1955 adding lead additive to fuel | Page 2 | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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1955 adding lead additive to fuel

  • Thread starter Thread starter DiIanni
  • Start date Start date
There are a lot of "it depends" in this issue. I had my carb rebuilt almost three years ago and the fuel pump almost 2 years ago. Both have been run on ethanol exclusively without any problems whatsoever in that time, presumably because the rebuild parts were ethanol resistant. I also have a small Holley auxiliary electric pump that's almost 2 years old and its fine too. That doesn't mean others have not had real problems. I believe the problems are due primarily to two things... The parts in their fuel system that have not been recently rebuilt don't have ethanol resistant soft parts and second, they don't get driven very much allowing the water to separate from the gasoline. I try to drive the car at least once a week on at least a 10 mile trip. If the ethanol sits for a fair amount of time the water may separate and that's when the problems with metal corrosion really start. I have also seen when people have tested ethanol that sits is that it forms a gooey jell like material in addition to the corrosion that might occur. If non-ethanol was sold near me I would most certainly use it but to get it I'd have to make a nearly 300 mile round trip. There was I guy on Youtube who got a dozen lawnmower engines and ran a test of ethanol and a whole bunch of additives that are supposed to protect from the harmful effects of ethanol. He also did regular gas. The bottom line was most of the additives did almost nothing or flat out nothing. I think one of them did enough good that it might have been worth using. The plain gas worked great!!! Even after sitting for a year+.

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ETHANOL laced gasoline was released for vehicles having EVAP (1972) (incl EFI) as the system is closed to outside atmosphere and draws little water vapor from the atmosphere. Regardless, the fuel will draw some water vapor into the system and must be treated to prevent fuel system damage. A car having an open vent system will draw water vapor using ethanol fuel. It has to be treated.

SEA-FOAM (available AMAZON - WALMART online) for water dispersal/injector/system cleaning and TECHRON periodically for injector cleaning (especially IDI) (will also be included in TOP TIER GASOLINE).

Lead substitutes have no purpose. Most likely a mix of methanol (dry gas) and a lubricant. The use of leaded gasoline is prohibited for on highway use.

SHELL ROTELLA MOTOR OIL changed it's formulation some years ago to meet new DIESEL EMISSIONS STANDARDS. SHELL still made available to fleets with older engines the old formulation but only in five gallon pails or drums so it would not be sold in auto stores. It is not meant for gasoline engines. It was popular at one time when the FEDS banned ZDDP usage in motor oils. They loosened those restrictions later.

A flat tappet engine still needs increased ZDDP additive and is readily available in blended motor oils (should not be used in catalytic convertor equipped cars). If you feel you need an oil additive, you are using the wrong oil.

If you have a late model EFI engine, use TOP TIER GASOLINE only (octane rating dictated by OWNERS MANUAL).

ZDDP CONTENT CHART.webp​
 
Tom Alpers said:
There are a lot of "it depends" in this issue. I had my carb rebuilt almost three years ago and the fuel pump almost 2 years ago. Both have been run on ethanol exclusively without any problems whatsoever in that time, presumably because the rebuild parts were ethanol resistant. I also have a small Holley auxiliary electric pump that's almost 2 years old and its fine too. That doesn't mean others have not had real problems. I believe the problems are due primarily to two things... The parts in their fuel system that have not been recently rebuilt don't have ethanol resistant soft parts and second, they don't get driven very much allowing the water to separate from the gasoline. I try to drive the car at least once a week on at least a 10 mile trip. If the ethanol sits for a fair amount of time the water may separate and that's when the problems with metal corrosion really start. I have also seen when people have tested ethanol that sits is that it forms a gooey jell like material in addition to the corrosion that might occur. If non-ethanol was sold near me I would most certainly use it but to get it I'd have to make a nearly 300 mile round trip. There was I guy on Youtube who got a dozen lawnmower engines and ran a test of ethanol and a whole bunch of additives that are supposed to protect from the harmful effects of ethanol. He also did regular gas. The bottom line was most of the additives did almost nothing or flat out nothing. I think one of them did enough good that it might have been worth using. The plain gas worked great!!! Even after sitting for a year+.
Click to expand...
OMG, How effortlessly it is to simply add an ethanol additive to each fill up to avoid all the issues you just described. I resolved the ethanol issue with my 55 Bird in California where only ethanol fuel is available and moved my car and motorcycle to Georgia where non-ethanol fuel is available. However, when only ethanol fuel was available in CA, a simple ethanol additive did resolve the issues. We must accept that our old Birds cannot operate on ethanol fuels and thankfully, we have simple solutions to address this issue. My 55 Bird engine was overhauled to include operation without leaded fuel but noting we can do to operate with ethanol except for adding fuel additives. Not a big deal to have a trouble free 70 year old beautiful piece of Art that we are gifted to protect for next generation.
 
Even with ETHANOL COMPLAINT carb and pump overhaul kits, the corrosion is going to happen, as they only protect the soft parts. Zinc oxide or aluminum corrosion is going to cause corrosion particulates to gather in the fuel bowl and be drawn throughout the carb fouling it. Your rubber fuel line must be rated for ethanol as it will breakdown also .

Ethanol will also destroy cellulose filtering media (fuel filter) drawing that particulate through the system.

Water in fuel is not a new problem. There was water in gasoline when these cars were new. Old gasoline forms varnish which will eat a carb or gas tank.


This stuff will bring stale dead gasoline back to life.
 
SHA BOP said:
OMG, How effortlessly it is to simply add an ethanol additive to each fill up to avoid all the issues you just described. I resolved the ethanol issue with my 55 Bird in California where only ethanol fuel is available and moved my car and motorcycle to Georgia where non-ethanol fuel is available. However, when only ethanol fuel was available in CA, a simple ethanol additive did resolve the issues. We must accept that our old Birds cannot operate on ethanol fuels and thankfully, we have simple solutions to address this issue. My 55 Bird engine was overhauled to include operation without leaded fuel but noting we can do to operate with ethanol except for adding fuel additives. Not a big deal to have a trouble free 70 year old beautiful piece of Art that we are gifted to protect for next generation.
Click to expand...

If you want to use an additive here is the best test I've seen of which work and which don't. It was a 5 month test, the final series he did. He also did a 19 month test earlier but for the 19 month series he started the engines every month. In the 19 months every additive "failed", that is, a gel formed and the bowls corroded by the end of the test, some worse than others.
This link goes to his 5 month test, the engines were run and then they sat for 5 months and then started again and the fuel bowls then removed and examined. Some additives were no better then plain 87 octane ethanal... some were clearly better. A couple of the fan favorites did not do well.

 
Tom, this is an excellent report. I learned from this. Now we know what the best fuel stabilizers are for our Birds. I only use 91 octane non-ethanol fuel but I still use a stabilizer due to weeks without starting the engine. I never heard of Taryl but he did a great long term test.
Thank you for sharing this important information
 
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A fuel additive/conditioner is not meant for extended storage especially in lawn equipment (you drain the fuel tank and run a conditioner through the carb at the end of the season). Even non-ethanol gasoline becomes stale and turns to varnish after a certain period and will also attract moisture from the atmosphere causing the rusted gas tanks/damaged fuel lines you see in older applications., The additive is meant to prevent the corrosion and damage ethanol will do to a fuel system on a short time basis. If you are going to store a car over a season, you have to prep it for that storage period.

Ethanol fuel will cause service problems in a late EFI - EVAP equipped car if not kept fresh or treated. And you never know the quality of the fuel coming out of the pump as refiners/stations quality varies.

But if you must -

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