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Modern Oils for Our Flat Tappet Engines

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twas_brillig

Jedi Knight
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I've written a couple of lubricant manufacturers regards their recommendations for 'our' engines (I identified 1959 to 1962 Sprites and a 3000). Here is a reply from Shell (I'd written Quaker State, owned by Shell), and from Castrol:

Quaker State/Shell:
"For your Austin-Healeys Model, it is recommended for those years model to consider an oil with API SF. In addition to that, your flat tappet engine required an oil with a reasonable amount of Zinc that will create the needed sacrificial layer for this area of your engine. My recommendation will be to consider using Shell Rotella T4 TP 15W-40 which contains in average 1200 ppm of zinc."

Castrol:
"Classic cars with flat tappet cam engines represent a special case in regards to engine oil lubrication. These engines have valve train configurations that require elevated levels of zddp (zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate) anti-wear for proper protection of the flat tappet camshaft and its lifters. Insufficient concentration of zddp will lead to premature wear and failure of the camshaft and lifters. Current GF-4 and GF-5 fuel economy grade engine oils are designed for extended life of the catalytic convertors in modern passenger cars and have industry mandated limitations on the amount of sulfur and phosphorus within the oil.

Castrol EDGE SAE 5W-50 has been recently reformulated to have a boosted level of ZDDP (1250 ppm) to help protect flat tappet cam engines in classic cars. This engine oil is a full synthetic, has excellent cold temperature properties, and has a high temperature viscosity (SAE 50) that is suitable for use in many classic car applications."

Pick your poison!

Doug
 
Phoned Exxon/Mobil and Valvoline:
Mobil:

Use Mobil 1 15-50, which has 1300 ppm ZDDP. I asked for their recommendations regards oil changes and the chap advised that once a year or 16,000 km, and to change the oil in the fall.

Valvoline:
Their VR-1 Racing Oil has 1400 ppm zinc and 1100 ppm phosphorous. They recommend oil changes every 5000 km and to put fresh no-name/cheap oil in in the fall and change it out in the Spring.
 
I've always used Castrol and I have some around but apparently what I have on hand doesn't have the level of zddp that it used to have. In general diesel engine oil is OK and that is what I'm running now. Rottella

Kurt.
 
I wasn't as clear as I should have been - my oil change questions to Mobil and Valvoline were for folks that have a summer driving season and a winter storage season: get rid of the 'dirty' oil in the fall; put in some cheap stuff as you won't be driving much on it; and put the good stuff back in in the spring when you pull it out of storage. I expect that the spring change is ased on concerns over potential condensation and possibly additive deterioration. I'm afraid I've always been too dumb, lazy, and cheap to do the additional spring oil change.
I've seen suggestions on the old air cooled VW Beetle forums that synthetics allow better heat dissipation in an air cooled engine, but I don't think that that is an issue with us water cooled folks. Doug
 
Hey a typical Spridget owner isn't going to put more than 2k miles a year on them and if you have a leaky rear seal, well they are more Slippery and probably leak out faster as well. VR-1 Racing Dino Oil for me.
 
I've been using Valvoline VR-1 20W-50 for a while. I tried Rotella T6 5W-40 once, but it leaked faster.
 
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