Graham P Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Hi, no doubt this has been discussed many times, but are there any preferences for lead additives for the PI system? I generally use either Castrol valve master or Millers VSPE in other classic engines. To be honest I'm not even totally convinced anything's required for 500 miles a year of gentle driving, and I think all my components are new enough to be ethanol compliant (although I always stick to E5/Vpower or similar anyway) Just curious what the rest of you all do.... Thanks Graham Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve-B Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 We’re fortunate to have a local forecourt selling 4* so I tend to use that whenever possible. As we replaced/refreshed all the fuel lines, etc last year our engine doesn’t pink even in E10 so I add some additive to E10 if there’s not E5 available and leave it at that Graham. I spoke with a well respected regarded local classic mechanic a while back and his opinion is that 50+ years of mostly leaded fuels builds up enough protection on the components he doesn’t stress about even using additive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TRTOM2498PI Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 14 hours ago, Graham P said: Hi, no doubt this has been discussed many times, but are there any preferences for lead additives for the PI system? I generally use either Castrol valve master or Millers VSPE in other classic engines. To be honest I'm not even totally convinced anything's required for 500 miles a year of gentle driving, and I think all my components are new enough to be ethanol compliant (although I always stick to E5/Vpower or similar anyway) Just curious what the rest of you all do.... Thanks Graham Hi Graham, It is not required. Just fill with the highest octane possible every time, and you will be fine. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TRTOM2498PI Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 14 hours ago, Graham P said: Hi, no doubt this has been discussed many times, but are there any preferences for lead additives for the PI system? I generally use either Castrol valve master or Millers VSPE in other classic engines. To be honest I'm not even totally convinced anything's required for 500 miles a year of gentle driving, and I think all my components are new enough to be ethanol compliant (although I always stick to E5/Vpower or similar anyway) Just curious what the rest of you all do.... Thanks Graham You can always fill periodically with 20l of avgas. 100LL (low lead). I can still buy it from my local airport. £2.12/litre INC. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john.r.davies Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 (edited) The Americans laugh at us for our obsession, near to panic, with the ill effects of lead-free fuel. They had it for five years before we did and had no panic and no ill effects. Experience since 2000 has been that after years with lead in the petrol, the valves acquire a 'lead memory', probably lead atoms incorporated in the steel surface, that protects them, certainly for "500 miles of gentle driving". That will not include prolonged motorway driving or competition use, and re-grinding the valves will lose that memory and protection. But if you have the head off to regrind the valves then sending it away to have steel seats inserted is a minor inconvenience. This confidence should not extend to the rubber components of the fuel system. Modern alcohol-containing fuels can be most destructive, and hoses etc should be replaced with R9 specification such as Gates Barricade. John Edited February 1 by john.r.davies Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 Valve seat recession is unlikely to occur in either gentle or hard road driving in a TR. The FBHVC tests were extreme conditions of high rpm, continuous load on a ca 1000 cc engine. Anti-knock, octane-boosting additives ? The lack of acceleration charge on the PI can briefly rattle the pistons, but mixture and/or sprak timing tweaks can avoid the need for octane boosters Personally I would avoid any booster that contains manganese. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mleadbeater Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 For my winter layup, I add some Lucas fuel stabaliser, supposed to stop gumming and other damage to fuel feeding components. link to this, any other brands available. Lucas Safe Guard Ethanol Fuel Treatment Conditioner Stabilizer Additive 473ml In my modern Honda, I use 5% ethanol petrol, as the 10% **** gives around 10% worse fuel consumption, the former costing only around 5% more . ie. pay 5% more and use 10% more…… biggest government con I am aware of, not a well thought through scheme. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 I advise my customers not to bother using any additives as its not needed to combat recession unless they are going to use the cars as a daily and drive them hard. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve-B Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 5 hours ago, john.r.davies said: This confidence should not extend to the rubber components of the fuel system. Modern alcohol-containing fuels can be most destructive, and hoses etc should be replaced with R9 specification such as Gates Barricade. John Point well illustrated John and exactly why we replaced all rubber lines in our car not too long after buying it. There are some things that Just Make Sense Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 11 hours ago, john.r.davies said: The Americans laugh at us for our obsession, near to panic, with the ill effects of lead-free fuel. They had it for five years before we did and had no panic and no ill effects. Experience since 2000 has been that after years with lead in the petrol, the valves acquire a 'lead memory', probably lead atoms incorporated in the steel surface, that protects them, certainly for "500 miles of gentle driving". That will not include prolonged motorway driving or competition use, and re-grinding the valves will lose that memory and protection. But if you have the head off to regrind the valves then sending it away to have steel seats inserted is a minor inconvenience. This confidence should not extend to the rubber components of the fuel system. Modern alcohol-containing fuels can be most destructive, and hoses etc should be replaced with R9 specification such as Gates Barricade. John +1. Remember the obsession with valve seat recession due to unleaded fuels in the British classic car media 25 years ago. They largely overlooked the effects of unleaded petrol on the original fuel system elastomers - virtually all of which are now unsuitable for modern high octane, unleaded fuels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham P Posted February 2 Author Report Share Posted February 2 Thanks everyone, I think you've unanimously confirmed my own thoughts! But it's nice to see everyone shares the same view. Thanks Graham Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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