I'm new to the hobby and this may be a stupid question but when driving mid year vettes do you need to add some kind of lead additive to the fuel to prevent engine damage?
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Re: Fuel
Yes, unless the heads have been done with hardened valve seats. -
Re: Fuel
It depends on the engine and the octane quality of fuel available at your local pumps. If the engine won't operate on pump premium without significant detonation, then you'll have to blend some high octane racing gasoline with it. Light low rev detonation can usually be tuned out with changes to the initial and centrifugal advance curve.
Valve seat recession without tetraethyl lead is not a real issue on engines that don't see a lot of load, so if you don't pull a trailer up or race it unleaded fuel is unlikely to result in significant loss of valve seat life.
DukeComment
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Re: Fuel
if the engine was run on leaded fuel and no valve job has been done there is enought lead on the valves and seats to last a life time. joe is also correct if you do not load the engine for great length of time there is no problem.Comment
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Re: Fuel
Duke
What are the symptoms of "significant detonation" ?
SteveComment
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Re: Fuel
Knocking, pinging sound. I'm sure you have heard it. If not you will certainly notice a bad sound. A little light transient detonation that occurs at low revs under normal acceleration, but disappears as the revs increase is not going to hurt anything, but sustained detonation that is alway present when you are accelerating must either be tuned out with modifications to the advance curve, or with higher octane fuel.
DukeComment
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