To add some more on the lead replacement discussion. Its lengthy but worth the read, especially for West Aussie members.
Lead Replacement Petrol and Lead Substitute Additives

With the arbitrary introduction of Lead Replacement Petrol (LRP) to the Western Australian marketplace, it can be claimed that the most isolated city on earth now has the cleanest automotive
fuel in the world. Local fuel suppliers have agreed to create a new product that will replace the need for lead petrol in cars designed to use it. The lead in petrol performed two tasks, the
first being a nominal increase in octane so the engine has a larger detonation safety margin, enabling the use of higher compression. The second job for lead in your engine is to
significantly reduce exhaust valve seat recession, which helps the engine to last longer.

While many scientists argue about the impact leaded petrol has on city dwellers and their children, very little has been said about the dangerous carcinogens released into the environment
and the impact on humans from the exhaust of a car fuelled by unleaded petrol. The volatile additive in unleaded petrol is the same chemical used in the paint industry and this chemical is
known to be so dangerous that you cannot put unleaded petrol in a car in California (USA) unless the fuel pump system vacuums the vapors away from the pump operator during the filling
process.

But the dangers of unleaded fuels are of little consequence to governments, and now the fuel industry has been assisted by governments, with the little costs that changing their
manufacturing process over to LRP has created - like not adding lead to base fuel stock and increases in fuel storage capacity. The great thing is the Australian fuel industry have been
allowed to choose the formula of Lead Replacement Petrol all by themselves, with no Australian or International recognized standard to reach.

We will be using the LRP formulae the fuel companies decide are the most commercially acceptable, for them, in the vehicles we are trying to use, to preserve and enjoy, so perhaps we should
have a look at the fuel we are being asked to use in our pride and joy and see what our options may be. The basis for the new wonder LRP is Unleaded Petrol. In fact it is Premium Unleaded,
because adding a volatile hydrocarbon to accelerate and stabilize the burn rate of the fuel has raised the octane.

The most popular product used to increase octane in the racing fuel industry is Toluene, so it is not unreasonable to assume this is also used in the fuel in your car. Toluene is an
extremely volatile liquid and is most popular as an inexpensive solvent and used as a base in many paint formulae. Good octane improvements can be gained with doses of up to 30 per cent but
Toluene is extremely dry and will encourage rapid wear in fuel pumps and injectors and corrosion in the fuel tank, fuel lines and carburetor if the dose rate is excessive. It also likes to
eat natural products like rubber, so seals and gaskets need to be top quality if Toluene is used.

Many racers making their own fuel mixes use a high quality synthetic two stroke oil to ensure some protection of their fuel system while using hot (volatile) fuels. The biggest problem
racers have using Toluene, as an octane booster is it's low evaporation point. When the ambient temperature gets above 15 degrees Celsius the Toluene evaporates out of unsealed containers or
fuel tanks. Problem here is your high-octane fuel becomes a low octane fuel quite quickly and if the car is not prepared for the drop in fuel octane the engine will rattle and ping, causing
detonation damage. Because these volatile agents are being used to boost octane of pump gas, the recommendation to anyone planning to use Premium Unleaded or the LRP should be the same as
offered to anyone using racing fuels.

The Historic Car Association in the UK recently tested all the Lead Additives available in the UK market place, running them in standard engines through a variation of revs and loads. They
found that only 4 of 32 products available for testing prevented any valve seat damage at all. Each of these products have different chemistry and each has their specific benefits and
detriments that suit different various vehicle designs and most importantly, driving styles. Some of the down sides include the chemicals having a low vapor point causing all the chemical to
be burnt from the valve during wide open throttle (anything more than a few seconds) and valve sticking when overdosed, so each should be considered carefully.

The successful products were Red Line Oils Lead Substitute, Super Blend Zero Lead, Millers VSP Plus and Valvemaster. Each product has a different cost and dose rate, so the economies of their
use will need to be worked out by yourself, so you can buy the one that suits your car and budget.

For the results of these tests and more support information, all you need to do is a search for Lead Replacement Additives on the Net and you will find all you need to know.

Now we come down to the nitty gritty and you may be wondering why you need to find out all about this stuff when the petrol companies have LRP available on tap at your local service station.
Well, experience overseas has shown that good results and very low detonation can be achieved by using good quality, fresh standard unleaded in an engine with no carbon deposits and a very
efficient cooling system. You can then add your own lead replacement product, by choosing the product which best suits your car, your driving style, your budget and the total cost may be a lot
less than buying LRP from the pump which is generally 2.2cpl to 3.0cpl dearer than ULP in Perth. Of the four most common chemicals used in these products, sodium has the highest temperature
stability, and creates the lowest amount of soot, so it will be on the valve longer when you go to wide open throttle with no valve sticking at the recommended dose rate. The bad news for the
owners of turbo-powered cars that previously used Super petrol is that they now need to choose between some abrasion of the turbo impeller from the sodium or the constant sooting of the
housing requiring regular cleaning if they use any other Lead Replacement Additive.

