The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1951 235 leaded or unleaded??

hey i have a 1951 3800 and i want to know if it is leaded or nonleaded... also i her that in 1951 they didnt make 3800 1ton they only made 3600 series pleas help me. and if nebody has front and rear fenders that will fit hit me up either here or on my email [email protected]
thankyou for your time

Depending upon how old the valves and seats are -- and what type they are -- you may or may not.

If they are old, they are probably the original type. If it ran leaded for most of that time, you should be fine with unleaded. The lead from the gas has permeated the seats.

If they're new(ish) and the original type, then yes. Put a leaded additive in the tank.

If they're the new hardened type, then you will be fine with unleaded.

my experience is unless you're running the engine unusually hard or hot, you won't have a problem in the life of the engine - I'm running a 235 that's never been opened up and after about 30,000 miles on modern fuel it's fine - see many others do the same

as for the model, see what your VIN says and check here - the 3600 would be different wheelbase than the 3800

Bill

I'm with red58. My experience with early engines is the hype about burning valves & damaging valve seats is just that - hype. I've put tons of miles on pre unleaded engines and have never had a problem. I put over 100K on a pre unleaded 235 and over 50K on a pre unleaded Harley using unleaded gas without problems. I'm working on my 38 now without putting in hardened seats & valves.

Auto suplies have "lead" substitute, the hose brands are cheep. and it only takes an oz to 5 gal, you can sleep beter at night.

That is house brands, sorry.

I have used a few ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil per tank in all my old iron for years.My friend uses two cycle oil(weed wacker,chain saw)in his old cars and trucks.It doesn't take much to lube the valve seats and stems.

note that the problem w/ unleaded and old vehicles is recession of the valve seats - hence the seats are replaced w/ hardened ones - doesn't really have anything to do w/ the valves themselves

unless you're drag racing or pulling a heavy load constantly that causes extreme heat [like where the exhaust starts to get red], there's NO problem running unleaded in an engine without hardened seats

here's what Chevron had to say about it after tetra-ethyl lead was banned

Bill

When I was a kid we used to buy old crappy cars we'd find sitting in peoples lawns, beside their houses with grass growing up past the windows.. heck, sometimes they'd just give the cars to us.

We'd quite unsafely strap a few chains to 'em and drag 'em home and wrench on them for hours to get them running.. then sell them.. it was fun for a 16 year old kids.. and got us a little extra spending cash.

Anyway.. one of these cars we got for free was a real crap heap.. the local gas station sold this stuff called Turbo Blue.. some crazy high octane fuel.. we put a few gallons of that in the tank for its final drive to the local bone yard.

First mile or so that thing screamed like a raped ape.. then it started clangin' and bangin' and shreikin'... then came the smoke...

Lesson learned: Use the kind of fuel your engine was designed to run!

With that said.. I run regular unleaded gas in everything I own.. from the weedwacker to the daily drivers with no problem.

They don't sell Turbo Blue around here.. so it's not a temptation!

Speaking of octane ratings, we have a fleet of Cadillac limousines and coaches. They all say "Use Premium Fuel Only" on the gas tank flap but every so often I put in regular grade gas and no one has yet had a problem or felt anything strange or even heard pinging.

As far as 51 3800 1 tons not being built, that's not true, I just found a 51 3800 1 ton with the extra long bed. I checked the VIN, before I traded for it.

hey, red58, thanks for that link. i'm going to save that.

interesting stuff...