Converting to Unleaded Fuel

The generally accepted way to convert a vehicle to run on unleaded fuel is to change the valve seats and the valves and we carry out this type of improvement regularly.

This costs approximately £275.00 for parts and labour.

Although this is the accepted way forward, it can be troublesome; an example of this is, an engine that is running perfectly and doesn't lose any oil, is then converted to run on unleaded fuel by changing the valve seats and valves, within one or two thousand miles of driving, the vehicle starts to burn oil. This is because some of the exhaust gases that would have naturally escaped through an average cylinder head are trapped perfectly by the new cylinder head and pressure is put down into the pistons. The additional oil used manifests itself as excessive oil consumption, visible smoke through the exhaust system and also because of the hotter running temperatures of unleaded fuel, the oil in the upper cylinder is burnt on to the valves and as the exhaust gases escape past the valves, a hot spot is created, which then burns the valve out prematurely. So a well meaning attempt to convert a vehicle to unleaded fuel, results in some major engine work to be carried out maybe 5000 miles later.

So our recommendation would be to fit a catalyst on the fuel system, this is a cigar shaped gizmo, which is fitted on the fuel line, and as the fuel passes over the tiny pellets enclosed, microscopic amounts of tin are collected by the fuel and the tin becomes the lead replacement. We have been using these for approximately 10 years and have nothing but good reports about them.

In the future, when the engine needs to be rebuilt through general fair wear and tear, then the engine will at this point be converted to run on unleaded fuel by changing the valves and the valve seats.

The cost to convert the vehicle to run on unleaded fuel on the latter system would be £75.00.