Petrol "Lead" Additives - Superblend - Now Morris Lubricants and receipe change

B

Brian-Northampton

Administrator
Hi all,
Ever since the demise of leaded fuel, I've been using Superblend Zero Lead 2000 because it passed all the Federations tests by miles and was the leading contender.

Some time ago, I bought several bottles of the stuff and as I'm now on my last bottle, started hunting for a supplier. It seems that the Superblend company no longer exists (not that I could find anyway) but the product is now called "Superclean Zero Lead 2005" and produced by Morris Lubricants. I think that Morris Lubricants made the original and licensed it to Superblend, but could be wrong.

Anyway, I phoned Morris and it seems that they have changed the receipe slightly to change the colour and some unwanted nasty chemicals - but they did say that it would not affect the job it was supposed to do. Hmm I'm not sure I'm swayed by that as it's now not the product that was tested by the FBHVC, and I'm thinking of moving to one of the other products. So, a couple of questions.

1. Castrol Valvemaster seems to be the most prolific - as it's sold in Halfords. Any comments on this one?

2. Anyone got a link to / copy of the Practical Classics article on the results of the FBHVC testing so that I can remind myself.

3. I'd like to know the wisdom of safely changing from one additive to another. Superblend is based on Potassium, and none of the other additives are.

Thanks for your help,
Brian.
 
Do Morris's accept the new product has no FBHVC approval ?

I believe that if you change to an additive based on a different compound , it can undo all the good the previous additive did
 
Hi Dave,

I guess it only matters to us if it has FBHVC approval, and I've just been on the FBHVC website and Superblend is no longer listed (nor SuperClean).

As they've changed the receipe, they'd have to have it retested to gain approval and I guess that'd be quite expensive.

Still, I will need to change the additive when I get to the bottom of my bottle (long way to go yet), I just need to know the rules :)

Brian.
 
Hi Brian,
The various products say that you should not mix them. If you want to return to leaded petrol you can use Tetraboost which is tetra ethyl lead and is legal to use and approved by FBHVC. The down side is that a box costs £120 delivered.
I use it when I cannot get leaded fuel and so far no problems.
Hector
 
Hi Hector,

Many thanks for the info - I've just been on the tetraboost website and yes it is dear, but they reckon that it works out at 12p per litre more than the pump price to use tetraboost. Do you agree with that? At the rate that fuel is going up, as a percentage of the pump price, it's going down!! they also recommend running the tank down first to get rid of old additive. I think I'll ring them to check, probably need half a tank of unleaded only to flush it through and rely on the lead memory to hold on to the valve seats :p

How many bottles do you get in a box of Tetraboost for £120?
How much is in each bottle?

I see that you need to use quite a bit - 100ml per 11.5 litres of Tesco 99 octane (I need to boost it to 5 star :) )

I can see another expense that I'll need to hide from my missus!! :blues:

Cheers,
Brian.
 
OK, I've just done the maths.

8 bottles per pack for £120
950ml per bottle (actually 945ml, but lets not argue over 5ml)

Added at a rate of 100ml per 11.5 litres of fuel. (use 95 unleaded to create 4 star, 99 unleaded to create 5 star. Tetraboost also increases octane :;): )

1 bottle will treat 109 litres or 24 gallons.
8 bottles will treat 874 litres or 192 gallons
Tetraboost adds 14pence per litre or 62pence per gallon to your fuel costs.

Assuming a low 1000 miles per year, at 25mpg, works out at an extra £25 per year on fuel, and you only need to buy Tetraboost every 4/5 years!

(for your V8)
Assuming 1000 miles per year, at 18mpg, works out at an extra £35 per year.

Hector - You've sold it to me. I think I'll ditch my last bottle of Superblend and spend my Rover Tokens on some lead!

Brian.
 
Hi all,
Thought I'd update this discussion. I've bought my first box of Tetraboost real Lead additive this week and as I'd nearly emptied my tank (down to the last 10 litres ish) and I've just been to fillup. From talking to the chap at tetraboost, he told me to overdose on the first fill up, upto double the amount (I thought that a bit much) because she'd been so long without lead, however, I did my sums.

