The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Lead supplement in gasoline....

It was suggested by more than one mechanic to
add lead substitute to the no lead gas on the market...It can cause valve seats to sink because of
heat range...Anybody use the lead additive???
Bill

What engine(s) do you have?

Most people agree that you will not have problems using non-leaded gasoline unless you regularly pull loads and/or regularly drive long distances at high speeds.

If/when you have a head rebuilt, it might be worh considering having hardened valve seats installed.

The problems are greater for high-compression, hi-rpm engines from the leaded era.

I have the original 216 CI six cylinder...It
ha been in Our Family since new and has 15,644 total
miles on it....Thanks for the reply...BB

Wow! 15,644 miles. At first I was going to ask if you only drove it to church, but that might have put more miles on it. Maybe your family only drove it on election days?

Let's see some pictures.

You might want to put the make/model/year of your truck in your profile (in the Signature field).

By all means, lets see some pictures! I agree that you'll never have a problem unless you work the engine hard. I've been running unleaded in my 38 216 for over a year now with no hint of a problem. I had a pre-unleaded Harley that I put a ton of unleaded miles on with no problem.

Old mechanic friend of mine recommends addition of Marvel Mystery Oil (4 / 6 oz. on fill up) for the older engines as a top oiler. Also helps stabilize the gasoline. Regards, BW

Thanks Fellows, Tiny, I have owned a total of 13
Harleys...6 new, including a XLCH, and 7 used...
TCLederman, I haven't driven it much, it took Me
12 years to restore it...biggest reason for so long was open heart surgery taking on 5 bypasses...My
great Uncle stored it for 35 years, then My Dad got it, and after His death, I have it...Good news is the manufacturers bedwood has been re-installed...
I have emailed some pictures in...
R.Wyant, I have heard that from one other person too, I will do it...Thanks BB

Rusty Rod uses a lead additive in The Ox's pre-unleaded gas 283...

I have about 10 years on a rebuilt 235 without the hardened steel valve seats. I am not worrying about it.
A funny story however, an old timer very knowledgeable in car restoration and very mechanical, told me to add one cup of ATF to my gas tank at each fill up. Being young and naive (okay I lied about the young)I thought if one cup would work the whole quart would be better. No! It smoked and popped and stunk and I never used that stuff again.

Wow, I thought 86,563 original miles on my 1948 was low! It's been to church and everywhere else. My dad bought this truck new too so that's how I know its original mileage. I rebuilt the engine 35 years ago and have run lead additive since the late 70's. It still runs beautifully. As R. Wyant suggests, the Marvel Mystery Oil is also used by many with success. But as everyone agrees, not running the engine hard is the best preventative.
Have Fun!
littlebuddie

Welcome to another 'bolt and Harley guy, I have an '88 FXR, and love it, practically no problems and it runs great. Just getting my '54 GMC running after a 30 year rest.

Bevore I swapped the 216 for a 261 in the 41 I reved the sh...t out of the old splash oiler on our german Autobahn for several years to keep up with the traffic (remember we have no speed limit over here and 65 mph is the slowest yo can go without being an mobile road block).

This was an original - never rebuilt - high milage engine. I´m glad to say that when we took the head off for a new gasket we found the valves and seats in perfect shape.

So even with unleaded gas and steady Germany Autobahn rpms over 4000(!) it seems not to hurt too much.

Frank

Flames ‘n’ Flathead, Stromberg 97’s, 6.70-15 wide whitewalls, greasers with sideburns, wide cuffs and engineer boots. Frank you guys are GREAT! I would swear I was looking at pictures from a hot rod club meeting somewhere in Southern California, back in the 50’s. Where in the world do you guys find all that hardware over in Germany??? It would be hard to put that much stuff together here in the US. To top it all off, U’ a bunch O’ youngsters, just kids like one guy said. When you guys gonna start a branch over hear, I’ll join in a heart beat!!!
If ya all haven’t seen this site, by all means, take the time to browses through the pics, its Great!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL US of A

Frank, wonderful pic's would be fun to belong to a resto-type club here. Thanks.