> The ONLY place I have seen petrol without something like 10% ethanol in
> the last few years has been in Texas. Do they still have it any place
> else?
I didn't keep a log, but I saw it in several places across the country last
summer. Not every station even in areas where it was available. I tried
some in the people hauler and it seemed like I got slightly better fuel
mileage with it, but the higher price made it a wash.
But where I live (CA), it is illegal to sell non-oxygenated gasoline for use
on public roads, so I've been running my TRs on E10 ever since they outlawed
MTBE (which has similar bad effects). The difference is very real, but IMO
not particularly hard to deal with. If your fuel pump diaphragm hasn't been
changed in the past 10-20 years, you'll want a new one. Ditto all the soft
fuel lines (which IMO should be changed every 10 years anyway) and H4/6
float bowl mounts (which only last a couple of years anyway).
Another issue is that E10 doesn't keep well, especially in non-sealed
systems like the TR2-4. Not a problem for me as I drive the car year-round;
but if you are going to store yours for more than 3 months, you'll probably
want to take steps to preserve the fuel (or just transfer to another car and
store the TR "dry").
Some people also believe that E10 can lead to rapid piston ring and cylinder
wall wear in freshly rebuilt motors. One of our local club members had
extreme wear in his TR4 motor less than 10,000 miles after rebuilding it and
I've heard similar stories about other vintage engines. I suspect this is
related to using too much choke when starting (liquid fuel in the cylinders
washes away the oil film), but I have started using an upper cylinder
lubricant anyway (as Triumph recommended). It's tough to always get just
the right amount of choke every time (as my black tail pipe will attest).
Don't recall the brand offhand, but it is a TC-W3 rated outboard motor oil
(bought by the gallon at Wally mart). Supposedly provides better protection
than Marvel Mystery Oil, at a small fraction of the price.
-- Randall
triumphs@autox.team.net
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