And here are the pictures, part 2.

http://imgur.com/gallery/16CIF

The old cars are really nice, but how practical is it to actually ride them today? For starter, have fuel octane changed much since 1917?

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

The old cars are really nice, but how practical is it to actually ride them today? For starter, have fuel octane changed much since 1917?

You can order older fuel mixes in 55 gallon cans, call around to race car gas suppliers and you find what your need. The main problem is additives in modern gas the eats seals and plugs up carbs. Not to mention gas is now lead free witch can be hard on valve seats. But you can still run modern gas on old cars, just tune the carb and it will run. But don't expect it to be a good daily driver for long.

Believe it or not there is a gas station a few towns over from me the sells 110 octane leaded gas without any additives. Older gas mixes are definitely still available. Just not common.

Jade Falcon wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

The old cars are really nice, but how practical is it to actually ride them today? For starter, have fuel octane changed much since 1917?

You can order older fuel mixes in 55 gallon cans, call around to race car gas suppliers and you find what your need. The main problem is additives in modern gas the eats seals and plugs up carbs. Not to mention gas is now lead free witch can be hard on valve seats. But you can still run modern gas on old cars, just tune the carb and it will run. But don't expect it to be a good daily driver for long.

Believe it or not there is a gas station a few towns over from me the sells 110 octane leaded gas without any additives. Older gas mixes are definitely still available. Just not common.

Ah, I see. Not very practical, I guess. But of course, driving 1917 car isn't quite practical to begin with.

Compatible mixes are also available for aviation. Not cheap, but it might work for your purposes.

Honestly it's not a big deal to run modern gas in old cars. Just don't let it sit in the tank/carb and use a lead additive. If your driveing a car from the 50s or older every day with the original engine then you want to do something like use a older blend or change the carb/heads. But not many of us have such a old car, let alone one they drive every day

Jade Falcon wrote:

Honestly it's not a big deal to run modern gas in old cars. Just don't let it sit in the tank/carb and use a lead additive. If your driveing a car from the 50s or older every day with the original engine then you want to do something like use a older blend or change the carb/heads. But not many of us have such a old car, let alone one they drive every day

What about a car from mid-60s? I have my eyes on a Jaguar XKE (E-Type for Brits).

vladstamate wrote:

Jade Falcon wrote:

Honestly it's not a big deal to run modern gas in old cars. Just don't let it sit in the tank/carb and use a lead additive. If you're driving a car from the 50s or older every day with the original engine then you want to do something like use a older blend or change the carb/heads. But not many of us have such a old car, let alone one they drive every day

What about a car from mid-60s? I have my eyes on a Jaguar XKE (E-Type for Brits).

Run high octane, like 91 or 93 and it should be fine. You may want to add a lead additive if the car originally called for leaded fuel. And don't let the gas sit in the tank, drive the car 3-4 times a year at least and your be fine. 60s and newer really only need higher octane fuel at the very most.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

... have fuel octane changed much since 1917?

If you're intested here's some hardcore pr0n: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.338 … 2015.00016/full

To give you an idea, in 1917 the famous Red Baron's Fokker Dr.I triplane Oberursel rotary engine used ~70 octane (R+M/2) fuel. However as those archaic engines burned humongous amounts of lubricating oil, the effective octane rating was even lower. Compression ratio was 5:1 🤣 .