Not sure why Dennis took the time to ask questions here and then ignored the responses?. Dunno, maybe I'm "too wordy" or he just likes simple responses without hidden lessons mixed in. lol Even with a 347 stroker crank in this engine, much less a 302's 3" stroke.. there is no physical way that he is running at the SCR numbers he has posted above. A 302 cubic inch engine needs a true measured 0" deck height and right about a 54cc chamber to even get near 10.5 SCR. So, unless something's missing here, and it surely is, this motor is struggling to even hit 10:1 SCR much less worrying about 11+ SCR's and detonetion relating to excessive cylinder pressures. To you'r particular question above.. E85 is dirt cheap and much easier to implement than methanol. Plus, progressive control is massive overkill for this particular combo when you consider all the guys running more than 11:1 with iron heads. Top notch tuning with AL heads can even allow 12:1 but seasonal temps and periodic tune checks come into play more often. PS. although they are direct injected, variably valve timed, and ECU controlled.. there are many factory cars running more than 11:1 and some even at 12:1 SCR with an included warranty. For a tiny cross section f reference, and among many others, I tuned my 383 Blazer motor to run on 93 premium pump gas and it was right about 11.6:1 SCR with over 215 psi cranking compression. 48 degrees of initial timing lead(NOT total lead at WOT) was right on the edge but it was doable with premium pump fuel. Another suggestion would be to look at an MSD programmable ignition box(6 and 7 series availability) like I swapped onto on my 383 which allowed me to reach 54 degrees of initial lead due to the built in map sensor based tuning option. After around 1,700 - 1,800 rpm the box started pulling timing out either based on load or till it reached the 7,100 rpm rev limiter. Not saying this iron headed motor will achieve that level of ignition lead.. but I would lay cash that I could hit 42 degrees of initial lead to improve this engines powerband while still maintaining some sensible safety margin for bad gas, higher ambient temps and maybe a passenger or two being added to the total weight. My 383 used the much more expensive 7 series but I have the the more affordable programmable 6 series sitting on my shelf waiting for my near 12:1 SCR 342" "mule motor". It will initially be tuned to run on 93 octane and I would be surprised if I can't get near 48 degrees of initial timing lead out of that combo with about 2 weeks of intermittent tuning.
