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DaveC=> it has been shown many times that older => iron block and head engines DO need the lead => (or a suitable substitute) to prevent valve seat wear. Do you have any direct evidence of this? How do you think cars ran in the decades *before* lead was added to fuel? I'm sorry, but I've seen this myth very convincingly debunked many times, in several contexts, and in direct experience. It's persistent, but it's particularly misleading in the context of discussion involving VW engines. Just to show that I'm not talking completely out of my nether hole, for years I drove an iron flathead '50s Studebaker, built right in the middle of the leaded-fuel era, with the original valve train. I ran lead substitutes at first, until discussion with many old-engine experts convinced me that it was a waste of money. After that it was just premium pump gas, and the car ran long, hard and great, including extended cross-country at high speed, with no sign of unusual valve wear. Lead was originally added to fuel and marketed as an antiknock ingredient. It was only much later, in the context of effort to remove it from fuel, that the valve-lubrication angle was put forward. It's been said that this may have some validity in racing engines, I don't know about that. Hardened valve seats do last longer, but not because of the absence of lead. Steven Ayres, Prescott AZ '66 Big Ghia ------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? mailto:type3-request@vwtype3.org, Subject: unsubscribe