1 tankfull is 55 litres which would require 478ml of tetraboost at 11.5 litres to 100ml dosage rate. Double dose would be 956 - I thought I'd settle on 650ml.

I used Shell V-Power 99 Octane fuel (cos Tesco was shut!). At normal dosage, this would give me an octane rating of 101 RON, by slightly overdosing, I'm currently closer to 102 RON - Wow 5 star plus - that's racing fuel!!!

My car is a 1971 2000 TC which is built for 5 star 100 RON fuel and has been running on 4 star 97, then unleaded 98 or 99 plus additives ever since the demise.

Anyway, I annoyed everyone else at the garage (taking ages) dosing up with bottles of tetraboost and Redex, then filled the tank to the brim - that way I've diluted any Superblend left in the tank and what was left has now been turned into 5 star leaded fuel.

After a few hundred yards up the road, and onto the dual carriageway, the engine changed tone and started to purr. It was like she suddenly went back into tune and became incredibly responsive. I did several laps up and down the dual carriageway at 90mph with a big grin on my face telling everyone I overtook to "eat Lead!"

Seriously, If your a 10:1 CR engine, give the old girl the juice she was made for and get yourself some of this real stuff. I noticed a huge difference, and that's before I advance my timing back to 6deg BTDC and before I've retuned her (she's currently a bit rich - another story of a sticky jet).

Cheers,
Brian.
 
Great feedback, I may look into that stuff. :) Kind of related, I recently serviced my SC carburettor, brought the kit a while ago and did think of it as fools gold. But I was very wrong, made a massive difference, part of the kit was a new jet. Just goes to show how good fuelling is very important to these engines.
 
Brian, you said you switched from Tesco to BP , do you think this made any change to the performance.

I have seen huge debates on other forums with arguments for and against supermarket fuels both standard and 'performance' unleaded and no one seems to agree if any is any better, possibly because they are so similar. I have always used non-supermarket standard unleaded with Castrol Valmaster plus (octane booster) so I have no experience of using other fuels to compare performance.


Robert
 
I usually use the Redex brand of fuel additive, but recently bought some Castrol Valvemaster, put in the required amount, and within half a mile the car started kangaroo-ing all over the place. It was like running on two cylinders, very little power and almost completely unresponsive. This lasted for about 2 to 3 miles, driving through traffic, then it slowly went back to normal. I haven`t noticed whether it`s now better than before the Castrol or not, but it just proves the point not to mix additives, or change over `all of a sudden` if you all get me? :p

Drew
 
Hi Robert,

I've always used Tesco 99 purely on cost, I have used Shell Super Unleaded in the past and haven't noticed any difference between the two - this is the first time I've used V-Power (99 RON). I've also seen some fore / against arguments on supermarket fuel, but I think this is brand snobbery!! Tesco 99 is made by Greenergy (Link to Greenergy) and seems to be very well received.
To be honest, Superblend doesn't have any octane booster, but then I was only 1 point below, and my timing was appropriately adjusted. This is the first time I've run 100+ RON, and the first time the car has had 100+ leaded fuel since the 70's!

Drew,
I've no experience of Redex additive (for lead replacement - did FBHVC test this one?), but my thoughts about moving to Castrol is what started this discussion - when Hector pointed me in the direction of TetraBoost.
 
Hi Mike,

Yes, that's a good site - but unfortunately a bit too far for me to go just to get petrol. Also I notice here Leaded Petrol that Bayford (the company that supplies 4* fuel in the UK) are actually having difficulties in securing supplies. I gain additional benefits of TetraBoost in that I can recreate 5* and also use any Superunleaded petrol nearby.

We'll have to watch that website to see if Bayford restart supplies.

I'm sure I also saw/read somewhere that TetraBoost are supplying some petrol stations with the additive that is mixed automatically by the pump to create 4*........but couldn't swear to it.

Cheers,
Bri.
 
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