[Healeys] Fuel

[Oudesluys]

Bob,

Do not let you get scared by the industry. They just want to sell additives.
There are very few people who have had problems with fuel, be it E5 or 
E10. If they had, it was mainly because of deteriorating old rubber 
hoses, diaphragms that should have been replaced years ago anyway and/or 
rust/dirt in the tank that dissolved once they started using the car 
again. When a car is well maintained and in regular use, there are 
hardly ever problems if at all.
I have found the same having had petrol in a can for years in the boot 
as a reserve. When I finally needed it there were no problems at all.
The fuel we have today is different from that in the '60s, but is does 
not mean the quality is worse.

Kees Oudesluijs
NL

Op 6-6-2013 15:13, Bob Spidell schreef:
> re: "With the poor quality of todays fuel ..."
>
> What quality issues are we having with today's fuel?  Many modern 
> cars--'family' sedans, even--will do 150MPH and 0-60 in six seconds or 
> less on 'pump' gas.  I just put 3,773 miles on my BJ8 over 6 states on 
> pump gas--granted, my car is not high-compression; nominal at 
> best--with no fuel-related issue.  I generally buy the 'name' 
> brands--Chevron, Shell, etc.--but will buy no-name gas if necessary.
>
> AFAIK, the octane-rating tests--motor ('M') and research ('R'); the US 
> uses the average of the two--haven't changed in decades, if ever, so 
> today's 91-octane gas has the same anti-detonation quality as 
> 91-octane gas from 1950.  Many, if not all, gas stations have had to 
> replace their underground tanks to prevent leakage into the 
> environment; the side-effect being there shouldn't be much 50-year-old 
> crud and water sitting on the bottom.  It's only anecdotal, but I put 
> pump gas--probably containing ethanol--into an unlined steel can for 
> my lawnmower and have had it sit for 3 years or more with no visible 
> deterioration of the can or the gas (and the mower still runs fine on 
> it).
>
> Not heckling here; I'd just like to know what fuel quality-related 
> issues people are having--I haven't heard of any (the carping about 
> alcohol is another issue--I'm not a fan of the fuel or the political 
> policy, but I haven't had any trouble with it).  Now, if the issue is 
> 95-octane ((R+M)/2) gas isn't available at the pump any more; well 
> that's not a quality but a supply&demand or maybe a cost issue (you 
> can get 100-octane avgas at some stations in the southwest if you're 
> willing to pay $6+/gal).
>
> Bob
>
>
> On 6/5/2013 11:48 PM, Derek Job wrote:
>> John
>>
>> With the poor quality of todays fuel I think that 35 degrees advance 
>> is too
>> much for a road car. To answer one of your questions, that would be the
>> total advance when the mechanical advance is fully operational. The 
>> vacuum
>> advance is a fuel economy measure and only operates when the throttle is
>> slightly open.
>>
>> Derek