better carb boots?

hey guys, im running into a little problem

i'm running a J motor on e-85 (ethanol) and my carb boots are starting to be eaten away by it, its the last remaining rubber part in my fuel system.

the question i am asking is if anyone knows where a guy can find some metal, or plastic intake runners?

You will probably have to make some or have some made. Then you will have the problem of sealing the carbs to the boots. Sealing them to the head is easy enough with gaskets.

Out of curiosity, what other modifications/adjustments did you need to make to run on E-85?

Notice any performance degredation? Poorer gas mileage?

what you need to do is find a place that does silicone molding. you can bring your old ones there and they can make a mold and do em up for you...steve

Just a thought here...Is there any way to line the inside of the boots with a thin sheet of a malleable metal? I am thinking of almost like a foil that would mould to the shape of the boot from the carb lip to the cylinder head side where it would meet the gasket. This should be able to withstand the ethanol and wouldn't flake apart however I would let some of this material sit in some ethanol for a few days to see what effects (if any) take place.

Having a silicone replacement made sounds like an expensive solution that I would leave until I tried my own McGyver-type fix.

Cheers-Colin Firth -Ontario Canada

1977 Kz650 Custom - 14,000 original miles, bought new by brother in 1977. Current re-incarnation includes- 810 Wiseco, WG Mikuni 29 Smoothies, 750 GPz cams, intake valves, modified head, Dyan ignition and coils, plus too much more to mention. Painted Moon Dust Silver to re-create factory paint scheme. Not much can keep up with this old girl up to 70 mph. This bike will never be sold and probably passed on to my teenage son when his testosterone levels off!

1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi. 3.0 litre, aluminum V8 Four Cam Engine with a sweet shifting five speed. Rosso Corsa Red with tan leather interior. 56,000 miles. Looks and rides like it just came off the showroom.

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. The yellow tank that will go anywhere-anytime!

1998 Jeep Wrangler TJ - 6 Banger with a five speed.

2007 Chevy Uplander (for my bride)

I'll bet you're not using the stock airbox to support the carbs? The intakes will go to crap real fast this way. Arguable as other guys have run this way for 30 yrs without problem, but I'll just enter my opinion as I've replaced the intake boots like 6 times on my old KZ650 with pods before finally supporting the carbs, then no problem. No problem on any with the airbox intact which is without a doubt the best way to go.

plastick lines, pingle high flow petcock, 3/8ths line.

and humongous jets

it runs cooler (very important)

it makes about 8 % more power than 110

gas miliage is about 17 city, 24 hwy.

did it so i didnt have to drive 10 miles out of town for 110

and its cheaper to drive now.

no problems so far with the carbs, just the rubber boots, I do however expect to replace the floats soon with something metal.

you want your compression up around 14:1 to maximize the benifits of e-85.