inside.. pull the plug, no electrode. Pull the head and the piston has a hole as big as a nickel... good times. We did "rebuild" it using parts from another engine.