Villiers engines and unleaded petrol

[tech255]

I have an Excelsior with a 148cc Villiers engine in need of restoration, and i would like to try and start the engine.
But I am not sure what to do about using unleaded petrol do i need to modify the engine at all or just the timing

[Justin_Faithfull]

Your engine should run OK with unleaded. I would simply start it & see how it runs, & then alter the timing if required.
Also with a modern 2 stroke self mixing oil you can use less oil per gallon of petrol.

[33d6]

Unleaded is absolutely and positively the best for your engine. It has been a boon for older style two strokes.
You will find your spark plug life greatly improved as lead fouling the plugs was a major cause of plug problems.
Villiers always recommended the lower grades of petrol for their everyday engines but  no one ever took any notice. We always bought the highest octane petrol we could and were always having spark plug issues.
This all stopped years ago when a friend who worked for Bosch persuaded us our problems centred around lead fouling. He proved his point we when we all changed to the lowest octane rated fuel (less lead) and found spark plug life much improved.
Since the change to totally unleaded fuel spark plug life has improved even more and engines hold their tune for even longer.
Your Villiers engine loves unleaded fuel and no changes to the engine tune are required to use it.

[twolitre]

A lot of scaremongering has taken place about unleaded petrol and older vehicles.  As long as the octane rating is suitable the only thing to worry about (other than the carcinogenic properties of unleaded petrol!) is valve seat wear and consequent 'pocketing' of the (poppet type) valve head into the seat.
   Obviously, two strokes have no poppet valves, so there is no problem.
   On four stroke engines with conventional poppet valves, serious pocketing will generally take MANY thousands of miles and will be detected if valve clearances need increasing significantly and frequently.
   If this happens, valve seat inserts will need to be fitted, but why do that before it is necessary (if at all).
   I have a Triumph car which has done over 50,000 miles on unleaded, with no modification, and I have never needed to increase the valve clearances.  My Triumph 5TA is also run on unleaded and though not for the same mileage is not yet showing any problems.  No (expensive?) additives have ever been used.

[douglas]

Well i've always wanted a TR2 or next a TR4 in 4 cyl world, so you have my admiration even tho' they're different!!

[twolitre]

Sorry to burst your bubble Douglas, but my car is a Gentry I built myself almost 25 years ago from the remains of a Triumph Vitesse Mk2 two litre.  It resembles a 1950's MG TF so closely that about 95% of people think that is what it is.
  However, it would give your desired cars an extremely good run for your money!  Unlike a real TF with a maximum speed of around 75 mph.  My Gentry has clocked 16.02 seconds for an electronically timed standing quarter mile - crossing the finish line at almost 95 mph.

[HelenJames]

I think we all get a little bit distracted from the main topicstarter's theme

[twolitre]

Maybe we do! But the subject of unleaded petrol WILL NOT GO AWAY! I seem to remember that vehicle manufacturers tried unfairly to wriggle out of warranty claims because unleaded petrol had been used in vehicles "not designed for it". I think that is where the scare started!
The belief that a car or motorbike is at severe risk from it was, and still is a load of rubbish. As for two strokes - as posted above there is only advantage.
From experience of controlling unmodified fleet vehicles over MILLIONS of miles running on unleaded fuels I say "forget it".

[sparky]

Regarding u/leaded petrol back in the 1960's america ran all there bikes on crap unleaded petrol as they used all types of mixtures and we get there bikes back here still running ok, as I remember the only difference was the soft valves ( mainly exhaust) the seats hardened themselves over time..
Dave..