Octane levels
4th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,110
From: NJ
http://www.carmemories.com/cgi-bin/v...erience_id=232
My guess is Premium and that would be 93-94 Octane at most US gas stations
My guess is Premium and that would be 93-94 Octane at most US gas stations
6th Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,468
From: California
Which 302? Chances are it'll run on crap low octane fuel. The engines of that day in most cases were modest compression and had poor cylinder filling, so detonation isn't really an issue, provided it's tuned right.
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 588
From: New Jersey
in my original 1968 manual my 289 needs 93 octane...and that was regular back in the day...so basically you need something around that. ive found that when i run my 289 on 87 it doesnt run as strongly as with higher octane
6th Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,468
From: California
You're not going to feel the car running worse on lower octane fuel unless it either detonates, or if it's EFI and the computer is pulling timing. Fuel quality matters a lot more. Depending on where you get fuel, the higher octane usually has better additive packages, so it tends to be cleaner. Higher octane fuel will make your car run slower though(but the difference between 87 and 93 may only be noticed at the track), higher octane fuel has more resistance to ignition and burns slower.
In extreme cases too much octane can actually destroy an engine. Running 115 in a 9:1 engine for example can result in the fuel not igniting properly and not burning completely, and you can get liquid fuel up in the ring lands and unseat the rings, which results in flutter and fubars the rings and cylinder walls. Plus it acts as a solvent and washes oil off the cylinder walls.
In extreme cases too much octane can actually destroy an engine. Running 115 in a 9:1 engine for example can result in the fuel not igniting properly and not burning completely, and you can get liquid fuel up in the ring lands and unseat the rings, which results in flutter and fubars the rings and cylinder walls. Plus it acts as a solvent and washes oil off the cylinder walls.
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 224
From: CO
In the "old days" when these cars were built gasoline was rated at Research Octane Number (RON), not Motor Octane number (MON) which is much lower.
Now the Octane rating at the pump is an average of the two (RON+MON)/2, and is known as Pump Octane Number (PON).
This should be on a sticker on the gas pump at your local station.
IIRC, PON relates to about 3 points off RON, but a quick google search on the above terms will get you the actual percentages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Now the Octane rating at the pump is an average of the two (RON+MON)/2, and is known as Pump Octane Number (PON).
This should be on a sticker on the gas pump at your local station.
IIRC, PON relates to about 3 points off RON, but a quick google search on the above terms will get you the actual percentages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Below seems to be a decent article comparing the numbers:
http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/R...RONMONPON.html