leaded/unleaded?????????question?????????????

[jessy1616bike]

hi all,can anyone shed some light on the issue with using unleaded petrol on a 1600 xflow?does the head realy need to be done?will there be any imediate damage if driven without an additive?thank you arthur

[Trextr7monkey]

Short term unlikely to do damage as residual lead from previous 50k miles in the escort/ cortina/ capri will be ok.
Mid term you need to think about additives or accumulating some spare heads ( possibly an unleaded one?!!) to have handy for when/ if the sad time comes,

It is reckoned to cost about £60 to convert valve guides etc for unleaded and at the moment you can get decent heads for less than that on fleabay etc
Also what kind of mileage are you expecting to do each year? Will car be a hoby or daily driver?

[jessy1616bike]

thanks trextr7monkey,i will be doing at most 3000 a year,its just for running about town.another question,if i use an additive in with the fuel must i continue to use the additve or can it be put in every now and again?cheers arthur

[techsec]

Another way of doing it (again you can pick them up from evilbay) is to fit a valve lube kit (such as Flashlube). These were originally produced in Australia to combat going from leaded to unleaded and then LPG.
We sell and fit them to customers vehicles either if they ask for it or if the engine is known to have soft valve seats.
Whether they do what the manufacturer says I can not comment on as we have not been in the situation of stripping an engine down that has run using the system against one that has either run unleaded or lpg without the system.
Personally I have tended to go down the route of having the head modified with the correct valve seats and valves to run unleaded but I know not everyone either wants to do this or wishes to do this.

[drseg]

short journeys at low revs wont damage the head much
long journeys at sustained high revs will kill the head quickly
additives are proven and there are several inline/in tank things available
interestingly an engine builder i know reckons if you keep temp below 70 deg c no damage will occur???
not tried that one but if ya gonna run without anythin may also be worth a try
my take on that is running cooler wont dameage the valve seat anymore than running it at normal temp
but best in the long term will be a properly unledded head