HEY ! Nitro Heads!

[Dan McEntee]

    I got some stuff from Gary Frost's estate and included were some cans of various liquids. Some was fuel, castor oil, Klotz and such and some were "mystery " fluids! One old, neat looking can of about 5 gallon capacity was marked in stencil "methyl alcohol" and I think that is what it really is. I poured it off into an empty gallon fuel jug and it didn't have much of an odor, and was quite clear. I'll do a simple 3 to 1 mix with some castor oil and see if it runs a Fox .35 on a prime. If it does, then I can be pretty sure it's methanol.
    Another was a gallon brown glass jug marked "Ether." I think Gary experimented with diesel engines for a while after he came back from the first combat world champs so it makes sense and it is probably what the label says. I have a few small diesels that I want to try running and will use it for mixing fuel for those. I wish I had thought to get the late Jim Thomerson's help with running these while he was still among us.
   There were two other cans I wasn't sure of. One was an old K&B gallon fuel can that had a masking tape label that said "nitro from Bob Rogers." I know who Bob Rogers is (Hi Bob! If you are out there!" and there was about a pint or two in it. I poured it out into a glass jar and it had an orangeish tint to it, like the can was rusty.  I shined a flash light into the can and it looked clean. Not needing to risk anything on it, I disposed it into the crack in the sidewalk by my garage where the weeds never grow.
  Another can was a can for  'Carter's 1965 Duplicating Fluid." It had a clear liquid in it with very low odor, and just a few minutes ago, I noticed that very faintly was written on the top in marker or grease pencil "nitro". I poured it into a glass jar and it is quite clear. Is there any way to test it to see if it is indeed nitro? If so, I'll take the methanol, some castor and the nitro and mix up a Gary Frost Memorial cocktail for my Fox .35's. Gary was a good friend who went with me to the first SIG contests and taught me my first lessons on running Fox.35's correctly. When it's all gone, I'll have some cool old cans to decorate the garage with or maybe sell to the American Pickers if they ever come to town!  So, is there a simple test to see if this is indeed nitro?
    Thanks a lot and type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[bill bischoff]

Weigh it. If it weighs out correctly, it could be nitro. If not, then you know that it isn't. I don't know the density of nitro off the top of my head, but it's easy enough to find.

[john e. holliday]

Don't store empty cans.  If you don't want to mix fuel in them, fill with water for storage or display.

For diesel fuel to start with, just mix it equal parts of Kerosene,  oil and ether.

[Chuck_Smith]

If you took a direct whiff and your nose and eyes didn't burn it's not nitro. That smell is unmistakable.

If not sure, attend an NHRA national event where there will be light blue 55 gallon drums of it everywhere.  Go over to the VP fuels trailer. Ask them for a whiff!

[Fredvon4]

Chuck I disagree...been to a lot of drag races and yes nitro is distinctive...when burning...

But my 3 gallons from Torco have zero smell or eye burn in 100% raw liquid form

[Dave Hull]

Here's a link to a thread that gives the densities of fuel components.

https://stunthanger.com/smf/engine-set-up-tips/fuel-mix-how-is-weight-vs-volume-different/

Straight nitro (such as from Klotz) has a somewhat acrid "locker room" smell. I can't think of anything else that smells like it. If it is blended with anything, that would change things.

Dave

[Dan Berry]

Fuel is 22 bucks a gallon. Engines are …….. more than that and aren't being made anymore. Use those fluids to burn stumps instead of ruining engines.
That is what I would do with it.

[fred krueger]

IC engines are still made: JETT produces R/C and C/L stunt engines.  Stalker produces a range of stunt engines.  Discovery Retro (Yatsenko brothers).  Enya produces a few engines available through their website.  OPS (Italy) still produces engines, I believe.  Of course PAW (UK) produces a range of diesel engines.  Then there is Sanye in China who produces a wide range of engines under the ASP and Magnum labels.  They just moved recently to a new facility so their stocks are low at most vendors.
There are still a lot of us who appreciate IC engines.  Fuel is not cheap, but neither are batteries which have a finite life.
Fred

[Dan Berry]

IC engines are still made: JETT produces R/C and C/L stunt engines.  Stalker produces a range of stunt engines.  Discovery Retro (Yatsenko brothers).  Enya produces a few engines available through their website.  OPS (Italy) still produces engines, I believe.  Of course PAW (UK) produces a range of diesel engines.  Then there is Sanye in China who produces a wide range of engines under the ASP and Magnum labels.  They just moved recently to a new facility so their stocks are low at most vendors.
There are still a lot of us who appreciate IC engines.  Fuel is not cheap, but neither are batteries which have a finite life.
Fred

You have missed my point.

[Chuck_Smith]

Hmmm. I just went out in the shop and opened a 5 gallon jug of nitromethane. My eyes watered. Yeah, it's not the same as the green cloud but it's still pretty distinctive. This was VP nitro - the real deal. I fell in love with the smell the first time I opened a can of Missile Mist.

[RandySmith]

Much of the nitro sold  now  is  Safe Nitro, as they call it !   it is  diluted  with alcohol by 50%
Makes a big difference  in smell,  and  BOOM !
Randy