Rover p4 fuel additive

[Flash1]

I have just got myself a rover p4 60. 1954
do I need to put a fuel additive in with the fuel if so what
One is best thanks

[mr rusty]

Hello, I use castrol valvemaster which is known to work, although others are available. I can run my engine on neat unleaded as Triumph six heads have quite a bit of lead memory and generally don't suffer valve seat recession, but it doesn't do any harm to chuck the stuff in and as the car was designed to run on 5 star the octane booster in the stuff allows me to run at factory timing settings. Without the additive the engine isn't happy as the timing has to be way off to run at all. So, I would say yes use some- it'll enable you to run factory spark timing and protect from valve recession -i don't know however happy your engine would be on unleaded without some additive as the only Rover I've ever had had a K series engine!

[JPB]

In the long term, it might well be preferable to have the exhaust valve seats fitted with steel inserts. I know that it would mean a complete engine stripdown as this will have side exhaust valves so in the block, not the head as the inlets are, but lead memory is now generally thought to be a myth as explained in a paper presented by ICME in 2009. What's actually going on there is that some engines' exhaust valve seat areas become induction hardened through time and the process is entirely random as it depends - in simple terms - on temperature, driving style and the material quality of the original casting.

To address the O/P's question though but; Castrol Valvemaster is sold in more outlets than other additives and these products are all pretty much as effective as each other so my inclination would be to go with the one that's easiest to find. The Valvemaster is also available with an octane enhancer as Valvemaster Plus though the 4 cylinder Rover IoE was perfectly happy on old two star so unless it pinks, don't bother with the extra cost of the plus.