In a message dated 8/5/02 2:09:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
jservaites@woh.rr.com writes:
> Bill Laucher wrote:
> >
> > Someone told me a while back that I should add a lead substitute to
today'
> s
> > unleaded gas to preserve the valves and head that were made for use with
> > leaded gas. At the corner auto parts store, I find only octane boosters.
> > Do I need this or a true lead substitute? Or are they the same thing?
Or
> > just use premium gas? Am I just avoiding ping, or is there more to it?
> >
> > Bill Laucher
> > Series V heart in a Series IV body
> > SAOCA Charter Member #0042
> > Houston, Texas
>
> Bill,
> All Alpines have steel valve seats, so you don't need to worry about
> lead additives. You won't hurt anything running unleaded gas.
> Jan
A head shop mechanic here in Seattle who has worked on a lot of Alpine heads
said the original steel seats appear to be of "just average" quality. If
you're going to do a lot of high-rpm driving, newer, harder seats might be in
order. Personally, I didn't notice any difference over about 50k miles after
the last of the lead was removed.
Dick Sanders
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