Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Bigron on 04 April 2017, 00:48:06
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351125980613?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
What do you think, gents anyone got any experience of it?
Ron.
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Magic beans painted silver :y
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Seen them for sale every year at the Classic Car shows so .. someone must buy them, I guess!
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They look like lead baubles
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These things have been on the go for years!Personally never been tempted to try them so whether they work or not I can't say.Ask yourself the question "Do I feel lucky?" :D
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These things have been on the go for years!Personally never been tempted to try them so whether they work or not I can't say.Ask yourself the question "Do I feel lucky?" :D
Why would you be tempted? Have you had cars that were designed for leaded? Old git.
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Yes Stemo I am an old git :P I'd say I've had more cars designed and built to run on 4 star than on unleaded :)
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Yes Stemo I am an old git :P I'd say I've had more cars designed and built to run on 4 star than on unleaded :)
Yes, but 4 star would be available then.
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STEMO, I confess to being in the old git/fart category too, but my interest centres on my old Sunbeam S* which I have mentioned on here more than once. Born in 1952, it will have fairly soft valve seats and a desire for leaded petrol, so when I get a Round Tuit I will re-assmble it from its many component parts and be looking for either a lead supplement or obtaining hardened seats.
Ron.
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STEMO, I confess to being in the old git/fart category too, but my interest centres on my old Sunbeam S* which I have mentioned on here more than once. Born in 1952, it will have fairly soft valve seats and a desire for leaded petrol, so when I get a Round Tuit I will re-assmble it from its many component parts and be looking for either a lead supplement or obtaining hardened seats.
Ron.
Supplement every time, Ron, surely? But I wouldn't trust these little fellas to do the job, I'd be using a proprietary (proven) brand.
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Snake oil.
How many miles a year will you ever realistically ride it?
Unless your cylinder head is new/old stock and never got exposed to leaded petrol the existing valve seats will outlast you.
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Definitely not new, Andy, so that's good to hear. You are saying that the mileage it has done way back in the days of leaded petrol has given it residual "lubrication"?
I am given to understand that valve seats are only part of the problem, the other part being valve stem lubrication, which is why more modern cars (i.e. from the unleadedd era) have had to have larger stem/guide clearances to compensate for the lack of lead-derived lubrication.....and the consequent increased oil consumption?
Ron.
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A key cause of valve seat recession is the tendency of a hot valve and seat to weld themselves together and then for the seat to be eaten away as little bits get pulled off
Tetraethyl lead was originally added to petrol to improve the octane rating and allow higher compression ratio without pinking / pre-ignition. A side benefit was that the lead binds with the metal of the valve seats and somehow acts to prevent the valve and seat from welding together.
I am puzzled by the reference to looser valve clearences on modern engines :( My experience of engine rebuilds is limited to1960's Royal Enfields (pushrod) 1980's Suzukis (DOHC) 1970/80s Rover V8 (pushrod) and my 1994 Omega 2.5 V6 (Quad cam). Generally the oldest engines had big valve stems with massive clearances and the newest engines have dainty little precision machined valve stems :-\ AndyB or Marks DTM might be able to throw some more light on that one :-\
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My information on the clearance issue came from a well-respected engineer who managed/maintained a large fleet of vehicles in London and also did major oil testing and research (Duckham's Q scored very highly), so I assumed that he was speaking with authority. His concern over the increased oil consumption was very real, with all of those vehicles to cater for!
I am happy to listen to other views, obviously, as the wisdom on here is phenominal. 8) :y
Ron.
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My Royal Enfields and Rover V8s didn't have oil seals on the valve stems. They burned almost as much oil as petrol ;D
The Suzukis and Omega V6s have oil seals on the valve stems which are then protected from oil spray because they are hiding under the cam followers.
I don't know what the arrangement is in an S8 :-\ Is it single cam with rockers actuating the valves?
Either way I can't see how the petrol formulation will have much effect on the valve stems :-\ Of more concern is exhaust emissions due to burning oil leaking past big clearances on the valve stems.........
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Yep, single chain-driven overhead camshaft and oil seals on the valve stems - just like the other engine I've done most work on, the BMC A series engine - now THAT dates me! :(
Ron.
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On my classic cars from the late 60's /early 70's, I use an additive Millers VSPe. It is said to provide valve seat protection, raises the octane rating by 2 RON, and, more importantly, provides protection against the harmful and corrosive effects of ethanol on older engines. I have use the Millers product (it previously was just called VSP before the need the protect against ethanol) for 17 years. It is based on a manganese formula, which in tests carried out in 2000 when leaded fuel was banned, gave it better results than other additives based on different chemicals.
I tow with my classic cars, and don't have any pinking, have not noticed any valve seat wear (valve clearances closing) and fortunately have not seen any issues from ethanol, as unlike more modern vehicles, cars from the 60/70's had components in the fuel system that are severely effected by the relatively high amount of ethanol in modern fuels.
I'm a bit sceptical about these so called pellets in the tank. Comprehensive tests conducted by motoring organisations have dismissed the claims of these pellet manufacturers as to their effectiveness.
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Thank you for that, johnnydog; I was unaware of the effects of ethanol on an engine and even with my low anticipated mileage on the Sunbeam (WHEN I have restored it!) it sounds like it is well worth adding the Millers.
Ron.
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Modern vehicles (Omega included!) have components in the fuel systems that are not affected by the ethanol in today's fuels. At the moment the ethanol content is approximately 5%, but there has been talk about raising the content to 10%.
Ethanol corrodes the internals of the fuel system; such as brass needles and jets and rots the rubber O rings etc found in Strombergs carburettors for example. It also corrodes the intenals of metal fuel tanks.
Modern fuels go off within a very short space of time. That's why it is suggested that with petrol lawn mowers / hedgetrimmers with only seasonal use (as with many classic cars), the fuel is drained off when not in use to prevent some of the harmful effects of ethanol.
Millers VSPe seems to reduce the deterioration of fuels when a car is not in use. I have not seen any adverse effects of modern fuels whilst using this product.
There may be other products out there that do the same; I am just giving my experiences on one product that works for me.
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Thanks again for that; my Sunbeam has an Amal carburettor with brass needles etc., as you describe and as the carburwttor is vintage and it won't be easy to come by a replacement if it gets killed by the ethanol, I will definitely use that additive.
It's not only omegas we get good advice for on here! :y 8)
Ron.
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Besides my Omega fleet, I have (quite) a number of six cylinder Triumphs from the 1960's and 70's, including 2000's, a 2500 and 2.5PI's. They use Strombergs, or SU's and the PI's still have their original Lucas mechanical fuel injection system - great when they are set up properly and running correctly, but once they go off slightly off song - horrendous fuel consumption! The PI's were originally designed for 100 octane (those were the days....... ::)), so the 2 octane boost that the Millers VSPe gives, combined with some of Shells finest (Tesco Momentum is a good second), helps to keep them running at their best. It also seems to help preserve the O rings in the metering unit from deterioration from modern fuels.