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Methanol Safety on Track

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Hey guys,

Not S550 specific though this is the most experienced and safety oriented group of track rats I know so here goes.

I’m interested in methanol / WMI injection for my Ecoboost and taking it safely to the road course. There’s lots of info on how to make power with WMI but not a lot on track safety.

My main questions as follows:

Normally you want a firewall between you and a bunch of fuel. Normally people put the tank in the trunk, though my car is dual purpose so making a rear firewall is not practical. So would you say best to do the safest trunk install or try putting the tank up front or use the windshield washer tank?

Tank construction: most tanks are heavy wall plastic. Any reason why not?

I’m also considering designing the system
For minimal leak points and if I do the system I’ll go with Aquamist which has the best quality lines, fittings, pumps and failsafe. But there is always risk.

FYI I would be using 50/50 water/meth.

Any other thoughts, suggestions or considerations?
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
Not sure this is helpful, but of interest I think.


The fire burned that 'vette to the ground was apparently caused by a leaking methanol tank. It was just one of the high (low?) lights of a track day gone mad.
 
1,289
1,113
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Philly Metro Area
I thought I heard the bottle deploy at around 17:23 but I wasn't sure if it was the fire system hissing or if that was the fuel system. But comments to the first video gave him grief for not pulling the safety pin before the run. But someone posted that it automatically deployed.

Screenshot_20210407-180033.png
 
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so are you using it for a primary fuel? or as an injection like the old WW2 ME109s?

because I have a lot of experience with burning ethanol/methanol
 
Thanks for the video link Coz. Really makes me think twice about methanol. Those vintage clips are terrifying.

Rob my initial question was for injection as an auxiliary fuel.
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
As long as you keep your mixture at or below 50/50, it is not flammable. I used to use an AEM methanol injection kit to supplement poor quality fuel when I lived in Italy. I ran a track day at Mugello Circuit with no problems.
 
1,163
2,121
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
SoCal
18D05227-82C9-43F6-9BAF-55B30C6C32B0.jpeg
Here’s the aftermath of a melted plastic methanol tank mounted in place of the stock windshield washer reservoir. As mentioned before, metal tank and quality lines are a must.
 
741
1,075
TX
I feel like Corvettes + methanol fires are like Mustangs and crowds.

From what I've seen, a properly designed meth setup can be safe. Devil is in the details, though
 
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OK, basically methanol/ethanol is very safe, it's not easy to ignite under most circumstances. this is why the Indycars use E98, they still have that 2% of gasoline in there to help it light. That being said, once it doe slight, you may not realize it because the flames are pretty much invisible, for this reason, it can become a bigger fire than normal for the simple fact that you don't realize there is even a fire.



and Patient Zero, alcohol mixtures containing up to 75% water are still considered flammable
 
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It's not just alcohol either, once carbon fiber gets going, it's almost impossible to extinguish, the driver of this car ran over rumple strips, split the oil tank, spilled on the headers, lit, then filled the undertray with burning oil. The closest fire truck was sent to the original point of the fire, which was a way behind where the car ended up. This delayed the response of the closest fire unit. Keep in mind this car had the high zoot FIA extinguisher system in it as well.

txCRm70l.jpg

nFA3EZZl.jpg

ulQGSAzl.jpg

So there are times when the driver can be totally independent of all safety response units for a considerable amount of time. This is why I tell guys to have a fire system in the car, and also a fire extinguisher, one for you, one for the other guy.


.
 

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