Mercedes 280sl ideal fuel

[sean280sl]

hi, i have a 1984 Mercedes 280sl does it need to have an unleaded conversion? thanks

[Doofus]

No

[davepoth]

Doofus said:

No

To expand a little...

The easy way of telling whether any work is needed is to see whether the car was sold in the USA after 1970, because that's when unleaded fuel was introduced there. So assuming we're not talking about a W113 280SL (Pagoda), there should be no problem.

[bmwcsl]

Most premium cars used hardened valve seats anyway before unleaded becamse an issue - i have the same car as you and it has been running on unleaded for the last 80k miles and so far no discernable priblems although it does run much better on avgas!

[lowdrag]

Another guide is surely if the engine has an alloy head. E-types were sold unmodified in California post the introduction of unleaded only in 1964 because they already had hardened seats. Does the SL have an alloy head? Not sure myself, not being a Merc person.

[GadgeS3C]

lowdrag said:

Another guide is surely if the engine has an alloy head. E-types were sold unmodified in California post the introduction of unleaded only in 1964 because they already had hardened seats. Does the SL have an alloy head? Not sure myself, not being a Merc person.

Lots of British motorbikes have alloy heads but still allegedly need different, hardened inserts for unleaded. So not sure if that is a good guide.

I may, of course, be talking twaddle!

[Doofus]

All of which is very informative, I'm sure. However, it muddies the water a bit.

The answer to the OP's question is no. Not 'maybe not', or 'it depends', just 'no'.

[GadgeS3C]

Doofus said:

All of which is very informative, I'm sure. However, it muddies the water a bit.

The answer to the OP's question is no. Not 'maybe not', or 'it depends', just 'no'.

Pistonheads - obfuscation rules - we fear clarity

[A9XXC]

Please define - Clarity....