Chapter Fifteen
Moonshine?
For the past 8 years, I have developed a way to run my Chevy and Ford trucks on used motor oil and transmission fluid. I figured out how to do this after fighting others in town for used vegetable oil from our local restaurants. The supply was not keeping up with demand, so I moved on.
I may be ready to move on once again. Must be something about a challenge that drives me. I have enjoyed the series Moonshiners, and countless times told my sweetheart that I want to build a still. NOT for drinking purposes, just to do it. You have to admit it looks cool! Right? Years ago I had a distiller for our drinking water and played with many types of solar systems, wind power etc. so why not moonshine? But a different type. The one for fuel.
So my first question was can I make my own moonshine legally? Short answer is YES, at least for fuel. You can acquire a permit from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms for FREE, yup that's right FREE. Ya, it blew me away, too. Most states accept the Federal permit as an OK to manufacture moonshine. Each locality is different. I strongly advise you if you try this to dig deep and find out all the particulars for your area first.
Can cars really run on moonshine? They sure can, but only if it’s the strong stuff "hiccup". It needs to be a minimum of around 150 proof, which sounds like some pretty good stuff wink, wink. For best results it needs to be 190 proof.
This isn't new. Alcohol has been used to fuel cars since Henry Ford’s Model T. The Model T was equipped to run on ethanol as well as gasoline. More recently, you have seen the federal government mandate that ethanol make up 10 percent of today's gasoline.
Any car can run on this kick butt hooch if set up properly. Cars before 2000 aren't really equipped to handle alcohol long" term, and can lead to leaks, rust, and corrosion. But they can be retrofitted if so desired. Alcohol has become a regular additive to gasoline today so modern fuel systems were developed to withstand a much higher tolerance for the, if you will "white lightning".
So, if you're passing by the house and it smells like Diane is in the kitchen making corn bread stop in for a drink, oops I mean some corn bread and we will sit around the still and chat about the good ole Prohibition Days.
“I’m not sure but I think my clear conscience is the sign of my bad memory.”