Is there any particular kind of oil that is best in an old 1963 f100. It has slightly less than 90k on it. Is it better to put in high millage oil or synthetic oil over regular oil? What is going to be best for the engine?

thanks.

 

10-30 is good oil.
I personaly recomend rotella as it helps protect your cam shaft better.
Any oil of 5w-30 to 15w-40 will work.
Straight 30w is what was used in 1963.

 

I agree any brand 10W30 should be fine. No need to spend extra money on boutique oil. The old motor will do fine on what it is used to. IMHO



John

 

Run 10W40 or 15W 50 in 223s and 292s. If you can find it straight 30 weight is what was in there from the factory. Unless the engine is a new rebuid on startup, Rotella will have no added value due to the tappet type in these engines.

Do not use 5W oils as they are too thin and the 223 and Y blocks use a flat mushroom mechanical tappet type cam. The thicker oils are required to properly lube these and the larger bearing clearances on antique motors. If you run thin oils it will leak out past the bearings and provide a low oil pressure on the engine.

Garbz

 

ZDDP is in rotella. ZDDP is a high pressure lubricant for flat tappet cams. 223 and 292 engines have flat tappet cams. No rotella that is $11 a galon at wallmart is a waste of money. $10 bargin oil is a much better idea. HMMMM?

Oh yea rotella is available in 10-30, 15-40, and 20-50 weights.

Nope, I still cannot decide.

 

They use a flat mushroom mechanical tappet (they only come out after turning the engine upside down and pulling the cam or require special clip tools to hold them in position and finesse to worm them out). They are not a common modern type flat barrel lifter tappet that requires Zinc to lubricate the metals during rotational break in. The Stock 63 Y block and 223 tappets and camshaft face are induction hardened by the factory. And require no zinc for break in as they do not really break in.

So the junk 30 weight non detergent ford put in there is fine.

Garbz

 

I too have heard that the zddp is needed for the Y's and it is the general consensus on the Y-block forum.

I have run valvoline 20w50 in 3 of my Y's. The all did well, with no signs that they did not like the oil. I had one of them apart and the wear was normal throughout the engine, including the cam. The mileage is unknown on one of them. The one I had appart had about 11k miles. The third is in the truck right now and is doing just fine. This particular oil should have the added zinc due to its viscosity. I will not argue whether or not it needs it. It has worked very well for me.

 

Straight 30 in 1963 would have zddp. Sorry for coming off harsh. Changing ones oil every 3k is going to help more then a fancy additive.
Rotella is designed to use in diesels. Some diesels still use mechanical lifters. Therin rotella is a great choice for oil. It costs $1 more at frankly that is a cheep insurance on an engine that has not been made for 40+ years.
Yes I would recomend a 10-30 oil of reputable brand. Valvoline, havoline, mobil, or rotella are great oils. I buy rotella and if it is not available I buy mobil non synthetic 15-40.
None of these are botique oils. Royal purple or redline is a botique oil.

 

Changing the oil and filter regularly is much more important than how much Z additive is in it. I have toooooo many miles under my belt to buy into that idea.

Vehicles under my care over the last 40 or so years have probably 1-1.5 million miles with several over 100,000, one over 200,000.

Getting the lead out of gas was the best thing that happened to add life to engines. IMHO


John

 

Here's the deal folks. If you "used to/always run this or that oil and never had problems" get ready for problems. Within the last 5 years all US sales oils (including US sales Rotella) have had the ZDDP (Ziinc and other wear additives) removed because of the clean air act.

High pressure metal to metal contact (lifters/cams) needs zinc to coat the parts to live. The highest pressure points in a motor are the lifter/cam interface.

If you run a flat tappet cam (IE: non-roller lifter, doesn't matter if it's solid, hydraulic or mushroom) you need that additive. The oil companies have no problem taking it out since all the OEM is roller lifter and such a small portion of their sales go to classic motors it doesn't hurt them.

Solutions? Many. GM sells a good ZDDP additive, put it in with every oil change. Plain old STP has ZDDP. Many speciality oils (Red Line, Royal Purple, Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs, European Rotella, Archer, Lucas and others) have ZDDP in them or available with ZDDP if you ask for it. WE run Brad Penn oil in our race motors with solid cams with no problems. I have 2 year old cams with no signs of wear. We run twice the spring pressures street motors do and turn 7500+ all night long. We abuse them and our ramp speeds on cams would scare you to death! Before the discovery of the missing ZDDP many were killing cams in 1 or 2 nights.

Oil change intervals don't have much to do with it. The additive is not needed for new motors and is simply not there. Oil basically doesn't wear out, it collects dirt. The damage comes from dirt carried in the oil. Do some serious research and you will find that the oil you bought just a couple years ago doesn't exist. You are probably living on some residual ZDDP in the motor from days past. This is a hotly debated issue on many racing boards and once some "oil personnel" and a couple chemists got involved in the conversations, everyone saw the light. The lack of ZDDP was giving lifter and cam builders fits until it was descovered and remedies were taken.

Here's a couple links to read:

http://www.4m.net/showthread.php?t=55104&highlight=zddp

http://www.4m.net/showthread.php?t=97965&highlight=zddp

This is a great question and anyone not taking steps to re-introduce ZDDP to their flat tappet motors is on borrowed time.

Enjoy your day,
SPark

 

There has been a lot of discussion about this on the Y-block forum. Rather than restating what has been said, here is a link to several posts. These topics involve professional engine builders, racers, garage owners, mechanics, and hobbyists.

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forum...=1&SortOrder=1

I think the best thing to do for these sorts of topics is to get as much info as you can and make your own educated decision.