First bad news on the Demon
 

So, when we bought the demon, we were mostly just concerned with the car itself. It came with an engine which was laying on the floor, and a couple trannies, and TONS of other extra parts. We were told that the guy kept oil in the engine and he said that it would turn over with a wrench, but he was unsure of any specs on the motor. Although we have a 360 block pretty much ready to go, it would be a nice surprise if this engine, which looked completelty stock from the outside, would be good enough to clean up and use in the demon...


well, my dad got it apart yesterday, and as soon as he got the first cylinder head off, he saw that this was no stock motor. unlike the stock flat top pistons, this engine had a very high dome piston, which signifies lots of compression and lots of power...also a very expensive set of pistons; probably 600-700 dollars..where as cheaper pistons cost about 23 bucks a piece. unfortunately when he took the other cylinder head off, he found that there had been enough water in the engine to rust up the cylinder walls, and in the number 8 cylinder, the water froze and burst through the cylinder wall. there is so much rust in the other cylinders that the pistons are hard to get out, but as my dad has time during the day, he pisses around and wiggles them out...so far, he has gotten 4 of them out, and they appear to be in good enough shape. we have our fingers crossed for the other 4, and once the motor is stripped it will go to the machine shop to see if the motor is fixable.

for those who dont know, the mirada is a freak. unlike most cars running similar times with a small block, running high compression engines on 100+ octane race fuel, the mirada is only about 9 to 1 compression, so it runs on 87 octane. this makes racing very cheap because while many guys pay 6-10 bucks a gallon for race fuel, we only pay 2.09 (now). My intention with the demon is to have a motor that will run on regular pump gas, so no more than 10:1 compression...so if these pistons are good, they will be going into the mirada, and the mirada will have to be run on very high octane fuel...but it will have much greater potential for power. but the fuel is pricey...115 octane gas, made by VP racing is 150 bucks for 5 gallons. a 55 gallon drum is 1177 bucks...

but it will probably be faster...and with the similar engine to that of the mirada, the much lighter demon will run very well...we just have our fingers crossed that the engine can be repaired...

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

Sounds like even though there was bad news, a positive could come of it. If all else fails, sell the pistons and get some good cash fro them.

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

Something that just crossed my mind. I'm probably suggesting something that is either impossible, extremely expensive, just plain stupid, or all the above. Since this engine is going to be rebuilt, is it possible to use the parts and materials necessary to where you could run it on E85, since E85 contains 105 octane, you could add some octane booster and save a lot of money.

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

it is my understanding that while E85 is cheaper, it takes twice as much to achieve the same amount of power...so in the end, its no cheaper...
plus, if i was going to run alcohol, it wouldnt be E85...i would just run Methanol, as many others do...but ultimately, when you run any alternative fuel, it becomes an issue of finding it...

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

Actually, the higher compression ratio improves the fuel economy out of E85. Also you get 2/3s the mileage, not half. From what I have been told, the countries that uses E85 like Brazil have higher compression ratioed engines.

If you look on www.e85fuel.com you can find the closest station. I guess I forgot that they aren't all over the place, it is just that we have two stations that offer it in the town I'm living in right now, as well as one in my hometown.

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

i know that there is some downpoint to it, because a friend of mine, who is building a 2.6L stroker for his sebring with a monster turbo, looked into it, and there was some downfall..

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

That is ashame on the motor, but hopefully fixable. Best wishes and let us know how it goes.

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

Well I don't know what it would be. Maybe you ask your friend what the downfall was.

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

he says that to produce the same amount of energy, it takes about 130-150%...

RE: First bad news on the Demon
 

Considering the fact that you stated that racing fuel costs around $6-10 per gallon and E85 can be $.50 less than regular (at least in my area), it would probably make up for the difference and then some.