Question for the older gentlemen here.

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Marine or white gas in Canada back in the day was unleaded regular.You could buy naptha in bulk at the dealers .I don't have as many Colemans as you but I probably am pushing a hundred.I guess i can blame it on CAD just sub the word coleman for chain saw.I still run them on unleaded gas.At the resort we had outpost cabins on isolated lakes and if the tourists ran out of lantern fuel some would fill the lanterns with 24to 1 mixed gas they got a little light for a bit then the generators on those old 242s would start to plug up.I have my mothers collection of Coleman tools and parts she fixed hundreds of Colemans as they were all we had for the resort.
Kash
Nice collection! I thought I was kind of odd for loving old Coleman stuff. Now I know I'm not alone!
 
Mark is absolutely correct with the octane rating of Coleman fuel. Its not very high. Ive got more naptha burning appliances than the above average fella. North of 400 fuel burning pieces. If my place ever catches on fire, you'll see it.
View attachment 882793View attachment 882794
Nice collection! I enjoy the old Coleman/Sears Hillary tooBE9AB42A-E392-495D-A35D-E728046D5056.jpegF63DBBA4-DBBF-42DE-B6D1-987DF3492232.jpeg
 
Here in Canada we can find ethanol free gas anywhere. It’s just 91 or 93 octane, mostly 91. I use ethanol free 91 in all my seasonal equipment. I belong to a sled and ATV forum which I have seen so many issues with carbs. A good chunk of the problems can be eliminated by properly prepping for storage. I use a fuel stabilizer at the end of the season. Run that mix through and if possible, drain the fuel and run it dry. Sleds are run with stabilizer, then new gas and stabilizer added. Filling tank keeps condensation to a minimum. At the start of sled season gas is drained and used in my truck. New gas is added to sled. I’m still running my Toro snowblower from 76 and my lawn mower from 85.
 
Marine or white gas in Canada back in the day was unleaded regular.You could buy naptha in bulk at the dealers .I don't have as many Colemans as you but I probably am pushing a hundred.I guess i can blame it on CAD just sub the word coleman for chain saw.I still run them on unleaded gas.At the resort we had outpost cabins on isolated lakes and if the tourists ran out of lantern fuel some would fill the lanterns with 24to 1 mixed gas they got a little light for a bit then the generators on those old 242s would start to plug up.I have my mothers collection of Coleman tools and parts she fixed hundreds of Colemans as they were all we had for the resort.
Kash
Coleman Toronto thru out its history produced some of the most desirable pieces in the eyes of a collector. Those of us South of the border long for some of those items, they (the Toronto made items) just dont turn up in yard sales here in Kansas, which ironically is home to Wichita, Coleman USA headquarters. Easy to find Wichita made stuff. I probably should have found a cheaper hobby! LOL
 
I have searched desperately and I cannot find a station that sells non-ethanol gas. Every pump I have looked at says may contain up to 10% ethanol. I’ve looked at those on line lists and when I get there the pumps say up the same thing. What can you do?

You could seperate it.

Pour some water in a container with the gasahol.

 
Here is my pennies worth. I grew up on a Air Force base in the fifties. So I could get any kind of AV gas I wanted. Some engines need 160 Octane fuel to perform at their best. At that time it was loaded with lead. It did not take long for most of us to learn that high octane fuel is not for two stroke motors. If you really needed some thing for performance you would mix 160 with high test. There is nothing wrong with ethanol laced fuels for most two stroke or chainsaw. In the sixties I started building auto engines which were 10:1 or more or a lot more. With high octane fuel one could push the boundaries of spark advance. Then started using straight alcohol with Nitro. With out a huge budget the whole concept was worthless. As a result I found a 110 to 115 was all I ever needed. Even very high tuned two stroke motors do not need more than 95. thanks

So.... you in your 70s?
 
My 84 c30 came out at an in between time. Back then (pre 86 or 87) if you bought a gas HD truck over 8500lbs gvw (3/4 and up) it was emission exempt. No smog pump no catalytic converter. And theyd run happy on lead gas. My gas gauge does not say “unleaded fuel only”. This truck has the “M” code heavy duty 350 which depending on the source means different things. The biggest difference I have in running that truck is adding a zinc additive to the oil for the valve seats and more importantly the cam. I have chrome moly 1.6:1 roller rockers but cam tappets are flat not roller.

My 83 C30 had a AIR pump and EGR.
As did my 82 C30.
Both cab and chassis 10k GVWR.

83 C70 10 wheeler had an AIR pump as well. 427 engine 40,000 GVWR

The C30s both have "unleaded fuel only". As does an 80 K30, and 77 K30 also here.
 
