this is going to the first of many dumb questions i have to ask about my car i just purchased. i have all original '72 maverick (20K miles) with a 200 i6, anyway i question is whether or not i have to used lead additive in my gas. i didn't think to ask the old owner, but the owners manual says that all '72 engines are desiged for "Regular" gasolines. well i guess i don't know what was regular in 72?
welcome !!!!!! as far as fuel goes, gas was leaded back then. as far as using a lead additve goes, i have a 72 250. i don't bother with any lead subs. mine had 30 thousand on it when i bought it. 80 thousand on it now. runs and sounds great. i know this doesn't answer your question so ( i asked the same question when i first joined the ford family) from i what i was told " don't know if it matters or not but it won't hurt anything if you use a lead sub." my mav has to run on super gas though. otherwise it pings and sometimes diesels when i shut it off. can't figure it out cuz all my settings are perfect. so i run super. hope this helps.
You won't have to worry about the lead so much as the octane. Lead in gas was a cheap anti-knox compound. It also helped with metal lubrication, but that was secondary to the anti-knox properties. Regular gas in 1972 was about 92 octane on average. So buy todays premium, which is about 92-93 octane, and follow the recommended timing advance for your engine. That is all you need to do for most engine applications from 1972. Eric
I buy the cheapest gas I can find for my 71 with a 200 and it runs just fine. No need to run high test, low test will work with no problems.
yeah kinda going with what dennis said...start with regular gas and all settings perfect. if it pings or diesels, try tinkering with the timing...if that won't help, go to mid-grade. tinker a lil more. if that won't help i guess you are stuck with running super (like me) i did try tinkering with my timing to get it to not ping while using mid-grade but it ran so crappy and got such crappy mileage that it was more cost effective to time it by the book and use super. another thing (in my opinion) you should invest in since you are new to this car is a pertronix ignition system. 60 or 70 bucks and your car will be virtually trouble free in the ignitiondepartment.
Believe it or not, we have a Kwik-Trip in town that sells their regular and premium for the same price. Been doing that for years. Only bad thing is it's 10% ethanol gas. I prefer real gasoline, so I generally don't stop there for fuel. But for somebody that has to have a higher octane fuel and doesn't mind reformulated, it is a deal.