Michael Peterson Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 I have just been out for an evening blat in my Seven (1600 X-flow) during which I filled the tank. Out here in the 'Colonies' we are unable to get four star, consiquently the little beast gets a steady diet of 100 octane leaded aviation gasoline. This is fine when air fields are convinient, but for distance touring I will have to use some unleaded fule. What amount of unleaded is safe to use without harm to the valves? Are any of the lead substitutes worth considering, or are they just a waste of my quid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Whyman Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Michael, There have been quite a few threads on fuel in this forum in recent weeks, you might like to look back, it may give you some help.I run a 1700 X flow and my manual tells me I can run four tanks unleaded to one tank leaded, but you must take into consideration distributor type and timing set up. All quite beyond me!!. I run on lrp (yuck!)only, as consistancy is a good policy. Happy motoring. thumbsup.gif C7 WJW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Alston Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Michael I too run a Xflow and on expert advice have steered well clear of all Lead Replacement Fuel due to variations in the compounds used by the fuel companies to achieve the same ends. I have used Unleaded Fuel with Castrol Valve Plus (with octane booster) for the past year and have detected no fall off in performance nor any variation in very carefully checked valve clearances. John A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Peterson Posted May 20, 2001 Author Share Posted May 20, 2001 DOH!blush.gif You see what happens when when one does not spend enough time on Blat Chat! Since we do not have LRP here I will have to do my low flying from airport to airport. Cheers! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Hi Michael Your car has got the distributor set up for unleaded use. If you can fill up every 5th tankfull with leaded you should be ok unless you intend using max. revs. everywhere! Still, looking on the bright side, it should give you the incentive to start looking for that Zetec before you run into problems. thumbsup.gif Cheers Brent smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger King Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Michael, Because you are using proper leaded fuel, there will be a beneficial lead memory effect on the valve seats. This means that previous contributors advice to use leaded every few tankfuls is correct. Personally, I'd go for leaded every three or four tankfuls to be safe. The octane of the unleaded fuel that you use will also be an issue. The 100octane leaded is fine, but you probably don't want to drop below 95 octane on the unleaded. I assume that you have one of Caterham's unleaded distributore as supplied in Blighty. If that isn't the case the above advice on octane rating may be wrong. You can have the head inserted so that it can run full time on unleaded fuel, but if the leaded is fairly easy for you this may not be of any interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Peterson Posted May 22, 2001 Author Share Posted May 22, 2001 Many thanks for all the advice. I would hate to bugger up my baby with lousy fule. I think we will stay with proper leaded, unless touring long distance. Brent: Still looking for Zetec funds, its that four seater problem again......wink.gif Cheers!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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