My 83 C30 had a AIR pump and EGR.
As did my 82 C30.
Both cab and chassis 10k GVWR.

83 C70 10 wheeler had an AIR pump as well. 427 engine 40,000 GVWR

The C30s both have "unleaded fuel only". As does an 80 K30, and 77 K30 also here.
Strange mine is all original and I certainly didn’t remove anything. My dads 85 c30 (bought new in fall of 84) didn’t have it either. The gvw on mine is 10,500lbs (gone over many times) the literature I have on the k30 shows they were 11,000lbs
 
I have searched desperately and I cannot find a station that sells non-ethanol gas. Every pump I have looked at says may contain up to 10% ethanol. I’ve looked at those on line lists and when I get there the pumps say up the same thing. What can you do?
Look for maverick stations. They all sell no ethanol gas as a premium price. It’s a Colorado front range thing. The ethanol is supposed to clean up the air by making the cars run leaner. If you have access to a local airport, you may be able to buy 100ll or if in the springs, chief petroleum has leaded and unleaded race gas.
 
I use 100 LL (low lead) from our airport in all 2 strokes I own. It allows my saws to run a little cooler I think. I have never had any carb problems in the 6-7 years I have used it.
 
I was watching a guy test brand new 50 year old motor oil and compared it to new modern motor oil.
It seems the newer blends work much better then how they blended oils 50 years ago.
He also tested leaded fuels against unleaded fuels.
I'll post a link below.
Better oil and better fuel equates to better performance and longer engine life.
I would like to see him test ethanol fuels against E free fuels.




 
Strange mine is all original and I certainly didn’t remove anything. My dads 85 c30 (bought new in fall of 84) didn’t have it either. The gvw on mine is 10,500lbs (gone over many times) the literature I have on the k30 shows they were 11,000lbs

C30/k30 were 8,800-10,000lbs gvwr as far as I know.
 
C30/k30 were 8,800-10,000lbs gvwr as far as I know.
I have the cab and chassis literature from GMC. The extra gvw is achieved with the overload spring option. Also I found the document on emissions. From 1980-86 if you ordered a 3/4 ton with the HD C6P package (8600lb gvw) the trucks didn’t use cats. The 30 series exempt as well. GM did this to get over the 8500lb threshold. In the 70s the magic number was 6000lb gvw. To beat that GM made the “Big10 and Heavy half” with gvw over 6000lb to get a half ton without cats. When they fuel injected them in 87 all had cats regardless of engine or gvw. Odd your pre 87s do.
 
I have the cab and chassis literature from GMC. The extra gvw is achieved with the overload spring option. Also I found the document on emissions. From 1980-86 if you ordered a 3/4 ton with the HD C6P package (8600lb gvw) the trucks didn’t use cats. The 30 series exempt as well. GM did this to get over the 8500lb threshold. In the 70s the magic number was 6000lb gvw. To beat that GM made the “Big10 and Heavy half” with gvw over 6000lb to get a half ton without cats. When they fuel injected them in 87 all had cats regardless of engine or gvw. Odd your pre 87s do.

No cats, but A.I.R. system and EGR.
One of my trucks is the "camper special" and is still 10k. Rear pack is something like 15 springs.
The other truck, not sure, no door tag, but i added a few leaves to the overload.

10k is really low rated, that's only ~3000lbs load, not even a cord of wood!
 
I never worried about lead cutting with a tiny little chain saw with one cylinder.Years ago I walked the streets of Los Angelos with tens of thousands of vehicles with V8 engines blowing it directly in my face all day long.
Lead is a Known toxin but you have to cipher to the BS they forcr down your throat.
EPA guy wants me to believe that one single cylinder Lawn Boy motor pollutes more than 40 full size Suvs.Truth
A lot of our gas stations are real gas but the ones with the little green sticker are ethanol.I use the water seperator trick as a test all the time problem is this if you take all the ethanol out of the gas then the gas thats left will not run any eng
This problem is sheer hell with my old snow mobiles I try to use real gas say there is water in the bottom of the tank It freezes and turns to ice stays as ice till spring the SkiDoo is happy I am happy.
Some how gas with etanol gets in tank ice melts water and ethanol bond together carb fills with water i drain the carb pour gas from tank through fine screen filter . I replance the gas in the tank and the machine will not run because the ethanol is gone.
Kash
 
I have searched desperately and I cannot find a station that sells non-ethanol gas. Every pump I have looked at says may contain up to 10% ethanol. I’ve looked at those on line lists and when I get there the pumps say up the same thing. What can you do?
Look for a co-op gas station that sells to farmers.
 
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