Lead fuel additive

[Damcanadian]

I just got a 69 Roadrunner with a 383. Does anyone use a lead fuel additive or just use 91 octane 100% gasoline

 

[69hemibeep]

I take it you don't know if hardened seats were put into the heads. If not its not a bad idea if your going to drive it allot but Chrysler engines are high in nickel content so the heads are pretty hard. In light duty short trips I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Big John]

I wouldn't bother.

The additives aren't going to buy you much... if anything. Real tetraethyl lead is deadly stuff... Very deadly... and they aren't going to put that in a can for you to dump in your tank. It's all pretty much snake oil....

As Bob says, the seats are hard enough to begin with. If the heads ever needed to be redone, I'd put hardened seats in them. I wouldn't do it unless the engine was coming apart anyway. In a car that gets limited mileage, you won't wear out the stock valve seats in many years.

 

[jays69bird]

Plus a few of the additives cause deposit fouling on the spark plugs. I have the Roadrunner plus a 36 Terraplane and do not run anything but good non ethanol gas in them.

 

[Ranger]

I agree. I don't use it. I consider it snake oil like most other additives, be they fuel, oil, coolant or gasoline.

 

[RAINMANYEH]

Check this site for service stations that carry pure gas. Luckily, there is a station near my house and I have to pass it every day.

http://www.pure-gas.org

 

[Bill Monk]

Anybody ever used this? I agree with the previous posts but curious about the product.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190586596801?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Big John]

Anybody ever used this? I agree with the previous posts but curious about the product.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190586596801?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

If it really contains "lead", then I would suggest that you stay away from it. Note the "rubber gloves" etc. warning on the label.

Before I would do that, I would experiment with adding a little race gas to the tank. Maybe a couple gallons per tank. The price would probably work out the same and you aren't going to die 2 years from now because you spilled a little on yourself.

Years ago, when you could still buy leaded regular, but not premium, we used to mix half/half the unleaded premium with the leaded regular. The result was a gas that seemed to have a higher octane. That was based on an article written by a really sharp guy named Pepe Estrada in Car Craft back in the seventies. (I made the mistake of lending that copy and never got it back) Of course, on our part, we based our results on "seat of the pants", but it pinged less than just the unleaded premium and there was still some lead being pushed through the engines.

I really need to find that article.... It gave some really good tech on how this all works.

 

[Coyote]

I wouldn't bother worrying about it. As Big John said, put the hardened valve seats in if it's got to come apart down the road. Just an FYI, I had a 318 in a tournament ski boat that stayed together for over 20 years until it burned an exhaust valve out in the early '90's. Installed stellite seats and it was still screaming when I traded it. Boat motors get SEVERE usage, there is no "coasting", they are either under load or idling.