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I enjoyed the reverends video on aviation fuel.  I noticed the 2 MPG increase in fuel economy.  Is that same increase gained is you use regular unleaded non-ethanol fuel such as available in most states?  I know this fuel is available in Nevada at selected stations.  I would be curious to know if there is any advantage of traveling there and buying a 100 gallons to use in my classic cars.  I have always been told that using a higher octane fuel in a car that is not high compression is a waste of money.  So I am wondering if just the elimination of the ethanol is a factor in increased fuel economy?

DANIEL JESSUP POSTED -

"Interestingly enough, I recently posted this video https://youtu.be/W88wjkI7UJE. (Aviation gasoline in my 1955 Ford Fairlane, 292 Y Block, Summit Carburetor, mechanical fuel pump)".

Now that is an excellent write-up!

More informative than most professionally written tech articles ...

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"Long before ethanol fuel, unleaded fuel, etc.  So, with leaded, non ethanol fuel, the problem was still there, but maybe jus not quite as bad.  If you run these cars in a hot climate, you are going to boil the fuel out of the carburetor bowl. 

Ford tried to solve this problem by equipping the 1955 and 1956 Thunderbirds with a thicker carburetor base gasket.  The 1955 gasket was actually 5 regular gaskets stapled together!  The 1956 model had a single thick gasket.
 
There are phenolic blocks made but you need to be careful that it is not too thick as there is very little clearance between the carburetor and the hood on these vehicles."

All true ...

Water has always been a problem, even before ethanol laced gasoline. Rusting out of tanks and metal lines was common.

If you remember, pumps had the filter(s) in the glass fuel bowl beneath the pump body (and usually a petcock on the bottom of the fuel tank to drain collected water).

9365 was the actual filter/strainer and 9360 was a magnet (to catch rust particulate from rusted tanks) to prevent (hopefully) early fouling of the filter itself.

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I purchased my first 1955 Thunderbird in the summer of 1969.  Long before ethanol fuel, unleaded fuel, etc.  So, with leaded, non ethanol fuel, the problem was still there, but maybe jus not quite as bad.  If you run these cars in a hot climate, you are going to boil the fuel out of the carburetor bowl.  Ford tried to solve this problem by equipping the 1955 and 1956 Thunderbirds with a thicker carburetor base gasket.  The 1955 gasket was actually 5 regular gaskets stapled together!  The 1956 model had a single thick gasket.  
There are phenolic blocks made but you need to be careful that it is not too thick as there is very little clearance between the carburetor and the hood on these vehicles.  Many owners put an electric fuel pump in line and wire it to a switch.  They turn on the pump 30 seconds before startup and then shut it off once the vehicle starts.  This is the pleasure of working with 68 year old technology.

This plate has a quantity of 87octane 10% alcohol on a hot and very humid day. The fuel was relatively cool from evaporation and became a good condenser.  It was interesting to watch the water combine with the alcohol and form beads on the bottom of the container. This is what destroys carburetors like the one Kultulz posted.  This fuel sample had far more exposure area than fuel in a carburetor but over time, this will happen.                                                                                                             

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

Another thing.  There was a period that I had problems with 56 and the car sat for almost three years w/o being started.  Once I found out what the trouble was (bad ignition parts over and over again) the car restarted okay and it ran fine with some almost i year old 10 %.  Because I am paranoid, I sent the carb out for rebuild just in case - and the rebuilder said it was clean as a whistle- no deposits.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

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From a tech at Daytona Carb Parts:

It is a common problem with modern gasoline.  It evaporates rapidly, and after a day or two there is no gas in the float bowl, or the fuel line from the pump.      There is no cure for this issue; however by changing your method of starting the engine, you can try this.  After the vehicle has set for a day or two, DO NOT TOUCH THE GAS PEDAL!   Turn on the ignition switch, and then crank the engine over for 10-15 seconds.  It will not hurt    the starter, but allow the fuel pump time to refill the float bowl on the carburetor.  Then give the gas pedal a pump or two and usually it will start right up. Also, make sure that you are NOT using the mechanical pump with a electric pump as a booster, or have any kind of fuel filter before the fuel pump!   This is a NO-NO, and will cause issues. Also, the use of modern "high octane 91" gas will make the matter worse,  as it has a very low boiling point and will evaporate faster.  Your engine does NOT require any kind of modern high octane gasoline, and  will run fine on normal 87 octane.

I don't even bother cranking my starter and running my battery down on any of my cars that have been sitting for more than a few days.  As a routine, I just prime the carbs with a little gas, reinstall the air cleaner and they always start right up.