i have just purchased a 78. she has been dry stored for ten years and so has not been converted to unleaded.

i was wandering what to fill her up with. what is everyone else using or is it simpler to get it converted?

further to the above as aforementioned the car has not been on the road for 10 years, besides a sevice, new leads & plugs, what else should i change etc.

cheers guys

If you’re in the UK you could seek out one of the few (as rare as rocking-horse $hit) garages which are still allowed to supply leaded petrol. Otherwise you’re stuck with lead substitute additives (I use one from Castrol in my 1500 for the octane boost as much as valve seat protection). I would guess that, as long you don’t thrash the engine too much, a 1300 will run safely on unleaded petrol (just like the 1500 they have hardened steel valve-seat inserts in the alloy head), just don’t hold me to that!

Valve seats for sohc engines are compatible with ULP, as are the OE valves. We haven't had leaded petrol in Australia for nearly 20 years, and I've seen no increase in the amount of valve replacement / seat recutting work I'm asked to do., so basically if you use OE parts you'll be OK.

Remember the X19's main market was the US, where ULP has been the norm since the mid 70's, Fiat wouldn't make an different (especially inferior) head to suit a (relatively) small market (like the UK or Australia), so all valve components are ULP compatible.

They definitely run best on a premium octane fuel though, go for at least 95 octane rating.

SteveC