The other "story" was "alcohol kills the ring seal and engines wear out faster". I had 300 runs on my last 451-inch Mopar and it still only "leaked down 5%." The bearings were perfect and all I did was put new rod bolts in it and put it back in the car. As far as "draining the fuel system out every week being a pain the butt," I would definitely agree with that IF you had to do it. I drained mine out for the five-month winter storage only and that was because I was going to go through everything on the car anyway.

Choosing a complete fuel system is important when considering the change to methanol. The fuel pump is just as important as the carburetor and the fuel line sizes are just as important as the fuel pump. I am using the diaphragm by-pass on Project 4-Link as that is what the Demon / Barry Grant technical gurus suggested. Some electric fuel pumps can work with alcohol systems and there are hundreds of guys using them.

If you are starting from scratch the Barry Grant tech guys will likely recommend the belt drive pump system. If you have a high volume electric fuel pump just call the Demon / Barry Grant Tech Line and they will help you get it right the first time. The parts we are installing are the new King Demon RS alcohol model (part #9728025 DR), the belt drive fuel pump (part #176001), diaphragm bypass regulator (part #171020) and the required fuel shut-off safety valve (part #171100). Pump mounting kits are available for most engines. Since I had the Mopar and a crank trigger ignition, I had to fabricate the mounting bracket (featured in the last tech article).

The hose has been inserted into the collar fitting. You can see the tape that is wrapped under the collar to make sure the hose doesn't slip out while threading the insert into the collar. The insert threads have been lightly lubricated and is ready for final assembly.

Here is what we decided to do for a "system". The Dragstar Chassis already had a fuel cell with a -12AN outlet so I ran that to a Barry Grant inline filter that has a stainless steel element. I used a -12AN female flare swivel on the outlet side of the filter and a -12/-10 union reducer. Now I have the -10 line to run to the inlet port of the BG belt pump. The next item you MUST have is a manual shut-off/bypass valve as required by NHRA and IHRA rules. I used an -8AN female flare swivel to join the pump and shut-off valve, a very simple way to hook them together. You will need a -8AN bulkhead fitting for the shut-off valve hose added to the tank, as well as at least a -6 vent line and a -8 bulkhead for the bypass hose. I then put together a rather short length of -8 Aeroquip hose to hook up to the factory made Demon inlet hose assembly. This assembly (Barry Grant #140052) worked perfectly. As you can see in the photo, it comes with the -8AN inlet fitting and has the correct 3/8"NPT on the other end for the by-pass regulator. Screw on the by-pass regulator and hook up an -8 return line to your fuel cell and you are ready to go.

The final appearance of correctly assembled fitting. The insert should be turned into the collar until there is a 1/16" to 1/8" gap between the collar and the insert. Note that the tape on the hose has not moved (that is a good thing). If the hose begins to slip out of the collar, just start over and hold the hose up against the collar while tightening.