will a lawn mower engine run of methylated spirits? (which is practically 98 percent ethanol)?

Yes and no...

For starters you need to have huge jets in your carby - metho doesn't burn in the same air ratio as petrol. Otherwise it will run very weak and melt the piston. This means higher fuel consumption than with regular ULP.

Ethanol also makes the engine harder to start and it will blow steam out of the exhaust, which will corrode it eventually. Also the metho will absorb moisture into the fuel lines and tank, so you'll have corrosion problems there too unless you drain the fuel system after use. The ethanol may also dissolve parts of your engine (rubber seals)

If it was that simple we'd all be running metho in our engines dude. Stick with ULP.

Ethanol burns slower and longer(higher octane) if you do this

make sure the cooling fins on the cylinder,head, and the fins

on the flywheel that act as a fan are very clean,no oil build up

etc.because cooling will be the most important thing.

Good luck.

The problem with burning alcohol in a gasoline engine is that it burns much hotter. You will serious damage to the piston assembly, cylinder head, and spark plug. Which if you think about it, makes your engine really environmentally friendly.

you could run into problems with the carb. diaphram if running methynol. will dry it out

i run my older briggs on 70 % alc.they seem to run pretty good.

about your answer can be read in http://modified.synthasite.com/?q=car%20problems