First unleaded?

Sabre Man

The car taxes going up got me thinking, because my daily (as in once every 2 weeks or so) car has a rather large engine, what was the first car running on unleaded petrol?

Are there any comfortable, big, unleaded cars near or over 30 years old out there?

Spit62500

Maybe Japanese but anything with an alloy head....

The car listing at the back of Practical Classics shows which cars can use unleaded with little or no modifications. Most classics will run on unleaded with little trouble - some valve seat inserts might be needed later although some have already been converted over the years. It wouldn't be a good enough reason to avoid buying a model that you like.

MercMad

Any Merecedes Benz will run on unleaded with no additive, you may require a small and simple timing adjustment !

AsphaltRisin'

Most popular classics can be converted to unleaded quite easily.
For many classic fords for example, you can either have your own cylinder head onverted, or buy one off the shelf... or it it's got the 2 litre "pinto" engine just get the cylinder head from the late model fuel injected version.

I think a lot of the older BMWs will run fine on unleaded, plus the classic mercs as the previous guy said... both of those brands are capable of supplying something big and comfy

maidhc

AsphaltRisin' wrote: »

For many classic fords for example, you can either have your own cylinder head onverted, or buy one off the shelf... or it it's got the 2 litre "pinto" engine just get the cylinder head from the late model fuel injected version.

Indeed. I think most old fords are nearly converted at this stage.

Sabre Man

AsphaltRisin' wrote: »

Most popular classics can be converted to unleaded quite easily.
For many classic fords for example, you can either have your own cylinder head onverted, or buy one off the shelf

Might be an option. Any idea how much this would cost?

PaulK_CCI

Sabre Man wrote: »

Might be an option. Any idea how much this would cost?

This should be a typical example of the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' philosophy. Most older cars will be able to run perfectly fine on unleaded. If an engine has ever been overhauled in the past 20 years, you can bet it already has hardened seat valves and there IS no issue with unleaded petrol. Also US cars and cars that were sold a lot in the States have had to deal with this problem since the late 60ies and early seventies, because in some States they didn't sell any other "gas" than unleaded !!
Engines that have never been touched, can suffer from valve wear, BUT we're not talking a very abrupt process here! Generally on an engine with say 120k miles on it, it would normally take another 80,000 miles before an engine rebuild would be required (although this ofcourse entirel depends on which engine, how the engine was used and driven before, and how it will be continued to be used and driven), By using unleaded petrol without any additive's, this expectancy will be most likely reduced to say another 40,000 miles !!! which on a classic could still last you another 4 years or more.

So bottom line is not to worry too much about this. Especially if you;re planning to put in the additive regularly. I would ensure that the engine is healthy on purchase, and deal with a possible head overhaul when the time comes rather than start tackling engine heads when there is possibly no need to do this in the first place.

Now, the 95 RON Octane level in Higher Octane engines is a different story altoghether, and that might require a small adjustment in your timing...