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From: phil@osiris.UUCP (Philip Kos)
Newsgroups: net.auto,net.consumers
Subject: Re: No Leaded Gas -- Now What?
Message-ID: <168@osiris.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 7-Mar-85 13:34:55 EST
Article-I.D.: osiris.168
Posted: Thu Mar  7 13:34:55 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 08:39:13 EST
References: <132@ucbcad.UUCP> <147@tove.UUCP>
Organization: Johns Hopkins Hospital
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Xref: watmath net.auto:5996 net.consumers:1945

> > Well, now that the EPA is actually cracking down on leaded gas, let's be
> > realistic and assume that soon (too soon) there will be no leaded gas
> > available at all.  What do I do with my wonderful old '68 VW Ghia that is
> > so cheap, reliable, fun to drive (it's not quite stock!), etc?  Replace
> > the valves and run on unleaded?  Find gas additives?  Sell it quick?
> 
> RELAX!  As I understand it, the only purpose of putting lead into gas is to
> raise the octane rating--and one can do that without using lead.  I think
> EPA is to be commended for taking this step.

I have heard people who "should know" argue both sides of this subject.
Basically what it comes down to is this:

	1.  The octane of gasoline can be raised in two ways.  An additive
	  can be put in (like tetraethyl lead), or it can be refined more.
	  Lead was the solution of choice way back when because it was
	  cheaper than extra refining - less time, less equipment, greater
	  yield from a given quantity of crude = greater profits.  In those
	  days, the EPA wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye.

	2.  Unleaded gasoline has been around longer than a lot of people
	  think.  Supposedly, Standard Premium (Amoco for you modern types)
	  was unleaded as early as the 1960's.  This was a _real_ high-
	  octane premium gasoline, not the 91 or 92 octane "super" gas
	  we're stuck with today, unless we happen to be lucky enough to
	  have Super 76 in our area.  (The last real premium gas I saw was
	  at Mars stations in St. Louis in 1981.)

	3.  Tetraethyl lead is _not_ the only additive used to increase
	  the octane of gasoline.  Many of the "premium" unleaded gasolines
	  you see today use methanol or ethanol (alcohol, that is) for a
	  couple of extra points.  There are other additives too, which
	  are generally "invisible" to the buyer because they aren't consi-
	  dered to be health hazards (like lead) with EPA regulations
	  requiring the pumps to ring a bell and cry out "Leaded!  Outcast!
	  Unclean!".

	4.  One of the main arguments for keeping leaded gasoline around
	  is that the lead helps lubricate the valves.  I don't believe
	  that the people who ran unleaded through their high-compression,
	  high-rpm MGA Twincam engines in 1961 had any trouble with valves
	  from not having any lead in their gas.  An argument could possi-
	  bly be made that a box-stock 1943 Chrysler inline 6 will last
	  longer if it burns leaded regular, but how many box-stock 1943
	  Chrysler inline 6's have you driven today?  Well over 99% of
	  the engines still running today will run just fine on unleaded
	  gas.

	5.  Today's unleaded regular does tend to have a lower octane
	  rating than (yesterday's?) leaded regular.  This is because of
	  the economic considerations (see point 1).  It is quite possible
	  to make unleaded gas with an octane rating equivalent to regular
	  leaded, or even higher - see most gasoline stations for examples
	  of this.  This "unleaded premium", however, is _not_ the equal of
	  the old-fashioned leaded premium, which is a point that a lot of
	  people have been trying to make.  Unleaded gas of a sufficiently
	  high octane just is not commercially available at this time.
	  This leaves many people with older high-compression engines out
	  in the cold, as it were.  This is also why people have been mixing
	  gas for some few years now.

	6.  Ah, on to the great mixing debate.  By mixing the higher-octane
	  unleaded with a smaller quantity of leaded gasoline, you are
	  effectively using that small quantity of lead to boost the octane
	  of a stock with slightly higher quality than that used for the
	  leaded gas (note difference in price).  Note that this does you
	  very little good if the premium unleaded is gasohol.  It has to
	  be the real thing - super-refined gasoline with little or no
	  octane-boosting additives already in it.  This stuff seems to be
	  getting harder to find all the time.

	7.  There are octane boosters which do not use tet. lead for their
	  kick.  These, I believe, mostly use some mixture of methanol and
	  xylene, with maybe some other stuff thrown in - I'm not an organic
	  chemist, so don't quote me on the exact recipes.  It is also poss-
	  ible to get straight tet. lead to put in your gas, but handle
	  VERY carefully as this stuff is quite hazardous.  That's why the
	  EPA is cracking down.  (You couldn't pay me enough money to make
	  me want to handle a jug of tet. lead octane booster.)


It seems that the EPA crackdown on lead is going to do two things besides
improving air quality very slightly.  It will put a lot of older cars off
the street because they will no longer have gas of a high enough octane to
run on.  It will also give the oil companies a chance to make a bit more
money - older cars which previously ran on regular will now be running on
unleaded (if they can), which, I believe, will improve their profit margin.
If the EPA ultimately gets _all_ lead out of gasoline and makes it illegal
to put lead back in then any engine built before 1975 with a compression
ratio over 9.5:1 had better be converted to either straight alcohol or
propane, or shelved.


						Philip Kos
						Johns Hopkins Hospital

			Of course, I may be wrong. :-)