Running unleaded fuel -1953 Chrysler flathead 6

Hey, Guys. I think this has been discussed before, but my neighbor thinks I should use a lead additive to my fuel because I drive the car daily. I told him the car came with hardened valve seats as per that forum topic, but he asked about the valves themselves. I also explained the fuel quality today is much better than it was fifty-three years ago and that other members have not experienced any problems of record. Whadda ya 'tink? Bob.

I have a 51 DeSoto and a 50 Imperial...one uses regular and the other premium...I have driven them on 900 mile trips with out incident and WITHOUT lead additive. You are correct...the hardened valve seats are all you need.

BvR

Here is another angle on the same question. Your octane should look like the compression ratio. Your engine has around 6.8 or 7.0:1 compression. When it was new it ran on 68 or 70 octane gas. Today your car probably has 8.5:1 compression and you burn 87 octane regular. If you have a high performance car it probably had 9.5:1 and it needs 92 octane.

You can't even buy 70 octane gas anymore. The cheapest regular is higher octane than hi test was in 1953.

O.K.- Does this mean I should remove the head and [clean/scrape?] the pistons of carbon build-up? I don't have a detonation or pinging problem. Or should this be done as a purely maintenance procedure? Lord knows if it's ever been done. The car runs GREAT! I'm really impressed by the torque this engine puts out. It just pulls and pulls and pulls! Thanks, Bob.

Personally I would leave well enough alone...if you are not having a detonation or pinging problem, simply enjoy the car. Do the regular maintenance, like changing oil and filter and keeping car well lubed...thats all I do with mine and have had NO problems.

BvR

I have a 38 Dodge Stock engine and don't use a lead additive

in it and i've drove it from Akron ohio to Rutland VT,

Traverse City MI,St Louis MO with no Problems.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Lead was an additive (by GM) as a sales gimmick of some kind - I'll have to ask my husband for a refresher on just what that was. Amoco <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">never </span></span> used it in any of their fuels <span style="font-weight: bold">ever!</span> As Rusty suggests, you can probably do well with 87 or 89 octane.

Bob:

You don't need any additive for the fuel. The Stellite valve seats are better than the induction hardened seats (cast iron heads only) that have been used since lead was removed from the gasoline. Quality of the OEM valves (or any name brand replacement) is high, so they won't give trouble. You should never have a detonation problem with 87 octane fuel available today, especially if you "power time" your engine out on the road.

brian

O.K.- Please enlighten me....What do you mean by "Power Time"? I'ts not some sordid joke like "Go get me a left-handed muffler bearing" is it? Bob.

My point was that the cheapest regular you can buy today (87 octane) is better

than what they had when your car was built.

Your engine was made to run on low lead or no lead gas. Several brands of gas back then

had no lead and bragged about it. Others had very little lead compared to what came along

in the later 50s and 60s. The real heavily leaded gas wasn't made until 1955 and was taken

off the market in 1970. Those are the engines that you need to worry about, the high compression

V8s of the 1955 to 69 era. Not the really old models.

You don't need to worry about octane, lead additives or any of that stuff.

If you really wanted to be all Felix Unger about it, you could add some upper

cylinder lubricant like Marvel Mystery Oil, Redex, Bardahl or some other gas

additive. Something that says on the label that it lubricates valves and piston

rings.

One thing you SHOULD add is gas preservative, if you don't drive a lot. Today's

gas goes bad a lot faster than the old stuff. If it sits in the tank for 6 months

or longer it could start to go bad. You can buy a pink stabiliser fluid to prevent

this from any auto supply or hardware store.

I like to add it to the last tank of gas before putting an engine away for the winter.

This goes for cars, lawn mowers, everything.

Power timing is a technique for getting more power and economy out of your engine. The factory recommoneded ignition timing is on the conservative side. By advancing the timing you get more power out of the gas you burn.

Here is how you do it. You need a wrench to loosen the distributor, and you need a road with a gently slope or hill where there isn't much traffic.

Advance the timing a bit, and try it on the road. Your car is most likely to ping when pulling hard in second gear from low speed at full throttle.

You want to advance the timing until you get just a trace of ping at full throttle. Then back it off a bit until it doesn't ping.

This will be the setting that gives the best power and economy.

To keep the valve faces and stems as clean as possible, try a top end cleaner such as Chevron techron, added to your gas. All modern gas has a detergent additive anyway, so the Techron may be overkill but it can't hurt. These run about $5 to $10 a bottle. If it is an original motor, never gotten into, it should have carbon deposits on the valves, etc but if it is running good, then as with others, I would not rebuild or get into it. The Techron product I like, and given a longer-ish trip, such as 100 to 200 miles, will have a nice effect on removal of carbon deposits. the shorter in-town trips, maybe not so much.

Bob:

I was going to tell you how to power time your engine, but Rusty beat me to it. I have never left any engine with a distributor with the factory timing as indicated by a timing light and the marks on the harmonic balancer. Factory marks are just the beginning point. Actual optimum timing can vary from engine to engine - let's say 230 Dodge - simply because of original manufacturing tolerances and subsequent wear. In addition, atmospheric pressure and climatic conditions can affect it. An egine power timed at sea level will be different from one timed at 1000 metres (3000 ft.) Also, on occasion I have found factory timing marks to be inaccurate.

Well, It seems I have yet ANOTHER problem to address....Ammeter shows constant discharge at any engine speed. Getting 6.3-6.4 volts off "A" terminal at gen. at little over idle (approx 1000 r.p.m.)4.2 -4.3 volts at idle, but when I disconnect (+) side of batt. when engine is running, the engine immediately dies. Suspecting regulator. Bob.

Are you sure you have the battery in right way round? It's supposed to be 6 volt positive ground. The car will run with the battery in backwards but it's not a good thing to do. When you turn the battery around you may need to polarise the generator. If it doesn't charge let us know and we will tell you how to do it.

Another thing to watch for. Your car has left hand thread studs on the left side. I only bring this up because so many new MoPar owners find out too late, and wish someone had said something.

Actually,it was the (-) side of the batt. Culprit was bad regulator. Replaced this afternoon, and so far everything's fine (Knock On Wood!!). Not sure, but it looks like I fixed the parasitic draw on batt. Killed two birds with one stone! Imagine that. Bob.