1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Mothballs in gas tank

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Old 04-06-07, 11:35 AM
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Mothballs in gas tank

I have a friend tats telling me to drop some moth ***** into my gas tank. He says that its like running nitrous. Im not stupid enough to try this on my 20+ year old sports car! I just thought I would ask about this and see if this is something that anyone else has heard of.

Now mothballs are made of Naphthalene
, which is something that I know from science class (Im a teacher) which means that its a very flammable vapor when broken down! Im going to make an educated guess and say that this could maybe work but I would never try it because you never know what its going to do to your car!

Any one know anything about this at all? I also belive you can only do this with a carburetor....

Whats next unicorns?
Old 04-06-07, 11:38 AM
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I just did a google search about this and I found out that its possible but in some cases harmful to your car. They did this on mythbusters and it gaind power so....

I figured I would leave it up to see what would be said.
Old 04-06-07, 12:01 PM
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do you know what episode of mythbusters did you see this in? I would really like to watch it.
Old 04-06-07, 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by dj55b
do you know what episode of mythbusters did you see this in? I would really like to watch it.
If you go to Discovery.com than there should be a link for Mythbusters. They should have a list of the episodes and when they will re-air. That episode is a few years old if that helps. It was a good episode, A lot of the engine myths were busted like sugar in the gas.
Old 04-06-07, 12:43 PM
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well looking around ... they have one that says that dropping a penny in an engine will not destroy it but merely just jump around in there so they said it was busted. Anyone care to email them to try doing that in a Rotary engine and see what happens? I think we all know the results ... or do we? Sorry to hijack this thread...

But on the same topic, it says that there actually 2 kinds of moth ***** (or i should say made 2 different ways) one would so call help (but also reading around while making your engine seem to preform better in WOT, it would seem like the engine might sputter a bit at idle.
Old 04-06-07, 02:17 PM
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this is a myth i knew about back in the early 80s. i tried it with my first car, a '74 nova 350ci 2bbl, with no noticeable difference. will moth ball really increase the flash point of gasoline? if so, how much per gallon? then u have to look at the saturation of other chemicals that's also in moth ***** that may degrade the fuel. if there is an increase, it can only be seen on a dyno. if u want it to run like it's on nitrous, put it on it.

Last edited by rxtasy3; 04-06-07 at 02:26 PM.
Old 04-06-07, 09:54 PM
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Im not looking to make my car run like anything! I thought this would make for good conversation if that.
I dont see any reason to put anything in my car thats not made for cars in the first place.

I think it would be a great idea to see if the mythbusters would do a rotery engine. Im sure that they would come up with some great tests to put it through!
Old 04-06-07, 10:59 PM
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I have heard the same thing about the power boost. The guys on Car Talk say it doesn't do much (see link below). If you try it, make sure you get the ones made of Naphthalene. I got the wrong kind from target and dumped them into a full tank into my old '83 GSL. It gummed up the engine and i had to flush/clean it out. It was a bad enough experience that i decided not to try it again will the correct type.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...bruary/09.html
Old 04-07-07, 10:27 AM
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Power boost as in Octane boost? Octane boost is designed to give you a "level up" in octane points. I use it because its so hard to purchase good high octain gas at the pump for a good reasonable price! I will put two bottles of the octain boost in my car about every other fill up.
The power "boost" only comes in on vehicles that you have been running regular unleaded gas in. The boost ups the points of the octane thus giving the car a better burning fuel.

High octain fuel is specifically designed for supercharged cars, turbocharged cars or cars with high compression. Octane boost will benefit only an older car with a high-compression engine or a car that hasnt been running on the correct fuel.

This site has great info on running different octane and octane boost:

http://www.cars.com/carsapp/national...odaysgas1.tmpl

They used to sell octane boost with tetraethyl lead (TEL) but now you can only buy it from race shops. You can purchase the higest burning octane on the market (that I know of) at this website:

www.kemcoindustries.com
Old 04-07-07, 12:16 PM
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Mothballs Eh I remember my dad was telling me about that. He said he used to do it when he street raced his cars. Like on his nova and some more I dont know. But he said it is hard on your motor but it gives more HP. But in a v8 motor you better have more engin blocks because they can blow your motor better. I dont know about in rotarys. But he was telling me that what he used to do. Is get gas and put them in drums and then put the mothballs into it. So they will fully avaprat like disapear so they have no little left to go in the motor.




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