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