The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi All, I recently bought a 1980 TD 1500 HL which was in A1 condition....It has not had the conversion to unleaded fuel yet so I have been doing some research and wondered if anyone can please confirm the correct fuel additive to use, Castrol Valvemaster or Valvemaster Plus?, I don't do long distances just a bit of weekend driving. Also, does anyone have a rough idea of costs for a conversion, I live in Essex.....Thanks in advance

Valvemaster Plus gives an octane boost so your unleaded fuel will be closer to original 4 star, it usually adds up to 2 points so your 95 RON fuel is more like a 97. Actually 4 star was about 100RON. The advantage being that you can run the engine less retarded ignition wise. When I had my 1500 I tended to use regular unleaded and the Plus additive, mainly because I used it in my Sprint which ran much better on a higher octane fuel even if it didn't need it for lead replacement.

Never sure if I believe in 'lead memory' but you could always run the car as is until such time that it needs rebuilding.

I'd just fill up with super snleaded without any additive. With the usage you're doing, you don't need to worry about valve seat recession for many years. One fuel I'd recommend is Shell V-Power. Yes, it costs a fortune but the cost isn't too much of an issue with the mileage you're doing. If you were to have hardened valve seats fitted, you probably wouldn't get much change from £300 and it isn't a DIY job.

I believe in lead memory!
I have driven for 10's of thousands of miles with no additives or inserts.

One herald (basically identical engine) eventually got recession, and I swapped the head and that was still fine 30K later when I sold it. My vitesse did 30K+ with nothing. My Toledo probably 20K.

So the advice I would offer is just drive it, you will probably never have an issue. If you do, have a set of valve seats put in the exhaust valves. It used to be £25 a seat down here, plus a head change (which is DIY to many)

But really,don't worry. Recession is rare, and usually occurs when cars are driven hard (which is not a great idea with a 1500 anyway)

cliftyhanger wrote:I believe in lead memory!
I have driven for 10's of thousands of miles with no additives or inserts.

One herald (basically identical engine) eventually got recession, and I swapped the head and that was still fine 30K later when I sold it. My vitesse did 30K+ with nothing. My Toledo probably 20K.

So the advice I would offer is just drive it, you will probably never have an issue. If you do, have a set of valve seats put in the exhaust valves. It used to be £25 a seat down here, plus a head change (which is DIY to many)

But really,don't worry. Recession is rare, and usually occurs when cars are driven hard (which is not a great idea with a 1500 anyway)

Assuming that nobody has converted your engines in the past. Without taking the head off or the service history how would you know? it is only when I noticed hardened valve seats in the service history I knew my 1500 had been converted.

Lead additives are very good for the lead additive factories and their bosses so they can go longer on holiday with their families.

Jeroen

cleverusername wrote:

cliftyhanger wrote:I believe in lead memory!
I have driven for 10's of thousands of miles with no additives or inserts.

One herald (basically identical engine) eventually got recession, and I swapped the head and that was still fine 30K later when I sold it. My vitesse did 30K+ with nothing. My Toledo probably 20K.

So the advice I would offer is just drive it, you will probably never have an issue. If you do, have a set of valve seats put in the exhaust valves. It used to be £25 a seat down here, plus a head change (which is DIY to many)

But really,don't worry. Recession is rare, and usually occurs when cars are driven hard (which is not a great idea with a 1500 anyway)

Assuming that nobody has converted your engines in the past. Without taking the head off or the service history how would you know? it is only when I noticed hardened valve seats in the service history I knew my 1500 had been converted.

I built the vitesse engine, and that was not unleaded. The herald, again I rebuilt it at one point (about a tenner for new crank, bearings rings, and all gaskets! they were the days) and that had no inserts. You get a feeling about cars, especially a few years ago (20?) when lead disappeared. You can usually tell if an engine has been apart at some point in its miserable life.....

I also believe in "lead memory" I did over 30k hard miles in my unconverted GT6 running ordinary unleaded and slightly retarded timing (2-3 degrees) and have run several other cars for long periods without problems. OTOH I have had one or two that developed seat recession quickly, these were cars that had been "decoked" and had valve seats cut and valves lapped etc. Which effectively loses the lead memory!

Basically, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

However, if you ARE a "belt and braces" sort of person, I can do you a recon 1500 head with unleaded seats fitted for £150. Or supply and fit for £250.

Steve

Thanks guys for all your replies, all food for thought!. I think I will start using the Super unleaded petrol and see how I go and look at an engine mod a bit further down the line....just one other thing, what anti-freeze could you recommend?, is there one specially for 'old' cars?...

Cheers,

Richard

Be careful which super unleaded fuel you use. You'll fine that some have a higher level of ethanol than others to increase the octane value. I don't believe any in the UK are now ethanol free but for example you will find that Tesco Momentum 99 does have more ethanol than say Esso Supreme 97 or Shell V-Power 98. I have that on very good authority from someone in the know. Less of a problem if you're using the car frequently but I would prefer to avoid higher ethanol fuels for cars which are used infrequently.

Interestingly I did have a email flyer from Anglo American the other day offering me drums of leaded fuel, worked out about £750+vat for 200 litres but interesting to know you can still buy it, albeit this was for race car use, I don't even know if you could use it on the road.

Just thought I would add, I've been running my car for around 9 months/10,000 miles on super unleaded, with no negative effects after having stuck to Castrol valve master plus. She runs like a dream. As previously mentioned, I needed to change the timing slightly though! To play it safe, I stick to Shell, Esso or BP, but thats just me

As for the antifreeze, any blue glycol based antifreeze should do the trick I believe? I just use pretty standard stuff.

Snore....
1850's have hardened valve seats in an alloy head so are unaffected by unleaded. The TR7 and stag were sold in the US that had unleaded
long before we did and much lower octane too.

I reckon ordinary is fine for an 1850. If you can make it "pink" on unleaded I will be surprised. The super stuff is a waste of money.

I've run a Spit 1500 on ordinary unleaded for about 50k miles now. Tappets have never needed adjusting.

No additives necessary but the 0-d means that sustained motorway canters are only 3500 rpm or so. I suspect the damage occurs at sustained revs in excess of 4000, which I cant really do in the UK.

Jonners

Jonners, the super unleaded does make a difference. I wouldn't ever put 95 RON in the 1850 again. It is fine for the modern. It was one of my local members who recommended Shell V-Power to me. He uses it in his Sprint.

Any glycol-based antifreeze is suitable for "our" cars.

It may well make a difference first couple of tanks in dispersing the build up of deposits on the valves, especially for cars used a lot
on short trips. After a short while the returns greatly diminish IMHO. Go back to ordinary and see for yourself...

Jonners

Toledo Man wrote:Jonners, the super unleaded does make a difference. I wouldn't ever put 95 RON in the 1850 again. It is fine for the modern. It was one of my local members who recommended Shell V-Power to me. He uses it in his Sprint.

That is because you have a distributor with an advancing curve that totally doesn't match your engine. Put in a decent original again and your car will run 204% better than it does now and you can save some money by using cheaper 95 petrol with no side effects as everybody does for ages with an 1850.

Jeroen