The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a 1971 Triumph Toledo 1300 4 door saloon. As I am new to classic car ownership I would like to ask, could I run it on normal unleaded petrol or do I need a mixture? I expect the latter will apply but I thought I'd check.

Many thanks,
Aaron

You will get different answers depending on who you can talk to but this is my experience - over the last ten years I have run two leaded only cars as daily drivers, an MGB GT and a mini. Having read up on the subject of lead replacement additives I decided on the mini to try without as some were saying they had done many miles without issues. A series heads are stupid cheap (free usually unless it's a1275 or something unusual) so it wasn't too much of a worry. The head was taken off after three years and 27000 miles and there was no appreciable wear to the seats. The same head is going strong a further 15000 miles later with its new owner who is a mate of mine. The MGB GT covered 16000 miles and again there were no issues. Valve clearances were checked twice yearly without any signs of seat regression (rapidly closing gaps is a bad sign). My new 1300 Dolomite has been run for the last three years without additives and will continue to do so in my custody, again with six monthly checks on valve clearances, it will only cover a couple of thousand miles a year tops. The smooth running nature and perfect tune was commented on by the MoT inspector a couple of weeks ago.

If it was my car I would run on unleaded and keep an eye on the clearances, others may have had different experiences.

Hi Tamworthbay,

Thank you for the information I think I'll try it on unleaded and see how I go.

Many thanks,
Aaron

The additives are good for the additive factory.

Jeroen

Redo the engine timing, it varies between leaded and unleaded.

I will bare these in mind, thank you for all the help

Mahesh is referring to ignition timing. It might not need adjusting if you use super unleaded.

Ahh right ok I see