• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)

Spitfire 20-50 oil says run in car manuel

Share this page

D

Duane3

Freshman Member
Offline
I have a 1980 spit .. my manuel says to run 20-50 oil with zinc ,, the zinc I understand but is not that to heavy of oil when it is cold out say 20 to 40 degrees ? Seems that is not right.. what do you all run ??
 
I run 20-50 in both cars without a problem. I have to point out, though, that I have gear reduction starters on both cars.
 
20 viscosity when cold 50 when hot
 
Ran a 64 Spit with 20-50, had an 80 Spit and ran 20-50. The 80 has hardened valves, don't need lead. My wife ran a 73 GT6 for 10 yrs, I used 20-50 without hardened valves. Ran the begeezes out of it, never had problems with engine. Just u-joints and blew one tranny.
 
When I drove these cars daily I ran 10w-40 in the winter and 20w-50 the rest of the year. You sometimes needed all the help you could get to start the car on a cold morning, plus less viscosity to fight idle speed when warming up.

Nowadays I do drive my car in the winter, but only on nice days. So it is 20w-50 year round.

The 10w-40 probably circulates over the bearings faster and protects the engine a little better on cold start up too.

If your Spit is not a daily or regular driver in the winter I would stick to the heavier oil. If it sees regular service in temps below 20f or so then switch out to the 10w-40.
 
Back
Top