To respond to item #1, Cd-2 is a lead replacement, not tetraethyl lead
compound. Tetraethyl Lead was used as an upper cylender lube and as an
octane booster. It also stabalizes the burn rate of gasoline. Longer burn
rate= more power. By using approximately 1 ounce (2.5 ml) in 20 gallons of
gas, you can effectivly raise the octane 8 points. The octane boosters that
are on the market today require a minimum of 1 ounce per gallon to raise the
octane 4 points. In 1971, the oil company that I worked for had an
advertising gimmick, They put a coupon in the local paper that you took to
the nearest company station and fill up with the cheapest gas we sold, and
present the coupon and the station would add a 1 ounce bottle of Tetraethyl
lead to your gas tank. This was to show what it would be like if you were
using the "premium" gas over the regular gas. At the time we were using a
Blend-o-matic pump, you could get straight regular, 75% regular/25%
premium, 50/50, Special or Premium.
It must have been the marketing ploy to use at the time, before they decided
that "clean air" was more important than fuel conservation. My Spitfire
would get 39 MPG on the highway with the top down, and about 22 in town.
Most of the cars we have today can't compare, And with the oxiginated
fuels, I am lucky to be able to tune my engine.
In response to item #2, I agree. But when I first got my car I didn't know
the differences either. I had to rebuild everything in the clutch after
using DOT 3 fluid.
As always, this JMO.
Larry Zink
1964 Spitfire4 Mk1
Houston, Texas
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert M. Lang <LANG@ISIS.mit.edu>
To: sweisman@gis.net <sweisman@gis.net>
Cc: triumphs@autox.team.net <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 1998 12:42 PM
Subject: Question NO. 2,745
>
>Hi,
>
>First off, these are not dumb questions...
>
>Two answers:
>
>1. lead in the fuel. My direct experience is that the additives don't
>really do anything. My indirect experience is that the stuff can lead to
>other problems in the fuel system - I recall one TR250 guy (Hi Steve!) who
>was adding CD-2 to his car... had to take all three Webers apart to clean
>out the "gunk" after a year or so. Another data point is related to how
>much you drive the car. If you fall into the classics-drive-em-on-Sunday
>crowd, it'll take a really long time to damage the engine from running
>unleaded. If the compression is still okay on your car, you're probably in
>"good shape" for years down the road. If you start loosing compression
>_and_ you take the head off _and_ you have valve recession, then putting in
>hardened seats is okay. But, as I like to say, it'll take a long time to
>cost justify spending hundreds of $$$ for machine work if things are okay
>to start with.
>
>I've got 100,000 miles on my engine in my TR6 - no valve recession yet, and
>I've run unleaded only for the last 50,000 miles. And some folks on this
>list can back me up on this, I represent the upper end of stress testing on
>any car.
>
>2. Use DOT 4 fluid. It is a good idea to flush the system every few years
>anyway, so buy a few cans and change your fluid by doing a "flush". FWIW,
>I've not seen Girling Red, for a long, long time.
>
>Some say DOT3 fluid will damage your seals. I have no direct experience, I
>only use DOT4. The brand that I use is Castrol LMA. It seems to work fine.
>You can get it at better auto parts places or by mail order from the Big
>Three. I usually pick up a can or two when I go to events where TRF is
>there... I have a shelf full of the stuff.
>
>Later,
>rml
>TR6's
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