Leaded conversion to Unleaded

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Author Message   Glenn Guinto (Glenn) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 10:12 am:    Still on my quest to own a Series (first one didn't come thru), I'm looking at this '59 Series II and was wondering how can you tell if it's been converted to Unleaded Gas [besides taking the PO's word]. I figure it has to have been converted since I don't know of any place that sells leaded. Pardon my ignorance but what's involved in this procedure and what are the ramifications of putting unleaded gas if the engine hasn't been converted yet? Thanks. -glenn   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 04:15 pm:    AFAIK, you can't tell by looking. Essentially what happens is, the exhaust valve's seat gets burned if you burn unleaded gas in an engine that has seats that were designed to be coated by lead in the exhaust. So, you either, use a lead-substitute additive, or, replace the valve seats. -L   Glenn Guinto (Glenn) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 04:21 pm:    damn... not necessarily the answer I was hoping to get but that's cool to know... Thanks once again Les, like I said above, I'm still on a quest to own one, just wanted to make sure I do my due diligence in researching... In the process, I am learning so much about these trucks and the more I get excited about owning one. -glenn love the hand crank that this '59 has   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 04:25 pm:    Hand-crankin' in Wally World's parking lot is ALWAYS great to do..... FYI, they had the hand-crank on 'em all the way through the 70's.... lol.... -L   M. K. Watson (Lrover94) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 07:12 pm:    i cant say that it is an absolute, but inleaded gas is not anything new, low leaded fuels have been around way before it became eco-cool. my thought is that if the vehicle is timed properly and has good heat (exhaust) flow then the lack of lead may not be as serve as one may think. also to get the amount of damage to cause the car to need repair is going to be more than one tank of gas. and lastly,,,,its not that big a deal to fix. just a thought, leslie, blue, any others hows my reasoning! mike w thinker extrordinare   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 09:19 pm:    True, it's not like one tank of unleaded gas will cause the engine to self-destruct. But, most of these vehicles WAY predate low-leaded gas, yes, it really is an issue. Remember, we're talking about vehicles built in the UK, which as recently as a year or so ago was having big issues regarding 4-star gas, etc. You will end up replacing the valves and seats, and machining the head, if not replacing it, essentially either a good valve job or a head replacement. -L   Ricky Smart (Rikstaboogie) Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 02:25 pm:    i converted mine to unleaded... hardened valves etc.. cost me £120 (uk). I done all the labour stuff myself. This is far easier than the damage caused by neglect over time. Also unleaded is cheaper here and easier to come by,so that makes sense etc.   M. K. Watson (Lrover94) Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 05:07 pm:    i understand leslie, really i do....but my thought is this, is not the basic 4 cyl rover motor designed as most milt. type vehicles to run on less that modern quality gas? just kickin the can here not lookin to fight just thinkin... mike w   Jude (Jdonato) Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 09:55 pm:    Mike, History of my 73' Series III NADA Petrol Purchased in 1999 w/ a 1980 state inspection. Thing was dissassembled and garage kept for 20yrs. Rebuilt body, did not touch engine or transmission. Brought to life and ran in 2000. Tuned by ear on Shell regular. For 10 months she ran great! Then she started to smoke on start-up and she then started to have very poor fuel consumption. Then she started to smoke on the trail. Still, the engine ran very good. 2/02 installed a reman cyl head with of course hardened seats and valves(any valves you buy today are hardened). #4 exhaust valve had pie wedge burned into it. Again tuned by ear and all engine components remaind the same. Result was no more smoke and much better fuel economy, and better power. I might get a whopping 65HP out of her now. Can't prove it, but I hear the lead in leaded gas is supposed to lube the valves during combustion. Valves actually spin in their seats while going up and down doing the fuel/air in and CO+H2O OUT thing. If no lead lube then valves don't spin as easily, if valves don't spin they seat at the same place, if seated in same place heat of combustion builds up and does not dissapate evenly around the valve, if that happens over time then you get burned valves, crappy economy, less power, and a smokey vehicle. This does not happen with modern engines (valve) b/c they are...well...harder than the 50's, 60's and 70's stuff. Someone with more knowledge that I relayed this info to me. I believe it. I haven't gotten the hang of starting the truck with the hand crank - yet, but it sure makes it easy to adjust the valves. Jude   Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 10:03 pm:    Jude, Very good explanation. -L   Ricky Smart (Rikstaboogie) Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 02:08 am:    For what its worth...I agree with Jude. Just out of curiosity, is your engine a 7:1 or 8:1 compression?   Jude (Jdonato) Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 03:32 pm:    Ricky, My new remanufactured cylinder head is 8:1, same with the original which is wrapped in waxpaper, oil, and a plastic bag on the floor of my garage. I don't know if the reman head was 7:1 shaved to 8:1. I'll find out in the next few years if the hardened valves and seats do better than original ones .