Unleaded Head, what do you do?

[Jase]

Okay, forgive my 'newbie' questions but what is the preference for the 4A in general. My car hasn't been converted and the PO has used Millers. The more I read the more it seems that many people haven't converted. Just wondering why? Did some research into availability of unleaded exchange heads and there doesn't seem to be a lot out there also the prices seem a lot more than I remember for exchange unleaded heads  As I'm aiming to do about 4000 miles a year in the car just considering what would be the best option?

Thanks

[Lebro]

Answer is - no nothing in till you need to.

Unless you are racing the car that day will probably never happen. 

Bob

[AndyR100]

You’ll rarely find exchange heads available off the shelf - most places will do a rebuild as COU - Customers Own Unit - reflecting the lack of core stock now available.

You may find helpful leads through your local TRR group and contacts to source a head suitable for rebuild, the usual auction sites will throw up some heads and/or engines that you may be able to salvage from.

Of course, if your pockets are suitably-deep, you can purchase a brand new one. While being a considerable cost there are at least available.

........ Andy 

Edited April 18, 2020 by AndyR100

[John Morrison]

Hi Jase,

When leaded petrol was being phased out, much of the the thinking of the day was that, 'This was the End,' and from that much money, was in my opinion wasted.

We now have the benefit of the best part of 20 years experience of running our cars on unleaded. I think concencus is now that for a road going car, i.e. (and this is the important bit) not normally run much above 3000 RPM for very long, together with an addative, you will have no issues, certainly not for 20 - 30, 000 mls.

FYI, I use Castrol Valvemaster plus.

If you are doing an engine rebuild, i.e. pulling the engine part, getting the head skimmed etc., then at that time, fitting four hardened exhaust valve inserts would probobly add

£150 ish to the machine shop total, and when the car is eventually sold, 'Its converted to unleaded' is not a bad thing to be able to say.

So if you rebuilding your engine at any time, go for it, otherwise no need to have any concerns.

John.

[Tony_C]

52 minutes ago, Lebro said:

Answer is - no nothing in till you need to.

Unless you are racing the car that day will probably never happen. 

Bob

Hello Jase and welcome..

Bob (and John) spot on as usual... I did do mine back in the day; mixture of scaremongering at the time and mistaken belief this would give an edge in the ‘ultra competitive’ classic rallies of the time (still maintain my logic was sound on that convoluted part.. but that’s another story) and never ran as well since.. Whereas, the other period cars I run/ran without the conversion continue(ed) fine with the additive.. These range from ‘fragile’ aluminium twin cams through to the immensely robust TR 4 pot Tractor engine; which imo is best left well alone when running well..

 

Enjoy!

[Nigel Triumph]

My experience with 6 cylinder Triumph engines is that they will cover tens of thousands of miles without problems from unleaded petrol, and that's without additives. I would expect it's the same for the 4 cylinder engines.

I had hardened exhaust valve seats fitted only when I stripped the engine down because it needed rebuilding anyway. If the engine is running well, just carry on driving, as/when permitted of course.

Nigel

[Jase]

Thanks for the quick responses, this has set my mind at ease. I'll continue with the additive and will get used to the car as soon as we are allowed to. In the meantime I have just received a lot of goodies from Rimmers which I'll start to fit next week.

Thank you.

[Andy Moltu]

Unless you run into problems wait until you have reason to remove your cylinder head and have hardened exhaust valve seats fitted at that point.

[Lebro]

+1, & in my opinion don't bother with additives. My head is off at present (for other reasons) and in 7 years & 20,000 miles of running straight unleaded, there is no sign of valve seat recession.

Bob.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Lebro

[ctc77965o]

Jase,

These engines are super-rugged...dont take it apart unless its broken, dont feed it special oils or additives - it doesnt care. Spend your money on suspension, brakes and tyres.

 

[ianc]

It's curious that when, decades ago, we knew that leaded fuel would be disappearing, the late Dr Michael Bingley was conducting research into additives to permit us to continue to use our old cars and not suffer the consequences which were expected to ensue, which included valve seat recession and combustion problems.  I have still, beside me on the desk here,  a couple of small bottles of Michael's magic Uni-Pak juice, but I have never put any into my TR - curious, have just noticed that one is a much deeper red than the other, perhaps, like wine, it can mature in the bottle?

The only problem I suffered was with LRP (Lead Replacement Petrol), which made starting my TR a real pig of a job, but fixed immediately by changing to other types of petrol because, as Paul Hogan said, "LRP is a load of c**p".

I have not noticed any valve seat recession, and I do use 5000+ rpm on occasion, just for the fun of it - at Kop Hill it entertains the crowds and the change into overdrive second at 5500 is a delight for me and whoever is riding shotgun!

Ian Cornish

[Jase]

So to follow, do you use standard unleaded or super unleaded whether you use additive or not?

[Hamish]

This is my TR3a I don’t have unleaded inserts but I do use shell v power petrol  and millers VSPe additive. 
I do go into the red on sprints and hill climbs and use the overdrive with my foot flat to the floor. The OD has been modified a little as it kicks in a little quicker. It’s only about 116bhp at the flywheel so not mega tuned.

 

[ianc]

I had been using 95 octane with VSP additive, but having moved to Thame, I can obtain Shell V-Power only a short distance away, near Princes Risborough, so now using that without VSP.  However, might well return to adding VSP once back on the road again - wonder when that might be?

Like Hamish, always engage (and disengage) overdrive with power on - the more the better so as to obtain a smooth change.

Ian Cornish

[AndyR100]

3 hours ago, Jase said:

So to follow, do you use standard unleaded or super unleaded whether you use additive or not?

The regular/super unleaded question, in my view, only translates to the octane - you can use either fuel, but just ensure your timing is set up to make the best of it. If timing is too far advanced for 95 then you’ll hear it with pinking... the 97/99 octane will let you run a bit more advance if you prefer your engine set up that way.

A rubbish fuel will always help your car to run badly, but sometimes you don’t know it’s poor quality until it’s in the tank! Many like to stick with something they have gained trust in, Shell Vpower is often a favourite - I tend to reach for Tesco’s 99 when I can.

The question of a lead additive is separate to octane and down to personal choice - i’ve never used one in 3 Triumph’s since leaded fuel left the pumps and never needed any related head-work, but others may feel differently.

..... Andy 

[Lebro]

I use Esso super petrol mainly because it (apparently) contains no ethanol, in my part of the country anyway.

Bob.