Posted by Paul Cook on July 17, 2000 at 22:40:05:
In Reply to: Help needed posted by Dan on July 17, 2000 at 16:38:56:
Before I was born and on into the forties and fifties, several oil companies marketed "white" gas for use in cars and trucks. That means unleaded kids.
Leaded - unleaded is only critical in the super high compression engines of the late fifties, sixties and seventies "muscle" cars. As the new environmental controls forced the nation to make the transition to "unleaded" gas, the economy trend made those big engines unavailable. So the oil companies didn't worry too much about the replacement additives that were good for them. The auto industry didn't care either since they figured you would be forced to buy a car that used unleaded. In fact, the oil companies charged more for unleaded claiming the added cost was for removing the lead and the stupid American consumers said, "okay" and paid it.
I ran "white" gas in my MOPAR flat heads then and I run "unleaded" gas in my MOPAR flat heads now. Oh yes, I still have my grandfather's 1925 Sears Roebuck camp stove that used "white" gas. Coleman has recently brought out lanterns and camp stoves that use unleaded gas instead of stove fuel.
Live Long. You will learn there is nothing new. Throughout the years, oil companies, automobile manufacturers, and additives marketers will continue to tell you that you need what they have to sell.
Of course the lead additive is good if you are running an old high compression V8 - or you can replace the valve seats. Have you noticed there are two truck companies marketing high performance V-10's that don't need lead?