rimfire4969 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I have an 1964 Sunbeam Alpine that has been in a barn for about 10 years. Over the next year or so i am hoping to get it back on the road. It just occurred to me that it runs on leaded petrol, is it fairly easy to get a conversion to unleaded or better / cheaper / easier to add an additive to unleaded? Also anyone in Cornwall know of a classis car restoration place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxiDriver Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 IF its like old series Land rovers? Its a case of having the valve seats replaced for harder inserts. Obviously this involves some work on head/engine and expense, there are fuel additives availavable to mimic the lead effect, some are more proven than others, Offset the possible cost of valve seat work versus additive against likely mileage and I believe it can take a lot of miles to cause serious valve seat erosion through use of unleaded Think, if memory serves me, there can be a difference in octane rating or unleaded and that required by older motors used to leaded fuels. Hope that helps, (even a little bit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B B Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Replacing the valve seats will be a technicaly better job but it will be at least 100 pounds and some will want more, i would go with addative myself its practical and its instant with no down time or labour costs, i use it in ford kent crossflows in trials cars have done for years and if you have ever been to a car trial you will know just how much hammer the engines take. I use additive and octane booster never get a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGHT SEARCHER Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 (edited) If you are doing a full Restoration do the job right and take the head off. And send it to an engineering shop for new valve seats. A new set of valves. Valve seals and springs. Is it a cast-iron head. Or the a Hollby alloy head with twin dco 40 Webber carbs. The Hollby head and twin Webber carbs made a big difference on the Sunbeam Rapier. The one i had was the Hollby head and overdrive on 3rd and 4th. I swopped my Sunbeam for a Ford Capri RS 3.1 **** that was a quick car. 3.1 blueprinted engine. ZF gearbox. ZF LSD Axle. Bilstein Suspension all round. Happy Days. Edited June 18, 2013 by NIGHT SEARCHER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Ferguson Tom restores old cars IIRC might be worth a PM, upgraded head is the better job some suggest still using additives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckyshot Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 First thing you should do is work out your yearly milage covered by this car and then weigh up the cost between the additive and a top end strip/rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 First thing you should do is work out your yearly milage covered by this car and then weigh up the cost between the additive and a top end strip/rebuild. Mileage will be very low sunny days only, even in Cornwall there does not seem to be that many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Mileage will be very low sunny days only, even in Cornwall there does not seem to be that many. IF really low might get away with unleaded http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuel/LRP.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckyshot Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 If thats the case I wouldnt pull the engine apart until it needs a rebuild or major work. That is unless you are planning on doing the job yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lees Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Mileage will be very low sunny days only, even in Cornwall there does not seem to be that many. This stuff is easy to use http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=166547&categoryId=255221&langId=-1 If you aren't using the car much I wouldn't bother with the work personally, just use the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B B Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 As i said i use additive and the kent crossflows in my trials cars get hammer equal to this in the link below. and never suffer with a unleaded +additive and i do use putoline actane booster to run more advance no other reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sx3 clay breaker Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 That looks awesome mate sounds great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 The head gasket will be 50 years old next year, would you really chance it letting you down? If the car was to have a new gasket to ensure reliability then surely it'd be a wise thing to price the seat work at the same time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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