doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com ...and a Hoppe New Year

But OK for the drag race folks to burn 000's of gallons of "nitro" every year including races in CA.

That's not nitrobenzene, it's nitromethane. Big difference.

There's a skull and crossbones on a bottle of nitrobenzene, not on nitromethane.

Best, SRH

The "nitro" formula used in drag racers and funny cars is Nitromethane. NASCAR rules do not permit any fuel except gasoline.

Not saying that drag racers never used nitrobenzene, because over the years, they tried just about anything in the quest to maximize horsepower. Fuel is routinely tested to detect fuel cheaters. I recall reading years ago that exposure to nitrobenzene is cumulative, but have never seen anything to confirm that. I still wouldn't recommend using it for after-shave. The aroma of the small amount of nitrobenzene in the old Hoppe's No. 9 really overpowered the other solvents. I noticed that when I got a whiff of straight 100% lab grade nitrobenzene in an Organic chemistry lab class. We were assigned "unknowns" to test and identify. When I was given a flask of nitrobenzene by the professor, it was like a gift because I immediately knew what it was, due to my frequent use of Hoppe's No. 9. All I had to do was verify things like specific gravity, boiling point, vapor pressure, etc. that I found in the Merck Index. I wish they were all that easy.

Both nitrobenzene and straight benzene are listed as racing fuels, but likely in much smaller quantities than nitromethane or its cousin nitroethane seen on the shelves in mixtures called 'octane boosters'.

Have a quart bottle of No. 9 and a 2 oz both marked Penguin Industries so likely the newer stuff. Also have an old bottle I marked 'original formula' years ago, but it seems to have lost its distinctive aroma.

Joe, I wanted to come aback and say “thanks” for the contact. I wrote them the day after Christmas and the first week of February I finally heard back from them! (Actually, from Bushnell which must own Hoppe’s). They had me email them pictures which I did but now after a couple of weeks no further word so guess it died somewhere there. Thanks anyway.

I've got a bottle with a cork. No threads molded into the bottle. The label isn't as nice as yours but it does have the signature. I haven't tried to open it as I don't want to break the cork.