WRogers28 wrote:
>
> Fiat engines have been running on unleaded fuel in the USA for years. I find
> it hard to believe that they cannot be "converted" elsewhere.
>
Dear Bill
The statement that the Fiat engine used by Morgan between 1985 and 1987
cannot be upgraded to run on unleaded fuel comes from Mark Aston,
Technical Director of Morgan, and is quoted in the recent "New Forest
News" (the magazine of the New Forest section of the MSCC).
However the author has looked a bit further, so I must modify that
statement. I quote from the article -
"The advice from the Morgan Motor Company is that both the 1600 and 2
litre models cannot use unleaded fuel; the 2 litre has a Digiplex
ignition system fitted and Mark Aston told me it was not possible to
modify this system for use with unleaded fuel. The 1600 does not have
this system fitted but still the advice from the factory is that this
engine cannot run on unleaded fuel. I then contacted Fiat UK and their
Technical Division stated that both the 1600 and 2 litre could not use
PREMIUM unleaded but could be run on SUPER unleaded. So I suppose the
factory are basing their advice on PREMIUM unleaded. Both Fiat engines
used by Morgan are basically the same design and have quite a high
compression ratio so we are back to the problem of Octane ratings and it
seem that it is only safe to use SUPER unleaded in these engines, and as
for the valves and valve seats they are hard enough to cope with
unleaded fuel."
Dave Wagstaff
1997 Plus 4
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