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Lead balls in gas tank "WHAT ?"

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  • Lead balls in gas tank "WHAT ?"

    Is this something that was done back in the day?,if so for what exactly? buddy of mine has a 64 Rambler,that had these installed over the years by origional owner.at least that's the story he got !
    Joseph R. Zeiger

  • #2
    first time i've ever heard of that!!!

    and reading that, i shriveled up a bit...
    Kerry. SDC Member #A012596W. ENCSDC member.

    '51 Champion Business Coupe - (Tom's Car). Purchased 11/2012.

    '40 Champion. sold 10/11. '63 Avanti R-1384. sold 12/10.

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    • #3
      We used to put mothballs in the tank, it was supposed to boost octane. My Dad was a chemist and he swore it worked. I remember trying to blow up my friend's '51 Plymouth "field car" (we raced it around his vacant lot) by putting a couple of boxes of mothballs in the tank. I swear it made that old six run better than it ever had but it didn't blow up, at least that time!!

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      • #4
        So, just exactly HOW did you make those moths part with their....never mind...

        John

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        • #5
          Don't ask, don't tell...... ; )

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          • #6
            Don't take this as gospel:
            I remember a rumor from back in the old days that you could raise the octaine by putting lead sinkers in the gas tank.
            I never tried it as it didn't sound likely.
            sigpic
            Lark Parker --Just an innocent possum strolling down life's highway.

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            • #7
              Ditto what Dale said - I remember that too.

              Clark in San Diego | '63 Standard (F2) "Barney" | http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

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              • #8
                Maybe people confused lead sinkers with tetraethyl lead, the component they used to put in gasoline before leaded fuel became unpopular? Tetraethyl lead was added to reduce knocking and pinging and was considered a major breakthrough in fuel technology at the time. Now, of course, it's considered evil.

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                • #9
                  It gives the mutant scuba squirrels something to chase.
                  Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

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                  • #10
                    Maybe some gas station mechanic sold the owner some muffler bearings also!

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by 63 R2 Hawk View Post
                      Now, of course, it's considered evil.
                      Actually it is...

                      "Lead pollution from engine exhaust is dispersed into the air and into the vicinity of roads and easily inhaled. Contact with concentrated TEL leads to acute lead poisoning:

                      Lead is a toxic metal that accumulates and has subtle and insidious neurotoxic effects especially at low exposure levels, such as low IQ and antisocial behavior. It has particularly harmful effects on children. These concerns eventually led to the ban on TEL in automobile gasoline in many countries. Some neurologists have speculated that the lead phaseout may have caused average IQ levels to rise by several points in the US (by reducing cumulative brain damage throughout the population, especially in the young). For the entire US population, during and after the TEL phaseout, the mean blood lead level dropped from 16 μg/dL in 1976 to only 3 μg/dL in 1991.[19] The US Centers for Disease Control considered blood lead levels "elevated" when they were above 10 μg/dL. Lead exposure affects the intelligence quotient (IQ) such that a blood lead level of 30 μg/dL is associated with a 6.9-point reduction of IQ, with most reduction (3.9 points) occurring below 10 μg/dL.[20]

                      A statistically significant correlation has been found between the usage rate of leaded gasoline and violent crime: taking into account a 22-year time lag, the violent crime curve virtually tracks the lead exposure curve.[21][19] After the ban on TEL, blood lead levels in US children dramatically decreased.[19]

                      Although leaded gasoline is largely gone in North America, it has left high concentrations of lead in the soil adjacent to roads that were constructed prior to its phaseout. Children are particularly at risk if they consume this"

                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead
                      Dick Steinkamp
                      Bellingham, WA

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                      • #12
                        Sounds good, but someone flunked elementary chemistry. I don't think I've ever seen a table of lead's solubility in gasoline, but I suspect it's very close to zero. Tetraethyl lead has to be manufactured in a refinery/chemical plant, just like most of the other components in gasoline, past or present. Dropping some lead balls in a gas tank is gonna result in exactly that -- some lead balls rolling around in a gas tank.

                        TEL, like moth balls (napthalene), ethanol, and lots of other hydrocarbons, raise the octane reading of a fuel by preventing pre-ignition (pinging), thereby allowing more of the fuel's energy to be used to actually push the pistons down at the right time. It's development in the 1920s by GM was a great advance, as it allowed compression ratios to be raised without pinging on the poor quality fuels available at the time. It took 50 years before anyone realized that a lot of those lead molecules were still in the environment and lowering the IQs of children.
                        Last edited by Skip Lackie; 10-11-2012, 12:59 PM. Reason: typo
                        Skip Lackie

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                        • #13
                          And all this time I thought lead was removed because it damaged catalitic converters. And yes I have big lead sinkers in all my gas tanks. I talked with 2 different chemists. One in pharmicuticals,the other in the field of neuclear power. Both said the lead would dissolve into the gas,but neither could say how quickly.
                          Neil Thornton

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                          • #14
                            I don't know about stopping knocking and pinging, lead balls rolling around in the gas tank would make plenty of knocks and pings, and drive me nuts ;-)
                            Matt
                            Brisbane
                            Australia
                            sigpic

                            Visit my Blog: http://www.mattsoilyrag.blogspot.com.au/

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                            • #15
                              If some previous owner was goofy enough to think that would help make leaded fuel then I'd check the rest of the car out very carefully. I wonder if he put any Tide in the crankcase so he'd have detergent in his oil?

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