Beetle Fuel

[adamchrissy]

When i first purchased my 1970 Beetle i was told to put in £5.00 worth of 4 star petrol every few times i filled up

The car has been off the road for 10 years or so and as far as I aware 4 star replamennt is no longer available

Is it ok just to use unleaded with a Beetle or does something need to be done to the engine etc

Adam Buckner

[denisond3]

With unleaded fuel you can expect slightly faster wear of the valve faces and the valve seats - but its not likely to be a factor unless you plan on putting a LOT of miles on the engine. I think a beetle engine might need new valves and valves seats after 100,000 miles (with unleaded fuel) instead of lasting for 150,000 miles. By that time I would think you would be doing a valve job on the heads anyway, due to wear between the valve guides and the valve stems; which wear is independent of unleaded/leaded fuel.
If you want to put lots of miles on it, there are fuel additives made to 'replace' the lubricating function that the tetraethyl lead used to do. I know that Bardahl makes such a product. I would use it sometimes in my motorhome; I think it took an ounce of the stuff for every 5 or 6 gallons, something like that. When I was driving a 64 beetle, long after the leaded fuel was no longer available, I would put in half a pint of motor oil along with each tankful of gasoline. I only put about 250,000 on my beetle before the belly pan rusted so badly that I parked the car forever. I never had any problem with the valves.
If the car sat for quite a while, you can expect it to begin to leak a fair amount of oil from the crankshaft main seal - next to the flywheel. This is because when the car sits for months/years, moisture will cause some corrosion on the part of the flywheel that the flexible seal rubs against. When you commence using the car again, the rust will get worn away from running, but will have also worn away the lip of the seal to some extent. The cure is to unbolt the engine, drop it down, slide it out, remove the flywheel, install a new seal, and re-assemble. The nice thing about beetles (the 'real' ones, not those with the motor in the front) is that removing replacing the engine is so easy.