Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[alastairq]

I have recently been made aware of these.



There are several kits of similar ilk, aimed primarily at those running LPG.
[In this instance, on a Series Land Rover]

What drew my attention was, the possibility of one of these metering kits being used on an old engine [pre-unleaded?], that perhaps didn't do too many miles in a year? Yet, might be in need of a good thrash now & then?

I have seen the price of cylinder heads converted to 'unleaded' spec...with hardened valve seats, etc.....and wonder whether they are worth the cost, for limited use? [Forget values, and selling-on....I don't hold with that, personally]....

I am aware of, and have used, stuff like Castrol Valvemaster..[does it have a shelf life? Will a bottle I've had for 15 years still be useable? Or, do I tip the contents into my daihatsu Fourtrak diesel tank?]....which in itself isn't cheap.

The idea of having a metering kit, which used the oil only as & when the engine was run......and not just when the tank was filled [if it was filled?], seemed a viable alternative to my addled brain.....fit & forget stuff?

A more expensive kit can be had which has an electronic level sensor, to warn one of the need to top up.

Apparently, pretty much any make of oil with similar consistencies can be used [Valvemaster, perhaps?]......the metering achieved by a drip feed, calibrated at tickover, drawn in by engine vacuum [very small hole drilled in manifold, adaptor inserted]......
The kit looks neat, compact, and I think, comes with appropriate fittings.

An alternative?

Has anybody tried such a thing yet?

I found no mention during a search on this site?

I have not drawn any conclusions , especially about whether to convert to operate on unleaded fuel or not.[I haven't, on any of my motors]

The idea attracted my attention, as a chum recently suffered a dropped valve seat....on a professionally-converted cylinder head.....which has cost grief when not needed.....

Thoughts, folks? Have I missed something?

[badhuis]

Would it be worth the hassle?
If you do not use the car much, then there also will not be much valve seat recession. And if it does, well then you have to adjust the valves maybe more often.
On the other hand if you use the car more often, and plan to keep the car for several years, then I would not hesitate to lift the head and have hardened valve seats inserted.
_________________
a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[colwyn500]

[Bitumen Boy]

A good few years ago now, I rebuilt a spare engine for my Herald - spare because I knew the job would take a long time and the old engine was just capable of moving the car under its own power, a real advantage given the position of our garage. Anyhoo, time the bottom end was sorted there wasn't any cash left for the head, so I simply lapped in the old valves and kept on using the Valvemaster additive with crossed fingers.

4000 miles later I was lifting the head for an unleaded conversion, due to a bad case of VSR. And that was more hassle than it needed to be - I had an exchange head off one of the Triumph specialists as it worked out best part of a ton cheaper than the local engineering firm that did the rebore/regrind quoted me, but it was soon obvious something was wrong and the head had to come off again to diagnose the trouble as being down to a slightly bent valve. Eventually it was all sorted and, so long as the car was in regular use, all was fine.

In the last few years, however, it hasn't seen a lot of use and when I did get to use it the running and driving was dire, down to nothing more than the petrol being stale. I tried a few preservative additives, found the POR one worked fairly well but then it ceased to be available in the UK for some odd reason. Eventually I settled on Tetraboost - tried it to see if the lead content would act as a preservative and it's given good results. I'm now running leaded fuel with an unleaded head, mad really but the car starts and runs properly straight off even after sitting for months. I wonder whether it would have made the old valves last, never know now and the mileage I was doing it wouldn't have been economic - but if ever in the same situation I'd give it a try.

There's no real conclusion to this tale, except to say that I'd be very wary of any additive that claims to be a "lead replacement" - I used Castrol Valvemaster religiously and it just didn't seem to work, despite being on the FBHVC approved list. Who's to say the others on the market are any better?