Ask An Expert: Fresh Fuel & Seatbelt Safety

In this special bumper edition of Ask An Expert, we put two community questions to Paul Wager, Group Editor of Classic Car Mart and Classic Car Buyer.
The first question comes from Jeff Friend, who asks:

"I filled my Reliant Scimitar tank (steel) in November prior to the winter. With Covid-19, event cancellations and lock down I look like having some well past its sell by date fuel by the time I can use the car again. What are the consequences I can expect by using it after a long period ? Should the fuel be disposed of?"

Paul's advice is:

"You’ll hear a lot of conflicting advice about fuel and car storage but if you filled up with fresh fuel only six months ago, then you needn’t worry. Our experience has been that modern fuels don’t “go off” in the way they may have done many years ago and that kind of thinking really relates to cars which have been left standing for several years. Assuming the battery and ignition are in good order then the car should fire up and run with no ill effects."

Our second question comes from Bryan Willison, who had a question regarding seatbelt safety:

"I have 1955 Daimler conquest drop head coup for safety sake should I fit front seat belts? I cannot see any practical way to fit 3-point belts but could fit 2-point lap belts would that be better than none at all."

Paul had this to say:

"We’ve met with senior safety engineers from modern car companies who have convinced us that nothing makes a bigger difference to crash safety than wearing front seatbelts. You’ll be surprised how neatly companies like Quick Fit can fit modern belts to older cars."

If you'd like to learn more about safety restrictions and how classic cars are impacted, you can find more details in our article on Seat Belt Laws and Classic Cars.

That's all for this week! If you have a classic question you would like answering by an expert, simply complete our Ask An Expert form and we could be answering your question next week.

The information contained in this blog post is based on sources that we believe are reliable and should be understood as general information only. It is not intended to be taken as advice with respect to any specific or individual situation and cannot be relied upon as such.