leaded or unleaded

Ok, so Ive been researching MGBs recently because I'm interisted in buying one as a summer project. Most of the articles that i have read are from owners in the UK and they've said that they have converted their B's to run on unleaded fuel. Being that B's are quite old, and I am way too young to know when the US switched to unleaded fuel, I was wondering if that is something that I should be concerned about when buying a B. If it matters, the one I'm looking a is a '74.

They will run OK on unleaded fuel, but they didn't have hardened valve seats so the heads will eventually need to be rebuilt due to valve seat wear. It would be hard to tell if the car you are looking at has an up-graded head, unless the previous owner knows.

Clifton

Thanks Clifton, I really appreciate the help. I have one more question though. If the seats,or head havent been upgraded, is it relatively easy to do, or is this something I should leave to a professional? Also I was wondering if its possible to replace the seats without having to replace the head.

-Jim

You need to take it to a machine shop for upgrading the head. They would have to cut out the old valve seat area and install new seats and reface them. They would remove the old valve stem guides and press in and ream new guides. The job requires precision work with some rather expensive tools.

Clifton