Strange objects found in my petrol tank

[Dave Fearon]

I was cleaning out the fuel tap filters as I suspected they may be blocked and causing what appears to be a fuel shortage when I came across 2 silver-coloured ingots located within nylon gauze. Anyone have an idea why they might be there such as some mystical fuel treatment additive?

[pete.collings]

They look like fuel treatment pellets that are available, supposedly originally to negate the problems with lead free petrol (and possibly ethanol containing fuels?). In the past, I had placed them in the tank of my V50 Moto Guzzi, can't say I noticed any significant change, but didn't notice any adverse effects either

[Dave Fearon]

Thanks Pete

I take they are supposed to dissolve to some extent otherwise how would they work?

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi, they was developed by the RAF because of the poor fuel in the war to replace the lead , they now put the balls in a nylon sleeve and they will get smaller over time, you will see them for sale in classic mags or at classic shows

[Mick D]

Hi

I think they are a solid form of 'snake oil', often promoted as:

a remedy for lead free fuel
an octane booster
a remedy for the effects of ethanol in fuel
an engine cleaner
a means to increased mileage
and probably a way to make the rider look 20 years younger

Still available on the bay if you want to invest in someone's get rich not so quick scheme.

Regards Mick

Now where did I put those fuel line magnets???

[Dave Fearon]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions Going to recycle them with the beer cans!

[ian williams]

some of this reply will go off topic at end .
my friends father was in the navy during WW2 and for the atomic tests , he worked on seafire planes [ navy version of spitfire] and said they did have this type of product fitted in the fuel lines on the planes , for the reason it is claimed by the same/similar product today . .
they also used VIM down the bores to quickly run in newly built engines .
i have the pellets in my tanks and if they only stop fuel going stale i would be happy .

remember also it was a girl named Beatrice Shilling who worked out how to stop the spitfire engine cutting out in steep dives and manouvres by restricting the fuel flow to the carb , and she was also a motorcyle racer who raced a supercharged norton in the 1930s and one of only 3 female riders to have lapped the brooklands circuit at over 100mph .

on a similar note in 1930 my grandfather bought a 1929 norton CJ1 [he said it was 500cc though ] ex tt racer and it had a letter with it stating it was guaranteed to have exceeded 100mph on the IOM circuit , i have the sales receipt for it from kings of oxford .
gramp said it would do 100mph and would go faster if you took the dynamo chain off .
on that bike he beat TE LAWRENCE [of arabia ]in a race near tarrant hinton where my grandfather as a young man and blacksmith used to visit his freind at his pub and blacksmith shop at weekends in the 1920s and 1930s .
T E lawrence used to wait in a gateway for unsuspecting motorcyclists to come along and then he would pull out and then " burn them up " , he did this to my grandfather on many occasions but gramp only had an alldays and onions bike which was not fast enough to beat him .
1930 gramp bought the norton racer and one friday afternoon went off to tarrant hinton a bit earlier , he knew where te lawrence waited in the gateway so gramp went a bit farther down the road and waited for te lawrence to come along , regular as clockwork he appeared .
gramp said he fired the norton up and pulled out behind him and then rode up beside him and they pulled off , with him leaving the brough in the dust behind him .
te lawrence didnt try racing him again after that but some time later gramp bought a scott flying squirrel and parked it at the pub overnight .
when he came to fire it up the next day and leave he said the bike started up but then when he put it in gear to pull off it went backwards .
he said he thought te lawrence was disgruntled at being beaten and he had sneaked up at the pub in the night and had fiddled with the scotts timing to retard it , and as you know a 2 stroke will run backwards .

cheers
ian

[Dave Fearon]

Hi Ian

Thanks for the interesting story, coincidently an old flames family had a dedicated signed book by T.E Lawernce. It's a small world. Dave

[Bob.Murphy]

Beatrice Shilling's fix was to place a washer in the fuel line to restrict the fuel surge. It was known in the RAF as "Miss Shilling's Orifice".

Bob.

[Julian Murphy]

Ooooh, errr, Missis.....