TheGeorgiaKid Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Anyone thought about running lead additive in there SS's? I have some stuff that I get to run in my older performance cars with high compression. It's lead additive & octane boost all in one. When 48oz of it is added to 20 gallons of 93 octane pump gas it can boost octane up to 103. Less can be added for a lower octane gain. I know some guys run race fuel, but I know race fuel is lead traced (not as much lead content as it use to be). My question is this... will the lead harm the fuel injectors? I mean lead was the lubricant for the valves & top end of the engine back in the day. I'm not running catalytic converters so no problem there. Was just wondering about the injectors. What are yalls thoughts about this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1BAD2K Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Man I def wouldn't add that. Its not needed for the valve guides anymore bc of the additives they add now. Also I cantt imagine a catalytic converter lasting long using a lead additive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeorgiaKid Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 I dont have converters. Lead is the octane booster. With gas getting as shitty as it is now days (now going to 15% ethanol) I would think anything would help. Why spend the money of race fuel when it doesn't have as much lead as they say it does when you can get the additive that boosts octane better than race fuel?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chpspecial Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Injectors will not like it... the money you save by adding a lead additive will have to go to replacing injectors, and mayby a motor when one clogs and causes a lean condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 A lot of octane boosters contain toluene which is a strong injector cleaner.Back in the 90s me and my friends would buy this stuff in a drum and make up some high octane street fuel.We were running big boost on turbo cars.You need to be careful when buying octane boosters off the shelf.Some will say they add 3 points to regular street fuel.That would bring 91 octane fuel up to 94.If you read between the lines and do some homework you will find they only add .3 which would make 91 into 91.3.One additive that I know does work is Torco.I have a few friends that add a can to their fuel at the track,even though they have meth injection on their high powered FI cars.Just an added safety margin in case they over boost or run into detonation.You would really have to have high compression to see any benefit.If your motor runs fine on say 91 octane with out any detonation,then adding an octane booster will do nothing except help keep your injectors clean.If you think your truck feels stronger after you add a can then take it to the track and do some back to back test runs.Google octane booster and you will get lots of info.Be careful though.There is a lot info out there.You will notice a rusty brown residue on your plugs which is common for octane boosters. The guy mentioned in this thread is a well respected member of the Corvette forum.(jbsblownc5) http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-forced-induction-nitrous/2500891-any-one-tried-torco-octane-boost.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 No product exists that with just 20-ounces added to the tank appreciably raises octane. Yes lead helps lubricate valve seats; but you have to run leaded fuel every moment of every day in that motor. I don't think that leaded gas will affect the injectors, but that is a guess on my part. Lead will totally destroy (plug) a catalytic converter. Running over 94-octane will destroy a catalytic converter. I know you said you don't have converters installed, so for you this is not an issue. The main ingredient in octane boosters (as Warden said) is toluene; and you need to add several gallons of it to a half-tank of gas to 'stiffen' the fuel enough to get honest high octane. When gasoline is refined, it contains a lot of toluene, but because of emissions laws of the 70s the refineries remove that toluene from gas (toluene is an 'aromatic' component of gas) and the octane goes down. So by adding toluene back into gasoline you are basically restoring gasoline to it's 1960's formula (without the lead). But the issue is that you need A LOT of toluene, gallons of it, and toluene is a major ingredient in manufacture of meth (drugs) so now the federal government has regulated the sale of toluene as a controlled substance - i.e. to buy a 5-gallon container is damned-near impossible. Anyways, long story short - over the counter cans of octane booster will only raise octane a couple tenth's of a single point, as Warden said. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.