I suppose the best way to conclude this story is to tell you which Lead Replacement Additive has been chosen by the fuel companies in Australia. The product is called Phosphorous, and it is
the least expensive of the available chemical compounds sold by Octel, the company that has made the lead used by the fuel companies for the past 80 years or so. This chemical also has the
lowest vapor point and stays on the valve for the shortest period following wide-open throttle. Senior chemists from both Shell and BP have stated that the valve protection will be evident
for seconds following wide open throttle and then the car will need time to recover the deposit on the valve seat. This product was also the one chosen for the New Zealand change over and
has been accused of causing valve sticking and sooty engines from the day it was released.

The amount of time the product is on the valve seat is totally dependent on the temperature of the exhaust gases and it is now being found in the UK, with their LRP, with potassium chemical,
that has higher temperature stability than phosphorous, does not protect the valve seats at highway speeds. Double dosing does not help either, because the issue is the heat over the exhaust
seat. In simple terms - two pieces of paper are no more heat stable than one.

The result of double dosing and hard driving is a valve seat that is unprotected as soon as the chemicals' vapor temperature is reached and deposits forming twice as fast on the valve stem
and other areas in the exhaust where the temperatures are lower. This leads to sticking valves and all the associated valve train damage.

If you find that your car is getting sooty, with valves sticking and losing spark, you will need to use a high quality hydrocarbon detergent like Red Line Oil SI 1 to clean the combustion
chamber, valves and fuel system regularly. If this becomes part of your routine, you may find you can run your car on Unleaded with an additive, after all.

You may also be wondering why we were so lucky to be the first State in Australia to receive this new fuel. Is it that our children are a little dumber and we need to get the lead out sooner
than any other State, or is it because our State Government is so concerned about our health that they forced the industry to move here in the West before any other State? Well, even though
these are nice suggestions, the real reason we were chosen by industry ahead of Sydney or Melbourne where traffic densities make this a far more important issue, is because of our geographical
isolation.

With so few cars entering or leaving Western Australia, compared to any other State, we can be considered "isolated" and a perfect test case for the industry. If cars start to fail in the West
and not on the east coast, the industry will have the problem isolated, and the damage will be contained. I think we need to ensure that every mechanic in Western Australia is on the look out
for any change in the service patterns of older cars and damage like valve seat recession is reported to the State Government and the fuel companies as soon as it is found.

Unfortunately, I can almost guarantee our experience will be exactly the same as the UK, where drivers who made complains have been told by the industry that their car must have been run on
straight Unleaded, or the vehicle was old and going to break down anyway, so there was no proof that the fuel caused any damage to their car and so no claim could be made.

And, do not think that drivers of diesel-powered vehicles are going to get off Scot- free, because the next big change in the industry is the reduction of sulfur in diesel fuels. This will
take place very soon and because sulfur helps to lubricate the fuel pump and injectors, the diesel industry expects a rapid increase in wear damage and lots of parts failures until operators
find the best diesel additive for their engine.

Oh, the joys of modern motoring!

The above article is reprinted unedited with permission from Red Line Oils. Your comments are appreciated.

Gee you just have to love big industry and our government, the way they look out for us, and act in our best interests, and the way money plays no part in the decision
making process.But hey, im sure that everyone can afford a new engine when theirs dies...

Linc
(if not, maybe mareospeedwagon1 would send us one? ha ha kidding)

Welcome to the wonderful world of unleaded petrol guys. NZ has been suffering from this crap fuel for a couple of years now and it's really bad for older engines. The additive in NZ is
called Valvemaster and its soots engines up really badly. Toluene has been around for years and I've used it for bumping the octane level for racing. I would'nt recomend any more than 5% as
you could end up with a holed piston, a friend yrs ago tried it and mixed it 20% instead of 20 to 1 and ended up with his pistons melted into the sump!!! The new fuel also goes off faster
with it becoming useless within 3 mths. the fuel really eats old rubber so upgrade your fuel lines to fuel injection spec to save any probs like fires or something. The good news is that
here in NZ BP have released a higher octane petrol for older and performance cars. It only took years of moaning to get it. Aussie has a hi octane choice from Shell don't they??

I have used a water injection on my Datsuns and have excellent results with it. It acts a bit as an octane booster but more than that, it steam cleans the inside of the combustion
chambers. There will be no build up on the valves, pistons, rings or combustion chambers. I have never taken one of my motors apart and had to clean deposits off of the parts. I use one
gallon of water for every thirty gallons of gasoline. It is simple to install. You need an adjustable NEEDLE VALVE which costs about $10 American, some hose, a hose T, and a water tank. I
plug it in with a "T" into a carb vacuum line. The small amount of water cools the combustion chamber and cleans it too.

The latest High Octane product from Shell is 'Optimax' High octane without the additives, apparently it's denser fuel and achieved by more
refining. It's media release:
http://www.shell.com.au/oneshell/au/news/media/media_09_05_00.asp