I think we've been here before. From time to time the question of
unleaded gas pops up, but still.....
The question of unleaded gasoline and how well older vehicles will
perform with it is really a rhetorical one. The lab boys at Shell informed
me a long time ago that they first began to put lead in gasoline in 1948.
Prior to that, gasoline had an octane rating of between 60 and 80 and had
no additives. Therefore engines built before 1948 ran exclusively on un-
leaded gasoline. That is, unless you're talking about German aircraft
engines from WW2. It was actually German engineers who, by increasing the
octane rating of thier gasoline for the Me109 and her sisters found that
it was also neccessary to add lead to prevent valve burning.
I run a Dodge WC51 from 1943, have had it 3 years and run it on unleaded
gasoline without any problems whatsoever. I've also seen Dodges of the same
period run on a mixture of 70% unleaded gas and 30% kerosene without any
engine problems, although I can imagine that at -20C the kerosene might
give problems with condensed paraffin in the fuel lines and filters.
Have a Happy New Year
Gerry Davison - Denmark - Europe