351 gas treatment

I drive a SMART car and a user forum strongly suggested the use of Sea Foam gas treatment.

I will have to say that the engine smoothed out and I have had no problems for 8 years.

What are the thoughts of this treatment in my newly acquired 1985 SN 2001, Ford 351?

My goal would be to just clean gunk out and lube the valves.

Jonny Quest wrote:   My personal experience has been very good with the Lucas Fuel Treatment.  I did a 3,000 mile experiment one year on a family vacation.  We had a Chev Suburban and we went from Houston to St. Louis area to Salt Lake City and back to Houston.  On the outbound leg of the trip, I ran regular pump gasoline, 87 octane.  On the return trip, I ran the same regular 87 octane fuel but I added the Lucas Fuel Treatment at every fill-up.  The suburban averaged between 1.5 to 2 mpg better with the Lucas.    My $0.02 JQ

She was running pretty well for a boat that had sat on the bunkers for 4 years.

That changed the second week or 8 hours on the clock. Spitter, stalls then surges and twice flat out dead in the water.
The dash volt Meter was all over the scales.

New belts solved the stretched belt issue and put the adjustment nuts mid range again.

My volt meter and I found 4 loose connections in the ignition and start circuits.

All has become stable and I now have another 10 hours on her. Feels good and I’m sure I can finish out the season and do a full tuneup, my style, this winter.

Today I replaced a very old oil filter. I do not think it has been changed in 8 years. I also drained out a quart of oil as she was real high on the dip stick.

The crank oil smelled good and was not contaminated. I spoke to the marina that serviced it before putting it in the water. The owner did not service but a HS kid did. I asked him about the oil and filter. He said he was told that the filter and oil was ok, so he topped it off with 2 Quarts.

As to the electrical problems, he did not notice any. I asked about the battery, and he told me that he could not find the cleaner and wrench, so he hand tightened the posts with a twist of his fingers.

I’ll be doing my own servicing from here on out.

Another positive vote for Lucas. For me it’s like Frank’s Hot Sauce, I use that $hit in everything, boat, diesel car and truck, snowmobiles, chain saws, weed wacker, John Deere tractor and mower. (get the drift here EVERYTHING) 

Like baked cayenne peppers 

I’ve been using non ethanol gas in my Nautique since the 1997 SN, now have a 2004 SN 196. No problems, I use a can of Sea Foam annually as was recommended by the Correct Craft dealer. A modest investment. Note I have not changed plugs, distributor cap, or plug wires on the 2004 yet. Boat runs great with 482 hours. 

Interesting to read.

I’ll look for a source and try this in my lawn mower and generators first.

If, I can source the fuel.

Oh, and yes high zinc oil for the old 351 as mentioned earlier of your favorite brand. High zinc oil is becoming harder to find but it is available. Castrol GTX that has been around for decades still has the same looking label but the zinc content is not the same as days of old. Castrol now has a new label called Castrol GTX Classic and that is their high zinc content oil. I had seen the information for the Castrol GTX Classic on their web page but had not seen it in a store until yesterday. And of course there are other brands and you can look up the discussions about oil on this site and many others.

GeoB wrote: Is there a high zinc synthetic oil? Is Mobil 1 high zinc?