350-2 octane

[knutarild]

Hi!
I'm new to this board....
Had a question regarding engine-spec's earlier today and got answers for this.

But there is something that I wondered about, and that is the octane number on regular and premium gasoline.

Here in Norway we only operate with octane numbers.

And another question is; Does the engine run on leaded or non-leaded fuel?

[brblx]

here we have regular at 87, midgrade at 89, and premium at 93. there is about a ten cent jump for each by the gallon (prices around here are at about 1.29/1.39/1.49)

my car will run on 89, but it likes premium (near-stock 350-4)

[knutarild]

Thank's again David!

Here in Norway we only got 95 and 98 unleaded +98 super
(the 98 super is mixed with something to replace the lead.)

Wich one should I use?

[David Gramlow]

I would think you should be ok with the 95 octane. My understanding regarding the lead, is that the Buick heads have a relatively high nickel content, and lead isn't needed, therefore during a rebuild, the hardened seat conversion isn't really necessary. Although when a prior owner had my Buick 350 rebuilt about 7 years ago, he paid extra for hardened seats anyway. Doesn't hurt any of course.

Oh, and welcome to our V8 Buick bulletin board! Glad to have you here, all the way from Norway! If it seems a little slow around here, that's because it's a weekend. It's usually a lot more active during the week. Great to see another 68 here too. We're usually outnumbered by the 70-72 455 guys.

[knutarild]

Thank you David G.

Trying to attach a picture of my car!

[GSXMEN]

How bad are the gas prices over there in Norway? I know we've gotten alittle spoiled over here compared to what is the 'norm' over there.

Also, how hard is it to find old Buicks like yours over there?

Thanks,

[knutarild]

The price for 1 litre of gasolin in Norway is 1,12 USD.
It is 4,5 litres in 1 gallon...so the gallonprice would be about five dollar.

It is diffucult to find Buicks from the sixties in Norway.
However....the market from the forties, fifties and the seventies
is good.

[David Gramlow]

That is some expensive gas you have over there. I'm paying $1.29/gal these days.

[knutarild]

Lucky you!:beer

[CyberBuick]

Why is it the mid states get all the breaks at the pump? Here the cheap crap starts at $1.51, for 91 I pay $1.71! argh!!!

Nice ride knutarild! Hows the weather in Norway this time of year?

Disgruntled in CA,

Scott

[David Gramlow]

CyberBuick said:Why is it the mid states get all the breaks at the pump? Here the cheap crap starts at $1.51, for 91 I pay $1.71! argh!!!

Disgruntled in CA,

Scott

I guess gas is like everything else in CA... Housing is waaay more expensive out there too.

[knutarild]

Hi there Scott!

The weather in Norway is late spring/early summer.
15 to 20 degrees celsius.
Have been a bit too much rain so far, but the last days it has been very good!:Brow:

[Mike Atwood]

CyberBuick said:Why is it the mid states get all the breaks at the pump? Here the cheap crap starts at $1.51, for 91 I pay $1.71! argh!!!

Nice ride knutarild! Hows the weather in Norway this time of year?

Disgruntled in CA,

Scott

Gas ain't so cheap here in Iowa! .... I pay $2.85 a gallon...
.
.
.
.
.
.
for 110 octane :grin:

[78Regal350]

$2.85 for 110!?!?! That stuff is $4.24/gallon around here. How much are the "normal" gasolines there Mike?

[Mike Atwood]

78Regal350 said:$2.85 for 110!?!?! That stuff is $4.24/gallon around here. How much are the "normal" gasolines there Mike? \

$1.25 for regular or ethenol blends , and $1.32 for 91 premium.


:grin:

[Madcat455]

I would kill for 2.85 110 octane..

I pay 1.90@gal for 93 :spank: :spank:

1.50@gal for reg 87 :Do No:


Anybody got a BB that runs on Propane yet:Dou:

[David Gramlow]

Madcat455 said:I would kill for 2.85 110 octane..


Anybody got a BB that runs on Propane yet:Dou:

My brother converted his 68 GS400 to propane back in the late 70's. Ran great. Burns much cleaner than gasoline. Gas mileage was lower though. Might have hurt the HP too. Would definitely extend engine life, in a driver. Was waaay cheaper that gas back then. He mounted a propane tank in the trunk. The system was set up so that he could flip a switch under the dash and burn gas when he wanted to. Needed to do that from time to time so gaskets didn't dry out too much.

[OLDS442GM]

I recently saw $4.98 a gal for 100 octane in NJ!, my Buick needs at least 93, and it has to be leaded (1970 heads ya know!) So if you add the price of 93 which is $1.45 a gal, and a little math you wind up with 30 to 35 for a full tank, + another 7 to 10 bucks for lead substitute, i get about 40 to 50 (after tax) for 1 fill up on my car. Kinda sucks huh:(

Larry

[brblx]

i thought leaded gas wasn't needed? my engine is a 1970, pretty sure the heads are of the same year.:Dou:

and at 1.45 a gallon, $20 fills my tank...

[OLDS442GM]

1970 had the leaded heads! According to my engine builder he said there was no hardened valve seats in my heads. 1971 had the unleaded heads due to emission laws and such. Don't quote me on that, I have to look this info up again, but I'm pretty sure the 1970 models are LEAD heads! Maybe someone else can explain whats going on with that, any friendly comments :)

Larry

[CyberBuick]

I've always read that Buick blocks contain more nickle and good stuff so leaded gas isn't required. I read somewhere again that this guy had a 50's engine that he used for a 'is lead needed' type test, the outcome was nope it ain't..

I'm unsure how much talk about leaded vs unleaded there is on this forum, but you can run a search on the BCA forums and find several topics on the subject.

just my 2cents worth

Still Disgruntled in CA,

Scott

[GS69350]

OLDS442GM said:1970 had the leaded heads! According to my engine builder he said there was no hardened valve seats in my heads. 1971 had the unleaded heads due to emission laws and such. Don't quote me on that, I have to look this info up again, but I'm pretty sure the 1970 models are LEAD heads! Maybe someone else can explain whats going on with that, any friendly comments :)

Larry

Your engine build doesn't know Buicks well then...

The metal used to make ALL Buick Heads is already so hard that they function fine without the hardened valve seats. There is no negative to putting in hardened seats BUT they are not necessary to run on todays gas. Do yourself a favor and ditch the lead substitute...

I have run 3 separate 350 engines (one well over 10k miles now) All without hardened valve seats using the cheapest gas available here (87 octane). No problems reguarding valves at all. Also a 72 Electra w/455, ran 87 octane no lead or substitute, no problems. (all my engines were low compression).

The only instance where I would put hardened seats in is if the valve seat has been machined too many times and can't be put back into spec or if I go with a larger valve diameter, even then,I think the valve seats can be widened without new seats..

Dan