Hi John, Cliff and register members
For too many years, we in New Zealand have had to suffer poor quality petrol
after leaded petrol was phased out. Among the many problems, the fact that
the new formulation attacked rubber components was the worst of them. The
problem lies in what is used to 'boost' the octane - Toulene is the main
one, there is also benzine and something else (can't remember righht now).
All of them are hard on rubber and also paint... And on top of that, they
are carnegenic (which is worse, that or a bit of lead). It sounds as though
the new UK petrol is not much different.
The additives were a waste of time and money and if anything harmed the
car - they certainly did not help. Having to clean the sparkplugs on an
otherwise healthy engine every 5000km convinced me that the product
(Valvemaster) was no good.
The Triumph engine does not need additive anyway IMHO. The New Zealand
experience in the 70's (read oil shortages) was to convert many cars to CNG
or LPG. There is no additive in those fuels. Triumphs made some of the best
conversions - both in the way they accepted the conversion (ie. performance)
and also in the reliability - there were absolutely no valve problems and if
anything the engines lasted longer.
So if I was you in the UK, I would put in plain highest octane petrol with
no additives. Make sure that the rubber components are checked thoroughly
now and each time the car is serviced and make sure that any petrol spillage
is thoroughly cleaned off paint work. And enjoy your cars...
David Greed
1974 Stag Man O/D
1979 2500S Man O/D
Email: Home: greed@wave.co.nz
Work: david.greed@telecom.co.nz
Webpages: http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/greed
.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Macartney" <jonmac@ndirect.co.uk>
To: <clifford.pope@virgin.net>; <2000-register@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 January 2000 21:14
Subject: Re: oil leaks etc
> Cliff Pope wrote:
> >1) Does anyone know how to plumb in the rocker oil feed pipe kit without
it leaking? I
> have finally given up and removed mine, after grappling with it for a
year. The problem
> occurs at the banjo joint at the back of the cylinder head. The 2 metal
washers
> >supplied with the kit are useless - the force needed to squeeze them
enough to stop oil
> coming out would shear the bolt. I next tried fibre washers, and thought
that this had
> solved the problem. Each time I detected oil seaping out I cautiously
tightened
> >the bolt a fraction, and this seemed to do the trick. Now however the
washers have
> compressed so much thatthe shank of the bolt has reached the threaded
hole, so of course
> oil started to pour out. I have tried copper washers (not soft enough),
more fibre washers
> (toosoft), metal washers with chemical metal smeared on the faces (won't
stick, so falls
> out), even string and red gasket cement. I had the head off recently and
took the
> opportunity of facing up the area around the hole, but it made no
difference.
>
> Cliff, I've had exactly the same problems although I failed to persevere
as long as you. I
> obtained the external feed because I'd just had the head re-seated,
(though this was
> mainly because the valve guides were shot) and it was clear there had been
a restricted
> oil supply to the rockers when in the hands of the previous owner. After
the outlay of
> re-seating, re-guiding and a complete new rocker shaft, it seemed prudent
to fit a supply
> pipe as well.In my case, I emptied the sump twice on running the engine
for no more than
> about 2 mins. Wasn't prepared to risk breaking the banjo bolt or strip the
thread inside
> the head, so I took the pipe off and replaced the plug. Currently, the
internal supply is
> working well, so I wasted (for the time being?) 20 quid.
>
> >2) Is anyone either in the club or across the classic car scene keeping a
log of people's
> experiences with LRP and the various petrol additives now in use to cope
with the absence
> of lead? I have noticed that LRP rapidly perishes the rubber diaphrams in
> Stromberg carburettors.
>
> I understand from a number of different places that LRP is causing
problems of the sort
> you describe, together with associated rough running and alleged lack of
performance. A
> switch to 95 unleaded and an anti-wear additive seems to effect the cure.
>
> >Manganese is said to be the only additive that reproduces the cooler
burn
> characteristics that leaded petrol had and that older designs of engine
need. I cannot
> definitely confirm this, as I have rectified so many other things that
might have been
> >contributing to my chronic overheating problems. But car now runs cool
and I am thinking
> about a radiator muff!
>
>
> Millers VSP Plus is also claimed to have an octane booster in it. I'm no
combustion
> engineer but I understand from Rover Engineering that octane isn't the
only
> be-all-end-all. Millers also uses sodium as the lead substitute which *it
is alleged* is
> not as good as potassium or phosphorous which chemicals are found in
Superblend Zero Lead
> 2000 and Castrol Valvemaster respectively.
>
> Had it not been for the fact that my head needed new valve seats, I would
have gone
> straight over to running plain unleaded. Standard Triumph were fitting
hardened seats in
> the late 60's when the American air pollution regs cut in and there is
ample evidence and
> reliable hearsay from former employees that these better components were
fitted across the
> board for all markets. This goes some way to explaining why many people in
this country
> have been running unleaded in their Triumphs for some considerable period
of time without
> an additive and without any reported difficulties.
>
> John Macartney
>
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