[adriansoden]

Can anyone tell me if its ok to run my 1983 308QV on unleaded fuel?

Only just found this site! Great to see I'm not the only one addicted to these mechanical marvels!!

Thanks guys!!

Pics of my car on www.ferrari308.com :work:

 

[Pete04222]

Welcome to this forum! Glad you found us. I checked out your car on Ferrari308.com. Sweet!! My car is on that website also.

If you do a search on this website I think you will find info on unleaded fuel. You should be ok. I believe your car has stainless valves and hardened seats.

 

[modenaTwinTurbo]

hey pete how would it help if he has stainless valves and hardeneed seats; in regards to his use of unleaded fuel.

as for the guy thats asking if its ok for him to use unleaded fuel. In my opinion i think that it is ok. the only problems that i can tell you about are when you switch from the use of unleaded to leaded on a fuel injected car. but going from leaded to unleaded beeing an issue?????? I had never heard of that.

let me know what you find out. Im interested to know what the effects of this switch might be.

 

[Pete04222]

Originally all fuels were unleaded. Lead wasn't added to gas until the late '50's. One of the reasons for adding lead was a cheap way of boosting the octane rating of the fuel. An additional benefit of lead is to reduce valve wear by coating (and cushioning) the cast iron seats. When lead was removed from gas, increased valve wear was noticed. Many engines had to be refitted with hardened valve seats to allow for the use of unleaded fuels.

I hope this answers your question.

 

[modenaTwinTurbo]

cool man thanks a lot. That is very interesting. I'm glad i learned about it.

 

[Pete04222]

I wasn't exactly sure about the dates so I looked them up. Actually, lead was introduced in gasoline in 1923. In the US, it was phased out starting in 1975 and completely off the market in 1986. Leaded gasoline is still available in many parts of the world although there is a movement by the world health organization to ban the use of leaded fuels worldwide. The reason to get rid of it is that lead is extremely poisonous. It particularly affects the nervous system, blood forming tissues and the intestines. When burned in an automobile it gets in the air, accumulates on the road and gets into the groundwater.

In addition to fuel, lead was also used in paint to provide a more durable coating. The use of lead in paint was discontinued in 1978.