fitted a fuel cat to the car.

ButterFingers

ButterFingers

Active Member
hi there,
today spent several hours fitting a 'fuel cat' to the car.
spent time on choosing the best path for the fuel line and the cat.
made up 2 bracket to hold the cat in position beneath the air cleaner and installed new fuel line rubber hoses to appropriate parts.
"note"
had some various hoses of a fit but unsure if pucker fuel hose , so went to local auto shop, "supercheap" and bought new hose that was defiantly for fuel...
fitted same and did a test start to see if any thing leaking.....test was positive.
So now will not have to use "fuel-saver" or any other stuff to enhance the saving of the destruction of the valves etc.......hopes fingers crossed
been a busy day today....
now to slash the back paddock.................:(
 
Do you mean one of those inline things that's supposed to add lead to the fuel as it passes through it? The internet's full of discussion on whether they actually work or not. Personally I don't see how they can work. I stick with an additive until I get my cylinder head reconditioned and converted to unleaded.
 
hi Tom,
I have had these fitted to several vehicles over the years and yes they do work.
The old technology is from the last war, ww2 , used to make the poor fuel from Russia suitable for the American tanks and English powered engines.
It uses tin, yes tin capsules, and it is an instant chemical reaction in the fuel line.
It makes poor quality , low octane fuel of any origin , a more compatible and suitable to present day cars. Yours included.
I had one fitted on my land rover discovery diesel 2001 model when purchased new.
to my Morgan plus 4,
to my series one 1952 land rover, for over 34 years.
to my Chevrolet standard sedan 1935, 20 years.
I removed the head on the landie 52 and it was pristine, after 20 years use on unleaded fuel, so it speaks for itself.
the choice is yours , but I now which way I will go...
Peter
can of worms is now open for general discussion.........;)
 
Interesting, and good to hear first hand experience. Does the cat need replacing periodically, is the tin depleated with use?
 
Hi, I remain unconvinced. I don't use additives either, I have a couple of heads spare if there were going to be problems. They are still on the shelf.

Colin
 
Tom, it lasts for about 400,000 miles before need replacing, My series one land-rover did not have hardened valve seats etc when restored and they were well known for valve recession. In fact all Rovers of that era were.
When I removed the head after 20 years use, no valve seat recession was evident.
Fuel cats are a winner in my book, its a well proven technology if it can be described as such.
if its good enough for the Russians , its good enough for me.
Peter
 
Tom, these things have been the subject of actions by the Advertising Standards Agency. They have never been proven to work in properly conducted tests by any reputable lab. I've met people who claim with almost religious fervour that they work (though this is the first time I've heard of anyone using them in a diesel powered vehicle!) but I also recall magazine tests of them ending in failure.
I've never heard anyone claim before that Series 1 Land Rovers are prone to valve seat recession.

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has done a lot of work testing unleaded fuel additives and provide a list of those that work here:
Fuel Information
You would be well advised to use one of the additives listed.
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Tom, these things have been the subject of actions by the Advertising Standards Agency. They have never been proven to work in properly conducted tests by any reputable lab. I've met people who claim with almost religious fervour that they work (though this is the first time I've heard of anyone using them in a diesel powered vehicle!) but I also recall magazine tests of them ending in failure.
I've never heard anyone claim before that Series 1 Land Rovers are prone to valve seat recession.

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has done a lot of work testing unleaded fuel additives and provide a list of those that work here:
Fuel Information
You would be well advised to use one of the additives listed.
Click to expand...

It's not me using the catalyst. I use either Castrol Valve Master Plus, or Millers VSPe. Depends on which motor factor I'm nearest to when I need to stock up. I also tend to fill up with super unleaded where possible. None of my classics have engines that have been fully rebuilt in my ownership yet, so if I get any valve seat problems I can't be sure if it's a result of what additive I'm using, or if it's just a legacy of previous owners. So far, everything's well with using the additives.
 
I've had one on for 20 odd years, but believe it probably is no more than a placebo.
Have been gonna remove it for some time but inertia stops me.
That said have no pinking at all from the high comp engine, but as a well experienced mechanic said to me when it was first fitted "if it is so effective you would imagine they would be universally used"
 
I have a car running a Ford 289 V8 which has cast iron heads with no seat inserts, the softest combination possible. I use super unleaded only and have not had a problem with recession. IMHO a Rover head with inserts is not going to be a problem at all, I don't use any additives.
I spoke with a cylinder head guru at the Revival on the subject and he assured me that unless I was either racing or towing a heavy load all the time that I would not have a problem - and I haven't.
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs has done a lot of work testing unleaded fuel additives and provide a list of those that work here:
Fuel Information
You would be well advised to use one of the additives listed.
Click to expand...

Yep, they don't actually do anything. Back in the day when unleaded first started being used in the UK Practical Classics ran an Austin 1800 (B series engine) with one. After 30k miles they had pretty bad valve seat recession.

Another website with similar results. Fuel Cat and Techstore.co.uk - Scam Warning
 
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In fairness to the conners, Fuel Star which is the one I was conned into, made no claims about valve seat recession.
It's sole claim was to raise the octane rating of fuel.
I was an easy mark because (as I recall) the initial offering of unleaded in Australia was lower than the 98 Octane we have been able to get for the last number of years, and of course the car was supposed to run on 100 Octane.
Having travelled widely in leaded times and encountered "super" at 93 Octane which made starting very difficult, I was prepared to give it a go.

Interestingly I have been told that not all "Octanes" are the same, but standards vary between regions US, Europe and Australia where the same numbers are not equivalent.
 
the can of worms goes on and on:-
regarding my series one 52 landie, fuel cat fitted after a complete rebuild, a cocky told me of adding a jam jar of diesel to the tank on refill , it made a little smoke but kept the top end oily.
This is what I did for many years on the farm, a jam jar of diesel and off I would go for the day. Maybe that contributed to the "none valve recession" in the engine when the head was removed for a de-coke
years later? who knows? or was it the Fuelcat working its magic?
A placebo a day keeps the doctor away...wonder what happened to the apple?
Peter
 
Digressing slightly, before I became so old and jaded I once fell for the marketing hype for an oil additive called Slick 50 which claimed to improve economy, make the engine run smoother, last longer and generally turn the whole world into a better place. The instructions were quite brilliant, and having just spent a couple of days wages on the stuff, I followed them to a T. You had to begin by giving your engine a complete service, changing the plugs, resetting the points - the works. Then you changed the oil and filter, adding the magic snake-oil as you did so. You then had to warm up the car and drive steadily at 40mph for an hour for the magic to happen, while carefully monitoring your fuel usage. I brimmed the tank before setting off and again afterwards and was amazed by the transformation - my knackered old Vauxhall Viva that I normally red-lined everywhere used less than a gallon of fuel to complete those 40 miles!
 
I remember Slick 50. There is some credibility to adding friction modifiers as this is normal in modern oil and wasn't in the then regular mineral oils. Whether it had any real effect I don't know. Whereas in the case of catalysts there is no science at all behind it starting from what a "catalyst" actually is to what chemical process this is actually supposed to "catalyze".
 
If you have a v8 you can safely just remove the fuel cat and not impede the flow of fuel into your carb. It's safe for unleaded from the factory according to landrover.

On a 4 pot it's dangerous because you'll still get issues because the catalyst wont help.
 
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:DSlick 50 + fuel cat = Sydney to Melbourne on one tank of petrol!:D
remember years ago some mob did that in Redex trials, must have had to complete car converted to a fuel tank o_O
 
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