There is no denying that it is easier than ever to make big power, whether that be through a rowdy mouse motor on nitrous or a junkyard LS engine with a hair dryer; it seems that anyone can make near 4-digit numbers with their home built hotrod. While we can stuff more air into the cylinders and strap on individual coil packs, there is one missing ingredient… Fuel. With today’s alcohol and gasoline offerings we find ourselves with an abundance of choices but there is one candidate quite a few crafty racers have taken advantage of. E85 fuel can be found in nearly every state and it’s hard to ignore being cheaper per gallon than even that putrid mix they call 87 Octane; this Gasohol concoction has found its way into racing series overseas and is now beginning to creep into our local venues. By containing up to 85% ethanol, it gives us the ability to crank in a few more degrees or swap a spring to “eek” out that last little bit of horsepower. This plus the cost effectiveness compared to a pail of race gas gives us an opportunity that few would like to pass up. So this time, we decide to plunge deeper into the rabbit hole of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” by converting an RQ-1000 from Quick Fuel Technologies into an ethanol slurping treat that any Big Block would enjoy. I can guarantee that this conversion is so simple you’re going to be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner; let’s get started! 

Quick Fuel Technologies offers a wide range of tools to handle this E85 conversion including metering blocks, E85 testing tubes and more. We will be using their 34-106QFT kit to swap our Gasoline blocks over to Ethanol blocks (larger metering wells) which still use Gasoline Main Jets and 6/32 emulsion bleeds. Taking note of the instructions, we will need to upsize our jetting by 8-10 sizes as well as use the included gaskets to ensure we have no leaks in the future. The emulsion bleeds are pre-calibrated and should not be changed unless you are very familiar with adjusting carburetor circuits to fine tune air-fuel ratios.