barking rats

'67, 427/390 hp, 10.25:1 compression

Anyone have info on the octane boost products out there? There's a fair
range of pricing - $5-$12 to treat 20 gal - but little real info on the
product packaging.

This last tank I went with NOS (the nitrous oxide co.) "Street" formula
octane booster. The box says it will bump the rating by 2-3 points and
will act as a lead substitute and has "water suppressant qualities"
among about 10 other selling points. There was also a "Racing" formula
that boosted the rating by 5-6 points with the similar selling points.

I went with the "street" formula for about $4 less than the "racing"
version since I have had little problem with pinging when running 94
octane pump fuel. NOS products caught my preference due to citing real
octane boost numbers - none of the others did that I noticed. My main
purpose in using these products is as a lead substitute and, gee, the
"water suppressant qualities" sounds like something I could use given
the long term storage this car goes through. (i also use fuel
stabilizer.)

Here's waving to ya - \||||

Owen
___

'67BB & '72BB

-- not affiliated with JLA forum in any way -- alt.autos.corvette is
original posting --
___

"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger

benf802961

95% of Octane Booster is just snake oil.
It won't hurt anything but your pocketbook.

barking rats

Is this a personal opinion or can you cite any reference material I
might be able to look at?

As I mentioned, I'm not after the boost as much as the lead substitution
and fuel stabilization qualities. 94 octane unleaded seems to do OK in
my 427 - though i don't get my foot in it very hard, very often.

Here's waving to ya - \||||

Owen
___

'67BB & '72BB

-- not affiliated with JLA forum in any way -- alt.autos.corvette is
original posting --
___

"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger

bob i

There have been some comparison tests done(on the net if you search)
using various brands of booster, gas octane mixing and av gas cutting.
The "points" of increase that the "octane boosters" give are in
"tenths". In other words, if a bottle of the stuff is claming 3 points
increase in octane at a given mix ratio, you will go from 91.0 to 91.3,
so now compare what you got for your dollar.

pj

No credentials for the folks in <
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/arch.../t-395658.html >; but,
one poster says that auto store products are mostly legit--only the
decimal point is in a different place. "Four points" of boost means
that it raises octane from 87 to 87.4. Thread also has a formula for
adding bulk xylene or toluene to gasoline--remember that xylene attacks
some plastics and toluene is toxic. As a kid I breathed a lot of
toluene cleaning engines (perhaps the reason I'm senile 55 years later).


Here's a Brit thread < http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/fuel/LRP.html >
that contains less environmental emotion on the lead topic and it offers
some substitute products. I hadn't realized that the Brits were a
couple of decades behind us in making a universal move to
stellite/hardened valve seats. If you opt for a manganese product, it
might be available in Canada as they are more tolerant of manganese
additives that we are in the U.S.

...PJ

tom in missouri

All the good stuff disappeared 20-25 years ago because of EPA regulations.
The lead you get is so miniscule that nothing happens except the seller gets
rich.

You will be dollars ahead to simply locate some real higher octane racing
fuel and mix a bit of it even at the $5, $6, or $7 a gallon it will run. If
I remember right, I think you said once you were in NJ. With Flemington
Racetrack and Englishtown basically in distance to most, there have to be
some racers around who can tell you where to find racing gas or could
probably be talked into hauling you back 5 or 10 gallons from their weekend
at the track.

A gallon of 114 leaded racing will bring 10 gallons of 94 up to roughly 96
octane.

That is more than adequate for your 427 if it is stock. The octane
requirements in your owners book are Research numbers. Today's octane is
R+M, which is the average of Research and Motor combined. So if the gas was
87 Motor and 93 Research, you'd have 90 R+M today. So 94 R+M that you are
using is equivalent to around 97 Research. Unless you are running the 12.5
to 1 engine, you should be fine on 97 Research.

If you are getting pinging, then likely the ignition is not set right. That
is not just the initial timing, but the entire curve. Check your total
timing, how the curve comes in, and so on.

Lead is highly overrated.

In the typical lead-era small block and big block, if it would go 100,000
miles before having to do a valve job, then it will go roughly 75-80,000 on
the unlead, based on stock spring pressures and proper valve adjustment.
Wrong springs and too loose of adjustment will destroy the heads much faster
than no lead.

How long will it take you to put 75,000 miles on your Corvette?

pj

Hi Tom,
I switched to unleaded and had "vanishing lash" from seat
recession in a 914-6 daily driver (aluminum heads with ferrous
seats--not stellite though). Was measurable on two valve lash
adjustments over about 12,000 miles (when we pulled the heads). Had
the heads reworked with hardened valve seats--then no problem.
Agree though that cast iron heads and hydraulic lifters should
help minimize the problem.
Cam grind is also a player along with spring tension.
PJ

barking rats

Thank you Bob I, PJ and Tom in MO. I hadn't realized the octane gain was
only tenths. Oh well.

Tom, the car isn't driven more than a few hundred miles per year - about
to turn over to 60k when I put 'er away this week - so I guess valve
lubrication can starve for quite some decades before the wear becomes a
problem.

As I mentioned, I haven't had pinging problems using current day's
premium unleaded, so mixing in racing fuel wouldn't be worth the time,
effort or money.

Here's waving to ya - \||||

Owen
___

'67BB & '72BB

-- not affiliated with JLA forum in any way -- alt.autos.corvette is
original posting --
___

"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger

lab~rat

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 23:39:56 -0700, Barking Rats
<noemails@myemail.com> puked:


I use a lead substitute in my '66 Elky on occasion. Why not just use
that?
--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?

lab~rat

On 23 Sep 2005 22:16:19 -0700, "benf802961@aol.com"
<benf802961@aol.com> puked:


There was an article in one of the car magazines a while back that
showed the increase was greater in low octane fuel than high octane
fuel. It showed that costwise you were better off buying higher
octane gas than the booster...
--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?