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Leaded fuel is still available in this country. In about 1980, the gov't mandated that by 1985, leaded fuel for automotive use would have the lead content dropped from 1.2 grams per gallon to .1 grams per gallon. Any oil company that dropped their auto fuel lead content prior to the 1985 deadline received "lead credits" for every gallon of reduced lead gasoline sold. In other words, if the standard was 1.2 grams per gallon, and the pump gas only had .7 grams per gallon, then the oil company received a .5 gram credit to use later. Leaded fuel was not to be produced after (approx) 1987 at all. After 1987, if an oil company used lead in auto fuel, they were using up previously earned credits. This gave the oil companies the choice of dropping the leaded fuel/content over a period of time, or cold turkey when the new standard went into effect. Today, auto leaded fuel is hard to find. If you do find it, the lead content has been drastically reduced. The engines that suffered the most damage were used heavily under load, like truck and boat engines. I know, as I was a boat mechanic during the late 1980's when these engines suddenly started needing valve jobs. New seats (hardened) and valves took care of the problem. Tom Carrington tcarrington@relitech.com 65 Notchback http://www.relitech.com/tomc/65notch.htm 82 Vanagon http://www.relitech.com/tomc/vanagon.htm