As Nix is getting new heads, and as the valve spring pressure is so much higher than what's in the car now, husband would like to know if anyone has access to independent oil performance test results, that aren't published by "all the usual suspects;" Big Oil hawking their wares to those with no other source of information. "One small oil specialty company" (who shall remain nameless for our protection) has a Zillion results for various lubricants, but they also have more than a nickle in it.

Some years ago I used Delo 400, an oil intended for over-the-road trucks as it contained additives that better protected old engines from new fuels. I understand this oil is no longer suitable for flat tappet engines because the company has been forced to change the formula.

Does anyone know of any viable alternatives, or better yet, a source of the aforementioned independent test results?

TIA.
(';')

 

My family are all sprint car drivers or racecar engine builders. We all tend to run into this problem with our engines as well. We had this discussion a few months back about what oils were still good. If I remember correctly the consensus was that Brad Penn was the best oil for our older engines.


I know for a fact that we were using Brad Penn in both our 410 open motor that was roughly ~900hp and our 305 motor ~550hp that was flat tappet per the rules spec that the motor had to adhere to.

 

Thank you SO much!
However, we're Not racing! Is this OK for the street! As in, How many miles between Required oil changes. I know some racing oils are only good for around 500 miles and that would not be such a good deal for Nix.
(';')

 

I know when i just rebuilt my 350 that i got with the Jag i was told they would hit me upside the head if i didn't at bare minimum use the Brad Penn for break in oil. But break in was only about 300 miles. I thought that they used it for their street applications as well but I will have to check to make sure. I would encourage doing a bit of research on it yourself as well considering I have been attempting to restore the Jag and my Ducati at the same time, my brain has gone a little haywire in the memory department. Something something lack of sleep.


Looking at the Brad Penn website they have different oils specified for High Mileage, Motorcycle, Full Synthetics etc. I would say that they definitely have street use oils on the shelf. I am not entirely sure what the pros and cons to using the race oils in street use are. I will talk to my mother and my engine builder here soon and if i remember i will pop the question on them and endure the hour and a half explanations that they provide to me on the subject.

 

LOLOL!
Boy Howdy do I hear that!
Husband says he knows about Brad Pen oil, I've never heard of it.
That will be the project for today then. Thanks so much.
(';')

 

Elenor,

I'll try to filter out all the smoke and mirrors you might have heard as best I can and present some facts. The topic is quite simple and not the rocket surgery that many make it out to be.

I am an active enthusiast in the old Corvette hobby and have been since the '80s. Each of these cars had the same basic engine as Nix has now, the design of which goes back to the early '50s and is generally known as the Gen 1 SBC (let's ignore the BBC engines for now).

Standard off the shelf oils up till a decade ago were perfect for these engines irrespective of HP ratings. There's lots of data to back that up.

With the introduction of API SM type oils in 2004, there was no longer any real assurance that sufficient levels of anti-wear additives were still present which met the requirements of old school OHV engines. Some border-line real high HP engines suffered premature cam lobe and lifter wear problems as a result. Low HP engines (like that in NIX), not so much.

The solution is to use alternate oils that still contain sufficient anti-wear additives to suit your Gen I SBC engines.

In a nutshell, any oil that's rated API CJ-4 (select the desired viscosity) are perfect right out of the bottle. No voodoo, magic additives or snake oil involved. The anti-wear additives are more than anything that Nix will ever require.

Shell Rotella is the best known brand name, followed by Delo and several others.

Me? I head to Wallyworld when I see that their house brand CJ-4 oil is on sale and stock up. No need for fancy expensive boutique oils that promise unicorns and rainbows.

As for oil analysis, while this is commonplace in the heavy duty and long distance vehicle industry (or aviation which was my background), the time, trouble and cost of performing the task properly on a single limited use vehicle outweighs the potential benefits. I've never seen anyone bother to do the program on a car as the analysis itself costs as much as an oil change anyway.

Hope this helps.

 

You are absolutely right Mikey. I imagine my families brand preference on Brad Penn stems from the need for it in our race engines. And for street engines we end up using Brad Penn if we are feeling picky, or just whatever is laying around if we are feeling lazy. I just rebuilt my 350 and used Brad Penn break in oil, but have since been using off the shelf oil with no special promises. I am running compression in my engine just under 9:1 with a 305 head.

 

Yes, Mikey, this helps Quite a Lot! It's becoming Crystal Clear! Thank you.

This is what I was looking for! There's Nothing like the voices of Experience!
Thanks to you both!

 

No discussion about oil isn't complete without discussing oil filter. I'm given to understand that there are paper filters and fleece filters. And that fleece filters are the best. Anybody want to chime in?

 

No.

GM built the SB engines in the tens of millions starting in the early '50s right up to present day. Guess how many of these failed due to a design inadequacy of a good quality traditional paper filter.

None.

The fleece filters solve a problem that doesn't exist.

 

I have actually had vehicles that would get an audible valvetrain tick if you weren't using a paper oil filter (Mazda Miata). If you google search Mazda valvetrain ticking noise it is prevalant among the older cars. Every time i fitted an oil filter it would tick like a nutter if it wasn't paper. Made me laugh when i finally figured out what it was.