Depending on how long ago, the octane rating may have been inflated from the R+M/2 formula used now. In California in the sixties and seventies, hancock had pumps that let you "blend" your gas. You picked the octane from 8-10 options, starting at 110 and heading down.

My late father's '65 Ford with the 390 hi compression engine called for 100 octane or higher. The 10.6:1 compression in the 428CJ used the 110 octane setting at the local Hancock station and didn't complain.

Mid eighties, I could get leaded premium at the Union 76 stations in Calif, and that ran well. But it's real gone. I can buy leaded 76 racing gas in drums and hope nobody finds out I'm running leaded gas on the street. What I did was have the heads redone with valves and seats suitable to unleaded, and I run on the pump 91-92 octane unleaded without any real problems.

Of course, we get the MTBE treatment here, which is known to be hard on old gas hoses. If I were dealing with the Camaro, I'd probably change all the fuel lines, consider kitting the carb, and use an octane booster such as 104+ (or better - I know there are a number of 'em out there, including some real lead additives). In Calif, a friend who was an engineer for Chevron advised me to use Shell premium. He couldn't say why, but their additive package seemed to work better for the suppression of pings than did any other. And no, I don't work for Shell. I run whatever's cheapest - usually 76 or Flying J - in my company car.

The Camaro sounds like a real treasure. Low miles and a big block! take care of it, and remember your Dad fondly. I've got my Dad's '57 Chev outside, and my son and I are restoring it. The car will be 50 years old the year my boy graduates from high school, so we think it will be cool for him to have Grandpa's Delray to drive. Good luck, and try the Shell pump premium with the octane boost.

And check for any indications of MTBE (look for a sign on the pump), as that would trigger watching for the rubber parts of the fuel system to deteriorate. MTBE has been described as like paint thinner - they call it an oxygenating agent, but it's really refinery slop that they wanted to get rid of some way. I want to say it's related to naptha...