Apexcarver said:What about older engines and valve seats? Would be good to have some more information on that.
Most old heads respond so well to multi-angle valve jobs that installing hardened valve seats at the same time to run unleaded is a very worthwhile project on all old cars. Especially considering how easy it is to get older cars' heads off and on.
I honestly don't want to be around leaded gas at all. Granted a race track isn't like living in Detroit in the 1970s, but just knowing how much violence, IQ loss and aggression lead has been proven to cause in the years between the dismantling of rail transit and the full adoption of unleaded fuel in our cities I don't even want to smell it. Even if two-strokes love it. The good news is not many people use it anyway. NASCAR and IndyCar are ethanol, a lot of drag racing is unleaded, methanol or nitromethane (which seems like it would try to kill you but I guess not? even though you're standing there weeping.) It just seems unnecessary to push your compression ratio is 16:1 or something ridiculous that requires lead and having to pay for custom pistons.
Methanol and nitro try and kill you differently and if you can stand the process of that it's your own fault.
Mr_Asa said:dr_strangeland said:Xylene is 117 octane, toluene is 114 octane.
You can get a gallon of xylene at home depot for $22. Add that to four gallons of 92 pump gas and you should be around 97-98 octane. Without lead.
And then your seals start to deteriorate. Those two and plastic or rubber really don't get along.
I have heard that, and yet many people run it without issues. Toluene is used in blending gasoline anyway. Presumably running pure xylene or toluene might be problematic, not just because you'd need a tank heater, but at low concentrations it seems like it's ok.
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/anybody-put-toluene-gas-tank-422332/
Interesting discussion here. I wish they would have tested an injector o-ring as well as fuel line.
Anyway, I do plan on running 20% xylene at the hills next year.
The article did not mention how bad lead in fuel was for us and our cars. Getting the lead out meant no more foul plugs, limited carbon buildup, and no more rotted-out exhaust. Not to mention our health benefits.
I am often baffled by the fact that leaded fuel is still sold at the track. Even NASCAR runs unleaded.
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