no, keep the engine, 1250cc must have been a one off as most are 1275cc, get
another unleaded engine & drop it in, what you have must be as rare as hens
teeth,

Steve.

I would use unleaded with an additive and have the head converted when you
need some other work on the engine. This way you shouldn't have to mess with
timing/mixture etc until any major work is needed. At the same time you
could keep an eye out for a cheap replacement unleaded head from a later
model or Metro.

The only parts that need replacement in the cylinder head are the valve
seat inserts. This has to be carried out by an engineering shop.

Having said that there are heaps of cars that will run happily for some
considerable time without the conversion just using an additive to the fuel.

r

In the U.S. we have had nothing but unleaded fuel since the early
1980's. Typically we haven't used additives or hardened valve seats in
older engines. We don't see pervasive problems with valve recession in
engines like the A-series or B-series.

It's a good idea to retard the ignition to avoid pre-ignition
(pinking, pinging). In the U.S. we tend to run our sports cars a bit
on the rich side and I suspect this helps as well. There would
certainly be nothing harder on valve seats than unleaded fuel,
over-advanced ignition timeing and a lean mixture.

Cheers,

Kelley