CLASSIC CARS


DAVE WOOLLEY


pollute) and how octane affected combustion. The lead in the fuel provided lubrication and reduced friction, especially in the areas like valve guides. After the introduction of unleaded


gas, wear in the areas of the guides was reduced with the use of harder materials, especially on the exhaust side of the combustion cycle, where temperatures are more extreme. If you drive a classic that has never


been torn down and the guides need to be updated, there are some additives available on the market made by Permatex or Lucas (to name a couple). Dan told us when a car came in for


Octane: fact and fiction DAVE’S RIV Last Autumn, as Cruise Nights were


coming to an end, I popped by Rideau Carleton Raceway. What a special place for a cruise night! I talked with Graham MacInnes, who


runs the Cruise Night and who does such a wonderful job. Fifties and 60s music was playing in the background. There was room to display hundreds of vehicles, and just few hundred feet away was the back entrance to the racetrack. You could enjoy a great buffet or enjoy a large order of fries from the adjoining chip truck. There were many cars on display that night,


including some new beauties that just arrived from Cornwall. This year, stop by Rideau Carleton on


Wednesday nights. I can guarantee it will be a great evening.


*** In my travels, I had the opportunity to chat


with Kevin Willey, a Land Rover fanatic. He always has access to his favourite style of car.


16 BOUNDER MAGAZINE


He has one cut in half, with the front half in his work room. His TV sits on the hood.


*** I bought a beautiful 1969 Buick Riviera


in Lakeland, Florida, and had it shipped to Oshawa. What a great experience with Mackie Transport from Oshawa! They handled the shipping, the paperwork at the border, and offered to deliver the car to Ottawa. If you’re thinking of shipping a vehicle from the southern U.S., you’ll be thrilled with their service.


*** Recently I visited Dan McCurdy of Dan


McCurdy Automotive on Merivale Road. Dan cut his teeth working on the classic cars of the 60s in the mid 70s and is one of the best today. Joining us was Art Stevens of Complete Media Services who markets several leading automotive dealerships in Ottawa. We were discussing how, back in the day, we used leaded gas, what the lead did (besides


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a tune up, it was always a challenge to bring the timing as close as possible to manufacturers’ specs while avoiding that annoying ping under load. The car still had to have maximum power and run smoothly. It was usually the tweaking of the ignition timing that would do the trick. Our conversation turned to today’s engines and how the Electronic


Control Modules (ECM) calculates maximum power, fuel economy and the lowest emissions possible. By analyzing multiple input sensors information (everything from air density and temperature, coolant temperature to oxygen in the exhaust stream, to name only a few) the ECM then sends out commands to various motors and controls located all over the vehicle to obtain those three goals. This all takes place within milliseconds. Dan’s information led to some


questions about octane, so I called an expert: John Armstrong, General Manager of W.O. Stinson & Son, to help me understand it. John said octane has two


definitions. One is chemical: octane is a flammable hydrocarbon liquid that, along with other hydrocarbons − pentane, hexane, heptanes and many others − is refined from crude oil and makes up the blend of chemical components called gasoline. The second definition is a little


CRUISE NIGHT AT RIDEAU CARLETON


easier to understand. Octane is a measure of a fuel’s tendency to knock or ping when it’s mixed with air and burned in the cylinder of an engine. This octane rating is not based on


the amount of chemical octane in the gasoline. It’s determined by gasoline being subject to two testing methods. One is called the motor method,


where the combustion abilities of the gasoline is measured in an engine running under load. The second method runs the


gasoline in a free-running engine. This gives slightly higher ratings and the


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