Lead Additive for Early 911

How many of you early 911 owners are using lead additives? I recently purchased my 71 from the original owner who faithfully used a lead additive with each fillup and recommended I do the same. Bruce Anderson has addressed this issue and basically states that unleaded is OK for early 911's, but there seem to be a lot of "ifs" and "buts" included in his article.

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1971 911T - 2.5L Big Bore

I use Castrol Systemreiniger TBE Benzinzusatz in my 84 euro 3.2. It works as a lead replacement and cleans the injector system at the same time. I'd recommend the use of lead replacement on a 71.

[This message has been edited by Mikkel (edited 05-17-2001).]

Back in the days when unleaded was being phased out in the US there was a lot of letters in Pano about this subject. The basic answer was that some old cars required lead because their valve train components would wear too fast without it. Porsche (911's at least) did not. Porsche has always used high enough quality components that they did not need, lead. In fact the recomendation was that running non-leaded fuels was good for your motor as it reduced deposits on valves and generally kept things much cleaner. Just a not, if you get 911 and Porsche World from England this same discussion has been going on it's pages for the last year as the last leaded fulls are phased out. The answer to all the questions is the same. Porsches don't need lead, just the right octane.

Robert

....and which octane would that be for the older 911s?

Just a word of warning:
If you have used lead-fuel or any replacement additive and now switch to lead free, you should check your valve clearance earlier than usual.

Jens