Moth Balls

[Raptor]

Here are two quotes from the board I was reading.

"I worked on the cleanup of a facility who manufacutred mothballs. The product (which they had made since the early 40's)was made from dichlorobenzene not naphthalene."

and

"This is really a stretch, but here goes. Leaded gasolines were formulated with scavenging compounds to help get rid of the lead residue from combustion. These scavenging agents were typically bromine (chemically a halogen, as is chlorine)compounds. It could be hypothesized that by adding a chlorinated benzene compound(mothballs), the lead scavenging would be enhanced and spark plugs would last longer, as well having less lead build up on valves.Performance wouldn't be improved but durability might be."

and finally

"Bromide lead scavengers are carefully balanced against the amount of lead in the fuel, so as to remove almost all of the lead. An excess of lead scavengers will also remove other metals, and is therefore highly undesirable. A little bit of lead is preferable to erosion of the valve seat and bores and piston tops"

So it would seem that since all old school mothballs were not made from Napthalene, you also stand a risk of not knowing which type you have and trying experiments with them could cause some damage.

So to some this up for tom.

trying the new style - potentially putting acid in your gastank
trying the benzene based old style - potential valve and seat damage
trying the napthalene based ones - not enough of an octane increase to notice
using C16 or other specifically developed high octane fuel - the expected results

Is there really any point to discussing mothballs any furthur? Just spend the money on the right fuel and you and your motor will be much better off.