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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Unleaded converstion

I am starting to work on a 1972 midget which I have aquired through family members. As a result I am unsure if it has had an unleaded conversion done. Can this be checked without taking the head off??
Graeme

no and very difficult to tell even with the head off!
David Smith(davidDOTsmithATstonesDOTcom

I would suggest running it as is,setting it up to run as best you can and see what happens. Use addatives if you want. If you have problems you can then have the head converted. I am sure you have plenty of other jobs to do. I hope the photos from Spridget 50 inspire you. Get the car on the road and enjoy it!

Cheers and good luck Carl
C Bintcliffe

There was huge discussion here a while ago about how much it REALLY does matter if you use unleaded on a leaded head etc. I think for some the consensus was "it'll last a decent amount of time, at which point you'll probably disassemble the engine anyway out of curiosity".

Some even said that it didn't matter a dot and that the problems caused are negligible, and rare at that.

I had an 'I don't know' engine once, and as I did then, I'd still probably run it unleaded and chuck a bit of additive every few fill ups.

YMMV though, but c'mon, surely you wanna see what happens when you unbolt those studs, right? :-)
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

It has to be your own choice but I'm a "Run it for ever or until you get a problem-er"

If you suddenly have to keep adjusting the tappets then maybe a problem has arizz!

I don't bother with additives either, still another personal decision...

Super-opti-vee-max 97/8 octane does well enough for me
Bill

...and despite it now being 130p a litre, it really is worth that extra bit!
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

A friend has informed me that a garage in South Molton who work on our vintage cars recommend putting some lead fishing weights in the tank and let nature takes its course. Apparently the lead 'dissolves' in the petrol enough to lub the valves etc.

Any thoughts?

Dave
Dave Price

Begins with B Dave

As I said on this topic few weeks ago

The petrochemical industry thrived for years by making odd compounds of lead to add to petrol

I have not come across anyone that can show me lead weights dissolving in a petrol tank by the action of petrol, it has to be absolute b****x

But someone can have lots of fun trying to make a tank of lead disappear

Call Paul Daniels maybe



can you tell I aint convinced?
Bill

Sounds like as good of a placebo as most of the additives ;-)
David "Not saying that it would actually DO anything, mind" Lieb
David Lieb

Just run it and don't worry.

And if you do worry, fill up with a tankful of Leaded every few months, just to top up the protection

http://www.leadedpetrol.co.uk/list.htm
Steve Clark

I drove my 1954 TF for over 66000 miles after a rebuild of the engine. It did not have hard seats. When I sold it to a good friend he wanted me to pull the head and see what if anything was going on with the valves and seats. I then hand lapped all the valves with fine compound only. there was zero pitting or wear. As I did not baby this car it was amazing to see how little recession if any occured. I used 15 thou. clearance on a standard cam. As this was over a 6 year period I do not remember how many times that I had checked the clearance.
-----------MOTTO--------
USE -- ENJOY BUT PRESERVE. Do not change that sequence and you will find that MG.s do it SAFETY FAST.
Sandy
Sandy Sanders

This thread was discussed between 27/05/2008 and 28/05/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.