Can I get Leaded Petrol anywhere in Cork, is it ok to use LRP additives?

djfarrell

Greetings, I just bought a stunning 1977 RELIANT SCIMITAR GTE E ODVE in from the UK, it has a 3 liter V6 Ford engine. The owner gave me a tank of leaded petrol to last me till I got home to Cork. I've never seen leaded petrol for sale in Cork recently... is it still sold in Ireland? Can I use the LRP additive? Will using unleaded petrol damage the engine? Please advise! cheers Don:eek:

Henry Ford III

djfarrell wrote:

Greetings, I just bought a stunning 1977 RELIANT SCIMITAR GTE E ODVE in from the UK, it has a 3 liter V6 Ford engine. The owner gave me a tank of leaded petrol to last me till I got home to Cork. I've never seen leaded petrol for sale in Cork recently... is it still sold in Ireland? Can I use the LRP additive? Will using unleaded petrol damage the engine? Please advise! cheers Don:eek:

A big question:-

1/. LRP. Short term yes, but long term no.

2/. Machine heads. Fit hardened valve seats.

3/. www.broquet.co.uk. I have used 1 of these for 6 years. No pinking, no trouble, no loss of performance. Engine runs sweetly on 95 u/l.

djfarrell

Thanks for the reply, as a temporary measure I'll stick with the LRP - are there any brands that are better than the rest?

enda1

I'm pretty sure the sale of leaded petrol would be illegal so yer gonna have to find an alternative.

Max_Damage

djfarrell wrote:

The owner gave me a tank of leaded petrol to last me till I got home to Cork.

That seems impossible, leaded petrol has been banned throughout the EU since 2000.

djfarrell

The guy I bought the car from was an ole fella, said he still had a few barrels of leaded petrol... bet thats worth a fortune!

Hey Mr Henry Ford thanks for the the link to Broquet, that definitely seems the best solution. Is there much work involved in fitting the unit? I'll just use the LRP until I get the Broquet fitted.:D

macplaxton

Max_Damage wrote:

That seems impossible, leaded petrol has been banned throughout the EU since 2000.

No it isn't (in the UK). It's just very limited and very expensive. Last time I seen it it was about a £1 a litre (and that was when regular stuff was about 80-85p). My nearest was in Marlow.

See here: FBHVC

macplaxton

I'd like to see a proper, scientific test of Broquet.

It seems similar to the stuff (tin based) that was around in the early 1990s. Carbonflo was the name of one of them and the Practical Classics Magazine test on a Austin 1800 wrecked the B-series engine in only 5 or 6K miles. It did not live up to it's claims.

I've ran an Austin Maxi on Super Unleaded for just over 16K miles before it was sounding decidedly rough. I never pulled the head to check the valves, but given the unleaded use and motorway revs I was pulling in it. It most probably had receded valves.

Driving a car gently >3000rpm and using unleaded only. It will wear the valve seats, but a lot more slowly. Some cars already have hardened valve seats.

I wouldn't recommend any fuel catalysts such as Carbonflo or Broquet. Either run the car on unleaded and expect to replace the valve seats or run it using an approved additive (as listed on the FHBVC website). These have been tested.

You might want to have a look here

At the end of the day, the choice is yours. If you do get a Broquet and do a test on it, let me know the results and under what conditions you've subjected the engine to.

Cheers,
Rich

corktina

I'm not sure where you will find LRP..ive not seen it for ages.

I think the concensus over the water is to run the car until the valves recede and then rebuild the head with hardened seats. Failing that, there are various brands of lead replacement...i dont know if they are worth using really...i gave up and use unleaded only....

I think the broquet and in line systems have been widely discredited.

Henry Ford III

I have a 200,000 mile warranty against VSR from Broquet.

They are recommended by www.affordableclassics.co.uk for all their leaded only cars.

If you think about it the people who machine heads and sell additives have a vested interest in attempting to discredit Broquet.

Btw I've done many thousands of miles using one, including 4 trackdays (all in the UK). I drove there and home each time. My experience is good. The engine runs cooler without doubt. It even passed the NCT emissions tests (even though exempt).

I'm happy with it. Fitting is as simple as opening the fuel tank and dropping it in.

corktina

so you are happy...thats good....but the question is.....if you had not used it, would it have made any difference? I have done many thousands of miles with out it and had no problems at all so far.....just the same experiance as you EXCEPT i didnt pay for a Broquet (etc)....

ps affordable classics are by no means experts and use that claim as an aid to sales.....,so they too have a vested interest.

Henry Ford III

corktina wrote:

so you are happy...thats good....but the question is.....if you had not used it, would it have made any difference? I have done many thousands of miles with out it and had no problems at all so far.....just the same experiance as you EXCEPT i didnt pay for a Broquet (etc)....

ps affordable classics are by no means experts and use that claim as an aid to sales.....,so they too have a vested interest.

I know what you are saying here.

The point you made earlier about gentle use flies in the face of the actual use my car has had for the last 6 years however. It's done plenty of high speed motorway driving, and 4 trackdays where it was under full throttle wherever possible, saw high rpm, and went over 100 mph on most laps.

You may be right and I may be wrong.

What I can tell you with certainty is that:

1/. I never hear any pinking.
2/. MPG (for what it's worth) has improved. On a legal limit cruise I've recorded over 30 mpg.
3/. Emissions have also improved. NCT printouts back this up. The car also passed modern emissions tests (although exempt).
4/. The engine definately runs cooler than previously. The thermostat and gauge have not been changed.

Perhaps I'm just lucky (and ignorant)?

p.s. If it all goes wrong I can always fit an unleaded head off a Sierra.

Kevin_Herron

Personally I use 'Instead of lead'.
A friend of mine puts a half pint of ATF into the tank every so often!

corktina

Henry Ford III wrote:

I know what you are saying here.

The point you made earlier about gentle use flies in the face of the actual use my car has had for the last 6 years however. It's done plenty of high speed motorway driving, and 4 trackdays where it was under full throttle wherever possible, saw high rpm, and went over 100 mph on most laps.

You may be right and I may be wrong.

What I can tell you with certainty is that:

1/. I never hear any pinking.
2/. MPG (for what it's worth) has improved. On a legal limit cruise I've recorded over 30 mpg.
3/. Emissions have also improved. NCT printouts back this up. The car also passed modern emissions tests (although exempt).
4/. The engine definately runs cooler than previously. The thermostat and gauge have not been changed.

Perhaps I'm just lucky (and ignorant)?

p.s. If it all goes wrong I can always fit an unleaded head off a Sierra.

thats my view too.....i stopped using Castrol Valvemaster (which I used mainly because it had an octane booster) but i might well be wrong to.....i use my engines fairly agressively and no problems so far.

I think its only Sierra heads up to about 1988 you can use isnt it?

corktina

Kevin_Herron wrote:

Personally I use 'Instead of lead'.
A friend of mine puts a half pint of ATF into the tank every so often!

good grief...he has classic insurance etc on a Tank!!!!!

Henry Ford III

corktina wrote:

thats my view too.....i stopped using Castrol Valvemaster (which I used mainly because it had an octane booster) but i might well be wrong to.....i use my engines fairly agressively and no problems so far.

I think its only Sierra heads up to about 1988 you can use isnt it?

I reckon it's the later ones actually. It's in a mag. somewhere...

corktina

that makes sense.....the later pinto'd before the change to EFi or whatever it was....so maybe 88 to 90 or somesuch?

Henry Ford III

I'll have a look later for you.