Grant M. wrote:
>I know this isn't strictly a wedgies topic, but some do run TR3's. Have any
>of you American enthusiasts converted your TR3's to run on unleaded petrol?
>Over here in Australia, we still get leaded petrol, and that's what I run my
>TR7 on. But one day I'd like to restore a TR3 and am trying to weigh up the
>pro's and cons. No doubt leaded petrol will disappear from our shores one
>day, and I'd hate to restore a car only to find I can't drive the thing! The
>TR7 engine can be converted, mainly through inserting harded valve seats and
>adjusting the timing. No need for cat converters in Australia.
No worries mate!
Almost 10 years ago I wrote an article in the VTR newsletter asking
for any input from anyone who may have encountered problems with their
TR (any TR or Spitfire) as a result of using unleaded fuels. I received
only two or three replies and those were comments from people
that had been using unleaded fuels for years (e.g. AMOCO gasoline
always sold an unleaded fuel as long ago as the 1950s.) with absolutely
no problem in their TR. One or two had rebuilt their engines
after high mileages and found no excessive valve seat wear.
Additionallly, it now seems apparent that most driving does not cause
any problems for TRs even with unleaded fuels. There may be some long term
negative impacts if the TR is agressively driven (i.e. raced) most
of the time, but even that is highly speculative.
The fears of valve seat damage that arose when we switched to unleaded
fuels in the USA have not come about with any degree of commonality.
The problems, were they may exist, are apparently more likly in vehicles
from the 1940s and earlier with some possible 1950s/1960s cars
also affected. But, having said that, there still appears to be
no problem for TR owners. Most of the USA has been unleaded only for
almost 20 years now, so if there was any measurable impact to
the Triumph marque I think we'd have seen it by now.
As to the TR-7, you need not do any conversion since the cars were
designed for unleaded fuels to begin with. I rather doubt that
the TR-7 heads on cars exported to Oz were any different in there
metallurgical production than those destined to the USA.
Cheers to all and Happy Boxer day.
Cheers,
Bill Sohl Budd Lake, NJ billsohl@planet.net
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Visit the Mount Olive Township Republican Party Home page at:
http://www.cns-nj.com/mtolive
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