>Andy
>
>Andy's Austin Seven Page
>http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4752/ wrote:
>Rick,
>Masses has been said about the issue of lead in petrol and a year or so
>ago I included some of it on my web site
>http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4752/unleaded.html. Since then the
>Federation of British historic vehicle clubs (not the government) has
>run some tests on lead replacement additives using a BMC 'A' series
>engine - . . . . . . . .The lead issue is a very complex one, a friend
summarised it as: The coastal areas of California suffer from smog caused
by sulphur emissions . . Unfortunately to increase the energy calorific
>value of the fuel they added aromatics like benzine which are known
>carcinogens..........
>
>There was a mention in the Austin Seven Owners Club this month
>suggesting that older cars will be required to be fitted with catalysers
>at some time in the future. I haven't seen this referred to anywhere
>else so there may be nothing in it; never believe a rumour until it has
>been officially denied!
**********************************
Interesting thought about aftermarket cat converters. Up until a year ago,
all cars built after 1966 had to be tested for emmissions here in
California. A new law that exempted all cars pre-1974 cars from testing was
put into effect after much lobbying by enthusiasts. Our biggest opposition
was not the usual "tree huggers" and "kumbuyas" (spent too much time at the
campfire singing folk songs during the '60s!) but the SMOG TESTING CENTERS
AND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS!!!!!! We all were to pay for their prosperity!
Anyway, prior to the law change, there were a number of late '60s "muscle
cars," that barely passed tests from new, that wouldn't pass at all, no
matter how great their condition was. It was said that the test criteria
and methods had changed over the years and there was no way that they could
pass . . . . . . BUT, My friend Jack, at Washington Muffler started
keeping a good used pair of small aftermarket cats on the shelf and welding
them into the exhaust system as close to the engine as they would fit and
heating them up real good (by running the car for half an hour in place,
but sometimes with the help of a propane torch!) and THEN doing the smog
test. There were some 396SS Malibus and Boss 302 Mustangs that NEVER had
emmissions that low, tested at the shop. There was no law actually
preventing this and the pre-cat cars (earlier than 1975) were NOT required
to have an undercarriage inspection!!! The cats were removed after the
test. All of this became redundant after the law changed.
This leads me to believe that retrofitting cats would work except, how are
you going to get an Austin Seven to generate enough heat to cause the
necessary chemical reaction????
A gasoline powered preheater? Sounds like a fire hazard to me!
I drove over 400 miles to San Francisco to visit my family for the
holidays. I saw two older cars on the road on the trip to and from, a
restored 1965 Ford saloon and a cool looking 1964 Falcon Ranchero street
rod. Period! While in the Bay Area, the only old cars that I saw were in
friends garages, though I did do an appraisal on a 1976 Jag XJ12C that the
guy actually drove over for me to see. There are not enough old cars on the
road in California for ANYONE to worry about unless they are trying to sell
us something or using media scare tactics to take something away from us.
I think that it will all be forgotten as everyone gets with the program and
buy their overpriced six year car and give their $5,000+ a year to the new
car gods for the rest of their lives. We are now told that our cars are
appliences like washers, dryers, and telephone answering machines. Our
computers are outdated and should be updated the minute after they are
first set up. Chalk the costs up to a use fee. Buy early and buy often -
international consumerisim - and that, in a paragraph is how the US beat
the Commies. They merged with and bought off the world!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Rick Feibusch
Venice, CA
|