[scotsman60]

Steve,


After some research I'm coming round to the idea that mixing race gas is the preferred way of increasing octane levels - thanks for the warning/info.

I've discovered that I have a problem with my oil cooler fan - it's not coming on when the temps go up. I checked this out a few months ago and all was well but as of yesterday the fan wasn't running when I forced the temp up to around 248. I'll investigate/repair this weekend.

I also plan to modify the fan operation so that it kicks in at lower temps in a effort to control the motor temps during stop and go driving. I think that the stock temp settings are too high for CA gas. If this doesn't work then adding a secondary oil cooler as you suggested would be the next step.

Now that the pinging is gone I can hear another noise. It's similar to pinging and occurs under the same circumstances but it's very definitely different. I suspect arcing of the ignition wires. If I disconnect one of the distributors (Take the high tension lead off of the coil and disconnect the coil supply) then the noise goes away. This happens with either coil. As soon as I have both coils/distributors active the noise comes back. I'm having trouble locating the problem because it only occurs under load - my wife is unwilling to accelerate hard with me perched on the back of the car........ so I may hook up a video camera to my laptop and see if I can see anything arcing in the engine bay that way.



More later,




Doug




When I get the oil cooler fan operating again