[Healeys] Fuel (was: tuning and timing)

Chris Dimmock austin.healey at gmail.com
Thu Jun 6 08:58:15 MDT 2013


Short answer..
It has no tetra ethyl lead.
TEL does more than lubricate.
It burns differently than the additives that replace it.
Tell me why modern fuel goes stale and loses up to 5 octane points after 2 or
3 weeks in a drum/ tank????????
Never used to happen with 100 octane 5 star, did it??????
Why is that??
Chris

Sent from my iPhone

On 07/06/2013, at 12:43 AM, Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net> wrote:

> re: "I run Shell V-Power 99 octane."
>
> 'poor quality' fuel?
>
> Bob
>
>
> --------------------------------
> Bob Spidell - San Jose, CA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
>
>
> You can call it whatever you want but it is too low octane for our cars and
lower than they were designed for so the shop manual guidelines are not
directly applicable. I run Shell V-Power 99 octane.
>
> BTW most octane boosters do not increase the octane content by the amounts
claimed.
>
> Derek
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 2:13 PM, Bob Spidell < bspidell at comcast.net > wrote:
>
>
> 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:
>
> <blockquote>
> 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.


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