around noon today, i had a meeting with a client... we were sitting in a coffee shop window. i had my classic parked on the street. i looked outside and saw a few guys looking at the car... which, as you all know, is not wierd.

however, i looked again a few minutes later and they were still there. one was lying on the ground looking under the rear. i got up to get a better look and noticed that they were firemen. on top of that, i noticed their truck parked a few feet in front of my mini and a bunch of cones placed around the car.

of course, i went outside to see what was going on and one of the firemen told me that they were called because there was fuel leaking from the car! apparently, the fuel line broke and all my $3.40 a gallon premium was flowing all over the street. they opened a nearby firehydrant to wash the gas away.

after they left, i called a tow truck after about 45 minutes wait, the flat bed shows up. the driver tells me, that car's not totaled! i said "you're damn right it's not!" after some discussion, the driver told me that the dispatcher told him that the car had hit a bus and was totaled! he said he couldn't take the car because he didn't have the right equipment (straps, chains etc) for a car that wasn't totaled. so i called AAA again and after another 2 1/2 hours another truck showed up. i asked the driver why it took so long. he said it was because none of the drivers wanted to pull a classic car on their flatbeds. sheeeeeeesh!

oh, the challenges of old british cars!

 

Sorry to read this, Mike. What a frustrating experience for you! But it's good that your Mini didn't burn to the ground!


Clover

 

I am glad to hear that the mini is OK. Good thing no one through a cigarette near the mini

 

But why are you putting premium in a Classic Mini? You trying to fatten it up to make a MINI out of it?

 

Wow, that's a terrible (albeit cheaper) solution to the situation! I don't know about St. Louis, but in Massachusetts that's a very illegal thing to do. It should have been absorbed, or else just allowed to volatilize. I hope there wasn't a stream nearby.

 

Classics with a 1275cc engine in it run on premium. If I put anything else in mine, it takes about 5 seconds to stop burning gas when I shut it off and that is very bad for the valves.

 

How odd. Is your Mini injected or something? All my classics (1 was a 1275) ran happily on the cheapest petrol I could find, except for the 1 Shell station that had water in their petrol. Mine were all old, the newest was a '78. The pics of yours look like it might well be newer than that.

 

Concur to the extreme

I put in 3 gallons of mid grade once .... oh my G_D, I'll never do that again.

A 1275 needs the highest you can get or stand back.....

 

everyone i've asked said has said "use premium" including the chap i bought it from. i've never heard of anyone using anything but. btw, my engine is a 998.

i would be interested in other opinions on this so... let's hear it.

 

A cooler spark plug may help with the post-ignition, MM74.

 

Remember the Mini was an Economy Car, I would expect it to run on 87 (U.S.) gas.

If you have a Cooper, Cooper S, or other modified engine it probably has higher compression and may need a higher AKI (Anti Knock Index) gasoline.

I have a 1978 Australian car, the engine is a replacement of unknown vintage. The numbers restamped in the block I D it as a 998. Some one removed the vacuum advance from the distributor, so with it timed properly at low speeds to pass the emmision test, it probably is short on the advance at high speeds. It does not rev past 5,000 easily.

I run the cheap stuff in it, I have never heard a ping or had a run on.

I think I used regular unleaded in my 1969 Midget. It had the 1275, with the thumb wheel timing adjustment on the distributor. I remember that when I drove over the rockies, I used to crank that wheel up. When I came back down the mountain I would back it off. I never had any ping unless I accidently lugged the engine.

I have seen that thumb wheel on some Mini distributors. I would run cheap gas and play with the wheel.

John

 

Fuel is different in the EU than here in octane and additives. Many Minis are not equipped with hardened valve seats for unleaded gas. It will take its toll. Best to use an additive/substitute.


http://www.carnutgarage.com/fuel/Fuel_1.html
So you were retarding the timing manually at each situation instead of an ECU.


An engine can "knock"/"ping" without being audible.

 

That's a good point. None of my Minis ran on unleaded. Forgot about that.

 

got the d3mon back today. apparently the old rubber fuel line just gave up. had it replaced with a steel braided line.

i filled it up with 87 octane and now after reading minimad's post, i think i should have not done that.

ill stop by the zone tomorrow and get a fuel octane booster.

 

I went through my factory manual last night.

The 998 came with compresson as low as 8.1 to 1, but they still reccomended high octane. Some of the other engines came with compression up near 10, and 110 octane was reccomended.

Some of the Mokes were set up for lower octane.

John

 

I proved it today...I used to always put premium and I ran so smooth and yesterday I put midgrade (due to gas prices) and now it would delay on shutting off the engine. I couldn't believe it... so stick with premium

 

Premium is a must with my high performance 1275. I have been wondering though, with the prices of fuel the way it is, if I could save some funds by using regular and a good quality octane booster (along with the lead additive). I have not found a place here to get 105 octane fuel to mix with.

 

Ahh, I see I'm not the only one to have this problem with AAA. I tried to get my 914 towed a couple months ago. After three attempts to get anyone with a flatbed to even come out to my house, the person who does show up refused to load my car. Since my '05 MCS comes w/roadside assistance, the only reason I've kept AAA is for the Porsche, and I'm having buyers remorse now....the good news is that it forced me to figure out the problem on my own and fix it -- saved me quite a few bucks!

I highly recommend the SS Braided fuel lines for any vintage car that is not for concours