This is Dario here in Panama Rep of Panama. I purchased the books about 4 weeks ago and already built a system myself. Will install (hopefully) next Saturday. I placed two stainless bolt and washers instead of the wires. Will let you know about results. Re the “Fuel Heater”, will do after testing the catalyzer.

Back in 1974 nothing like this was never mentioned anywhere that I know of.

BUT I do have a question for you. Avout the Toriod Coil, (is there any substitute for the size of the ring, wire size and type of coating, and number of turns for “say22 or 24 AWG wire or do you have to buy the $50.00 Coil and the $.51 per ft. wire (that is over $330 for the just the coil not counting the FlouroEtch for $50 per pint)?

Good Luck on the heater

Cecil

I just purchased the Run Your Car on Water ebook and was pretty excited to give this thing a try until I got in and started reading.

It’s not as simple as they make it sound. Pretty intimidating to me.

Have you come across any good pre-built units anywhere yet? I think that might be the way I’ll have to go.

Any thoughts?

Brad

Has anyone thought about placing a heater (something like a glow plug) in a cylinder, run the fuel through it before it enters the carb – sounds like what you have in mind?

Don’t know if such a creature (fuel heater) is available, but certainly think one should be.

It seems to me that in a closed-loop system such as a modern computer-controlled engine, there may not be a whole lot of benefit to warming the fuel. If the computer is controlling the leanness of the mixture by measuring the composition of the exhaust gases, I would not expect much benefit since the computer can modify the fuel flow for optimal combustion as measured at the tailpipe; the computer can admit only the required number of fuel molecules for proper combustion regardless of the specific gravity of the fuel (warmer = less dense). If, on the other hand, the computer is configured to regulate fuel flow based solely on physical parameters such as manifold air pressure, engine RPMs, etc., there might be some benefit from heating the fuel; it would tend to lean the mixture a bit and cause the fuel to evaporate more easily.

I like the idea of using waste engine heat to warm the fuel. I would be scared, however, to use the construction in the picture. For an older car with a carburetor the construction depicted would be OK because the fuel pressure is low (only a few pounds per square inch). But in a fuel-injected vehicle the fuel pump is typically located in the tank and the fuel line runs at high pressure, say 100 psi, no? I’ve seen warnings in my shop manual to avoid conventional worm-gear hose clamps even, and to use only the special ones with rounded edges. I’d be leery of building something out of hardware-store parts such as hose barbs and hose clamps for fear that it would not stay together at high pressure.

Moreover, I’d be leery of hanging it on the radiator, because of the risk of fire in the event of a collision. Most cars don’t seem to have fuel system parts hanging out in the crumple zone; they’re usually better protected than that.

For what it’s worth, my 1975 MGB had an electric heater coil that sat around the periphery of the manifold opening, just below the carburetor. From the outside it looked like a 3/8 inch thick gasket with an electrical terminal on it. I think it was intended to help vaporize the fuel. I don’t remember whether it operated all the time, just in cold weather, or just when the engine was cold.

Thanks for the writeup; awaiting your results.

To jonas: The fuel heater goes in on Saturday the 14th. Should have results to post about 2 weeks after that point.

Thanks, have enjoyed reading.

thanks!