Morris Minor Owners Club

Yes, the FBHVC tests (using an A-series engine) proved that it's not ONLY lead that can prevent VSR and it's a reality. If you run without protection you WILL suffer with it. The amount of recession though depends on many factors. A lot of folks have run happily for years on ordinary unleaded and can be quite smug about it... then you see the odd post about car lost power, valve trouble, etc.

well ,ive run my plastic pickup on unleaded for arounds 23,0000 noew and it seems to run fine, when it does give up ,ill get an unleaded head then, steve

Yeah that's what I'm planning to do too. The heads are common enough not to care about trashing them.

cracking car chris

You know, sometimes I forget that cars can be shiny...

I look at those pictures and think 'urk' and 'Rebecca should look kinda like that'...

Ah, one day...

As far as i remember the tests were decidedly artificial - and the results were 'variable' to say the least. I don't use any additive in either of my A series engines - both driven hard when used, but I admit - neither does high mileage. The 1098 Minor engine with modified 295 head has now done 6 years ~ 3000/year with no sign of problems. I have a much better head waiting to go on - I'm actuaully WILLING it to have problems so I have an excuse to fit the better head - but so far the valve gaps haven't even closed up by 1 thou! The 1275 MG Mini gets thrashed - 3 years now also ~ 3,000/yr and not even a valve gap closing up so far.

Thanks Those pics were taken when the car wasn't covered in winter slime!

As far as i remember the tests were decidedly artificial

That's what I thought - running an engine on a bench is never the same as running one in a car under real driving conditions. Having said that, I only tend to drive around town at lowish speeds and I don't do that many miles (about 5000 p/a), but I've had no problems yet.

3000/year

This is not the sort of milage where you're likely to see problems, not rapidly anyway. Some of us do milages closer to 20,000 miles a year.

Much of which, in my case, is at high speed (often prolonged continuous motorway speed) driving. In which case we are likely to wreck our engines.

As far as i remember the tests were decidedly artificial -

Perhaps you should take this up with the FBHVC - but really, if you want to ignore the advice of specialists that's your look out, but I feel that telling other people to disregard evidence from a reasonably rigourous study is really not the way to behave. Certainly, say how you feel, but point out that there is *real* evidence which suggests otherwise.

To quote a phrase 'the plural of anecdote is not evidence'.

It's for each to decide - but some get decidedly annal about the unleaded thing - when in reality it is not a big problem. It has been hyped up by those who want to make cash from selling 'unleaded' heads to folks who don't need them ! The worst that can happen is that the exhaust valves may eventually recess - that's the time to get the head sorted. It's not something that suddenly happens - there will be warning as the valve gaps start to close up. Plenty on here do hardly any miles in the year - and those at slow/medium speeds - they have little to worry about. Yes, if i was doing your kind of mileage i would have a bomb proof engine with a proper unleaded head in the car - and I would certainly NOT be relying on fuel additives.
There is/was considerable debate about the effectiveness of the unleaded additives testing - i'm not going to resurrect it all again!

Well, I got the engine back together - with one new exhaust valve and all 8 ground in. Did the fill the chambers with parafin trick overnight- not one drop leaked out!!

Started him up and he now purrs like a moggie should!!

smooth as you like! Can't wait to drive to work tomorrow (well driving the Traveller, not work!)

I have to agree with BMC ecosse re unleaded.

I've been using the Traveller on the original leaded head with no additives for the most part- just LRP, for 6 1/2 years, about 5000 miles a year, some of that quite heavily laden and on the motorway between 60-70mph, and when I took the head off the seats looked pretty good!

When/if it does go, then I'll get an unleaded head.

Exactly. Just remember to re-torque the head after a few miles, and the re-set the valve gaps. I set 12 thou on inlets and 15 thou on exhausts to allow for the additional expansion of the hot exhaust valves.

Thanks BMC, whats that in mm?? as my best feeler gauge is metric ;(

40 thou = 1mm
12 thou = 0.30mm
15 thou = 0.38mm

Ben