Rooky question alert: What type/brand of oil does everyone use in their OE or restored pre-60 engines? What is your justification? Do you swear by anything special? I just run a generic, conventional 10w30. Am I missing the boat?
Maybe you should search "oil"? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422227 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=347627 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=368565 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342003 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342413
Loose motor 54 customline,6 cyl,,,,,,,90 wt. The bottom end let go, blew out the pan, in the middle of New Mexico and it STANK RIGHTOUSLY!!! I was 17 and was sooo much smarter then.
90 weight gear oil at 200* is about the same viscosity as 50 weight motor oil at that temp. But STILL !!!!! Back to the orignal ? fresh or near engine the 10-30 is fine in your climate. Tired engine straight 30 or 40 my choice. In Phoenix I usually run 10-40 or 20-50.
Castriol gtx anti-sludge with one quart of lucas oil additive. Only use lucas after your engine is broke in.
Thanks for the input. My search on "oil" brought up every thread with an oil filter, oil pan, oil line, etc. Moparforlife's search engine must be a hemi...
If the motor is fresh, or has really good valve springs, regular 10W30 will wipe out the cam and lifters. Modern motor oil that says "For Gasoline Engines Only" on the label is for new cars, not flat tappet cars. Flat tappet engines need more zinc for the cam. There are several oils with more than 1000 PPM zinc, the one I use is the easiest to find where I live. It is Shell Rotella, 10W30 in winter, 15W40 in summer. Nine bucks a gallon.
A lot of people don't realize they have made changes in motor oil to make it more compatible with catalytic converters. With the roller motors they make now it doesn't matter but with the flat tappets it causes problems.
The elimination of zinc had flat tappet guys running for Rotella Diesel oil- Now that's being changed. Valvoline VR1 is a "race" oil, so it can keep the zinc, and Royal Purple has different additive that does really well. I've seen a royal purple test that i truly believe was legit (and i'm always doubtfull) but if i didn't like it, id just run the VR1
In the old days you bought 20/20 weight for a new motor and 30 weight after it was broken in. Then they came out with 10W40 weight for a one size fits all. Now you have to look and see what the API service rating is, in hopes it will meet requirements for flat tappet cams. Whats Next?
lots of conflicting info. lately on this--Just fired a flat tappet solid lifter FI 283 and was told by the engine pros to use the VR-1 Valvoline as the Rotella has less zinc than some believe hope the VR-1 is good--engine has about 2 hrs on it and sounds good --said to leave it for about 150 miles before I chg it-
Wal-Mart has "Accel" brand 10W-40 SF oil. Being SF & marked "For pre 88 cars" it should have the full zinc content. SM is the zincless oil.
My engine is broken in, 15-20 PSI all day long... it sounds like a sewing machine at idle. The consensus is use oil with Zinc... so I think I'm going to switch to VR-1. Thanks again for the input, and the link to other threads with the same question.
Torco Oil has an MPZ additive that you can add that brings the zinc, phosphorus and Moly levels up in any oil. TORCOUSA.com.
I use Rotella T 15W-40 in all of the older cars, plus my Ford Power Stroke. Using that, along with WIX oil filters over the last 15 years; I have not had an oil-related failure in over 500K miles of driving.
VALVOLINE!!!!! its high in zinc and the older engines **** that stuff up like a spong... good for engine stress
Any oil that meets CF-4 specs does not have enough zddp for flat tappet camshafts. My local Fleet Farm store carries it's private label CITGO oil...the 5W30 and such is CF-4... the 10W30/10W40 is not. All the diesel oils now contain lower levels of zddp due to the catalytic converters on all diesel trucks made since '07. Rotella is no different...AFAIK they were the first to lower zddp levels. I use some old Valvoline and Pennzoil I bought at a yard sale last year...made around 2000. I have about 70 quarts of it so I'm set for awhile...but I also found a qty. of GM EOS that has a ton of zddp and I'm keeping that for my Hemi. Lucas is a good additive but it's also a viscosity index improver which makes the oil thicker... not really bad but may not be right for every application. It does contain anti-wear additives. I run it in my 3406 CAT engine.
The Jalopy Journal
