Unleaded gas, is lead required |
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Unleaded gas, is lead required |
Gcotton92203 |
Nov 28 2014, 07:07 PM
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#1
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 14-February 14 From: Bermuda Dunes Ca. Member No.: 17,000 Region Association: Southern California |
Simple question. 1973 914 2.0 Runs great!. I'm not the original owner, but he says he's always used unleaded and owned the car for over 25 years. I have no idea if the heads have been off & reworked but it seems in 1973 they would have used leaded fuel in this car. And I hear unleaded is hard on valves unless they've been replaced with hardened valves & seats. What's the skinny? Do I need to use an additive or is unleaded premium ok to use?
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Johny Blackstain |
Nov 28 2014, 07:26 PM
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#2
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Walnut Elite Stratocaster player Group: Members Posts: 3,434 Joined: 5-December 06 From: The Shenandoah River Member No.: 7,318 Region Association: MidAtlantic Region |
The way I heard the story is Porsche got wind of all gas in the US going to unleaded in 75, so they anticipated & made sure the valves were sodium filled in advance. Besides, only place I know of to get leaded gas these days is @ an airport.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png) |
Cap'n Krusty |
Nov 28 2014, 07:50 PM
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#3
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Cap'n Krusty Group: Members Posts: 10,794 Joined: 24-June 04 From: Santa Maria, CA Member No.: 2,246 Region Association: Central California |
Engines with hardened (i.e., steel) valve seats don't need lead. Cast Iron heads with the seats cut right into the head do. Porsche used sodium filled valves in many applications for YEARS before anyone ever thought to remove the lead additives from gasoline.
The Cap'n |
Tom_T |
Nov 29 2014, 09:14 PM
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#4
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TMI.... Group: Members Posts: 8,318 Joined: 19-March 09 From: Orange, CA Member No.: 10,181 Region Association: Southern California |
The 73 2L & all the 914/4s were made to run on unleaded regular gas, the 91 RON on the passenger wheelhouse is the Euro rating for regular & unleaded. It was part of the CA & USA smog stuff coming on then.
I ran mine on regular 12/75-5/75, as did the OO before me - premium & mid don't really add power & can cause other problems. It sat in my garage since 85 due to it getting whacking in a parking structure after a full body & mechanical rolling resto, so it sat on blocks awaiting the resto I've starting recently. A bigger issue with the current fuel is the ethanol content - especially if the gas sits too long in the tank due to limited use. So if you can find someplace in CA or across the AZ line to buy old school pure gas, that would be a great option & good excuse for a drive! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) |
Dave_Darling |
Nov 29 2014, 10:01 PM
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#5
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914 Idiot Group: Members Posts: 14,991 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Silicon Valley / Kailua-Kona Member No.: 121 Region Association: Northern California |
Porsche and VW were using the "right stuff" to survive unleaded gasoline long before the 914 was even thought of. So don't worry about it at all.
--DD |
stevegm |
Nov 29 2014, 10:06 PM
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#6
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 2,111 Joined: 14-July 14 From: North Carolina Member No.: 17,633 Region Association: South East States |
I asked John Forbes (Black Forest Racing) about this today. He said that he hasn't seen any indication that the current gasoline is causing any issues on engines, including the valves. The only thing he said that might be an issue is whether the car has a catalytic converter, and what type of fuel it was designed for.
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SixerJ |
Nov 30 2014, 02:38 AM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 448 Joined: 24-June 13 From: UK Member No.: 16,042 Region Association: England |
I asked John Forbes (Black Forest Racing) about this today. He said that he hasn't seen any indication that the current gasoline is causing any issues on engines, including the valves. The only thing he said that might be an issue is whether the car has a catalytic converter, and what type of fuel it was designed for. Since they have introduced ethanol in fuel here (now 10%) Im on my 2nd set of fuel hoses on the 911 since it was restored in 2008 and the engine bay hoses in the 914 once. I'm using the original cloth style hose and I don't think Wurth or whoever makes it is has changed the formula to resist it being eaten away The hose lifetime seems to be 5 years max, after that they will start to leak and you should plan to change them as a maintenance item unless you want to risk a fire My brother has a small block cobra replica and as I speak its in my garage waiting for new diaphragms to arrive for the Holly - totally lunched Ethanol is not good in my book General blurb about what ethanol can do to older cars http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex...nol-update.html |
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