Re: Fuel

Posted by su8overdrive On 2012/5/2 16:10:35

I second, or third, the knowledgeable gentlemen above. Your car will run fine on 87 octane regular. Just make sure your engine's tuned, the vibration dampener mark visible. My '47 356 has 7.5:1 compression, and dances down the freeway just fine on it.

An oil company tech engineer told us that gasoline will easily last a year or so, so long as your car/garage isn't subjected to heat above 80 degrees. But, as belt and suspenders, if you don't expect to burn through a tank of gas within a year or 18 months, pick up some Stabil at any parts house, Target, etc. and use as directed.

All gasoline is like aspirin. 87 is 87, regardless of marketing. You're only throwing your money away buying higher octane gas.

BigKev is right about the rubber, materials in any rebuild kits from the last several decades. We've been hearing a lot of hysteria about ethanol in gasoline, invariably from the downhome brigade who just wants another excuse to rail against "the government" we elect. Often, this whining is from people driving old cars on the cheap, who haven't rebuilt their carburetors or fuel pumps in 60-70 years, with similarly ancient rubber hoses, et al, and they want someone to blame for the passing of Old Man River.

We've had ethanol in our gasoline in California for years,
and manage to drive just fine; various Packards, Cords, L-head Cadillacs, '50s Ferraris, you name it. BTW, should you be due to change any rubber fuel line hose, use that sold for fuel injection systems. It'll last into the next century.

Can ethanol harm certain ancient rubber? Sure, but it's an overblown issue. As with ZDDP in motor oil, silicone brake fluid, the "need" for antifreeze in cars not exposed to hard freeze, the adviso to never place a battery on a concrete floor, ad nauseum. People always want to blame something, someone, the black helicopters, Y2K, witches.
Some of us traditionalists stick with SAE papers, engineers, petrochemists, the tech advisors at Conoco-Philips-Kendall, Chevron, etc. who are themselves gearheads driving old cars.

Our cylinder heads be flat, the world be round.

If the car you describe is largely original from the factory, you might consider dropping the gastank, boiling it out, coating it with one of the quality sloshing compounds available through Hemmings, etc., adding an additional fuel filter.

Red Line Lead Substitute will protect your valves from recession. Use as directed. Available widely.

If your 300 has Ultramatic, drop the transmission pan, drain the old ATF from the torque convertor, too. Replace the filter. Drive with a light foot, accelerate gently. Ultramatics will last forever so long as you don't stop light Grand Prix. HydraMatics took brisk acceleration better.

Too many people think just because they're driving one of the better cars of a world long gone, that they can drive them the same way you'd drive a late model Camry or Taurus in a nation of a third of a billion people, double and triple the number of when our Packards were built. Relax and enjoy the ride. A friend with a '63 Ferrari Lusso admits a recent Honda Civic will outperform it.