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Author
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Topic: Do ya'all add lead to your gas?
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Ralph Rebandt
Gearhead Posts: 517
From: Farmington Hills, MI
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 05-30-2002 11:45 PM
   
Fellas, I am having fun putting around in the stang. Not street legal yet. I took it to get the conv top on today. Hopefully it will be painted next Friday  I was told that unleaded gas can hurt the old engines. Is that true? What can it do? Should I add lead from the auto parts store? ------------------
1968 Convertible No Longer on Blocks- IT RUNS "If your going through hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill
www.ohcc.net
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70SportsRoof
Gearhead Posts: 901
From: Orange County, CA
Registered: Dec 2001
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posted 05-30-2002 11:55 PM
Don't worry about adding lead. The only time you'll need to add lead to your gas is if you run the car for extended periods of time hard. Such as flying down the freeway everyday at 65 mph for miles on end, or towing. For around town use, you'll be fine without the lead. All my cars and trucks have non hardened valve seats, with the exception of my '70. All my cars do fine, but that's because I don't run the motors hard. But when it comes time to have the heads done, get hardened valve seats put in. ------------------
Gary-
1970 Mustang Deluxe SportsRoof (daily driver), 1946 Ford pickup, another 1946 Ford pickup, 1947 Ford parts truck, 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Vic
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Harrys'65
Gearhead Posts: 341
From: Saint Paul, MN
Registered: Sep 99
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posted 05-31-2002 08:13 AM
Another option people up here use is Aviation gas. It is supposed to be like old 'regular' leaded gas with a high lead content to prevent vapor lock in airplane engines. (Not jet gas...) I personally have never used it, but other guys in the vintage club here buy it in 5 gallon cans at the local small airport and add it to a regular tank. I think they use about 1/3 AV to in a tank full of unleaded.
Anyone else used this? I only drive on weekends, and short distances so I have never done it. Harry ------------------
Harry Straub
'65 Mustang Coupe
http://www.harrystraub.com/resto.html
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RICKS
Gearhead Posts: 355
From: Ocala, FL
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-31-2002 08:46 AM
If you only drive to shows or on weekends, it would take you 50 years to ever see the slightest sign of valvetrain wear due to running unleaded gas. So it's basically a non-issue/urban-myth kind of thing. I usually mix 5 gallons of 110-octane leaded race fuel to 15 gallons of 93-octane unleaded, but I don't do it for the lead. I do it so that I can get away with running stock timing on my high-compression motors. If the fellas in your vintage club are mixing the AV-gas simply to get lead in their tank, they're pretty much wasting their time and money. Also, know that modern gas uses other types of emollients as a substitute to lead. Not quite as effective as the old leaded gas, but it's not like there's no top-cylinder lube whatsoever.
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rockafellz
Gearhead Posts: 1426
From: San Lorenzo, CA, USA
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 05-31-2002 10:11 AM
Hey Ralph,With my '66 fastback (rebuilt), I don't add lead. But with my Dad's '66 unrestored coupe, we add about 1-2oz. of redline lead additive with every fill-up. The coupe doesn't get driven very much and drives great. When we bought it last year, it had 100,090 original miles on it. As of now, I believe it has 100,500 miles on it. The previous owner had the carb rebuilt. I don't know if the lead makes a difference or not. The first 200 miles that we drove, we didn't think to use it. We're just using it now for cheap insurance. Erik
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71RESTO
Gearhead Posts: 1320
From: Oregon, USA
Registered: Oct 2000
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posted 05-31-2002 06:40 PM
Hey Ralph,
Just drive and enjoy your car and don't worry about it. Like Rick said, there are other additives in gas now days to replace the lubricants of lead. I had the heads on both of my cars rebuilt, so went with the hardened seats just to be safe. However on my daughters '66 289 (which is a daily driver) and has never been touched, we use the regular unleaded pump gas, put over 35,000 miles on it (on top of the 105,000 we bought it at) and not had one lick of a problem.------------------
Duane
71 Fastback (his) under resto (351C-4V C6 auto)
73 Mach 1 (hers) (351CJ 4 speed)
66 289/2V coupe (daughter Ashley's)
89 LX 2.3 convertible (daughter Amanda's)
M & M Member #730
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Harrys'65
Gearhead Posts: 341
From: Saint Paul, MN
Registered: Sep 99
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posted 05-31-2002 07:57 PM
Rick,
I spoke with one of the guys in the club. He uses the AV gas because, like you, he runs stock timing on a high compression engine. He claims all of his cars run better with it.
I might try it to see how my 289 runs with it. I think it costs about $1.90 a gallon, so it isn't too bad. Harry
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JAAZZY
Gearhead Posts: 776
From: Bay Area, CA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 06-01-2002 11:58 AM
That's barely more than 91 Octane here in California in the Bay Area!  quote:
Originally posted by Harrys'65:
Rick,
I spoke with one of the guys in the club. He uses the AV gas because, like you, he runs stock timing on a high compression engine. He claims all of his cars run better with it.
I might try it to see how my 289 runs with it. I think it costs about $1.90 a gallon, so it isn't too bad. Harry
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mustangs68
Moderator Posts: 22182
From: Buckroe Beach Va MCA#39406 M&M #12 Member Mustang Club of Tidewater
Registered: May 99
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posted 09-03-2002 08:01 PM
Before rebuild (orginal heads with 140,000 miles)I didn't add lead additives..as said for around town and weekends your ok but if your rebuild the heads/motor spend the extras money
sam
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