need to change the oil in my 61 w a 292.

i really have no idea how many miles are on it.

what type of oil does the group recommend?

dino or synthetic? what weight?

 

I would go with a dino oil that is recommended for high mileage engines. Like you, I have no idea what mileage is on my 351C, but I do know it's an older engine designed when synthetic wasn't even around. So, I put Castrol High Mileage 10w-40 in it. You are in a colder climate, so you may want to use a weight for colder areas, like 5w-40.

 

Any Dino 10W30 should be fine, you don't need to add high dollar or snake oil to it now.




John

 

what is "high mileage" oil? what makes it different? snake skin oil?

 

I have been running rotella 15/40. It has the zinc these old motors need to keep the camshaft from eating the lifters and the crankshaft from eating the soft copper/babbit bearings. Or I'll run normal oil with a zinc break in additive. Rich

 

When you start reading on a regular basis about these old engines croaking from Dino oil failing when good change records are kept I'll buy into your concept.

Until then or something else PROVES it to be so, your recommendation to spend extra money on oil is without merit. IMHO.


John

 

i've heard about the zinc thing before, but don't know anything about it.

stopped at my local auto store on the way home for some other stuff, asked about zinc additive.. they pointed it out to me down the aisle. on the front of the bottle, in big bold letters it read "ZINC", on the back, in small print, it said "this product contains no ZINC or ???????"

I tend to shy away from all those additives. my dad was a mechanic and he was usually of the opinion that they were all snake skin oil, only gimmicks to get more money out of you...

 

High mileage oils have additives that help recondition your seals and gaskets. "Snake oils" are oils or additives that have ridiculous claims.

Just stick with dino for this ride.

 

I run the Rotella 15/40 as well. It still has some zinc in it. Since I just shelled out quite a bit of money to rebuild my motor, I now use 4 quarts of Rotella 15/40 and 1 quart of Joe Gibbs racing oil just to make sure I don't wipe out the cam. It's just extra insurance for me. It may be a little overkill, but I like to play it safe.

Mark

 

I use rotella 10W-30.

That zinc stuff was designed to be put in oil so that flat tappet engines dont eat their camshaft.

Y blocks, FEs, most SB fords, and alot of other engines are flat tapet engines. Guess what? No one in detroit or japan uses flat tapets anymore. So they took the zinc out of our oil.

Using regular oil will not ruin your engine tomorrow but it may ruin it next year. You need this.

Delo by cheveron still has it, STP treatment, GM break in additive, Bradd pen, I think valvoline racing oil, and Rotella.

Rotella is cheep and everywhere and I use it in all my vehicles save the wifes 2005 escape.

Feel free to use whatever you want. I would add some STP or plan on a rebuild however.

This is a popular argument. Do some searching in the Y block forum.

 

Rotella no longer has the high zinc levels of the past. That was seen in their CI-4 oil but now on the shelf is CJ/SM with lower levels. I noticed this last year. That pertains to their multi-grade oils as their single grades still have a CF API service level on them. Of course I have never seen their single grade anywhere. If you want zinc diphosphate then you are going to have to find racing oils like Valvoline. Penzoil does not list their zinc/phosphate levels in their pdf spec sheets anymore...Hmm. The Rotella data sheets also do not list their zinc/phosphate levels either.

Valvoline SM specs for their conventional oils:
http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/All-Climate.pdf

Valvoline specs for their racing oils:
http://valvoline.com/pdf/VR-1_Racing_Motor_Oil.pdf

look at the zinc/phosphate levels. They list it as % not as ppm that some have seen. In ppm you look for higher than 1200ppm and in % you look for equal or higher than 0.12.

Brad Penn oils:
Penn Grade 1 High Performance Oil

Chevron Delo single weight:
https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/...&docFormat=PDF

Chevron Delo 15W-40: CJ-4 API
https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/...&docFormat=PDF

Chevron Delo 10W-30: CJ-4 API
https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/...&docFormat=PDF

Many well known oils do not list these levels anymore.

Took awhile to find the new Rotella T with Triple Protection oil at 1200ppm zince and 1100ppm phosphorous.

 

Google "Why do I need zinc in my motor oil?" and get back to us on that. Rich

 

Rich, The last 292 was installed in 1964, if that engine is still not dead after 46 years, Dino oil aint killer oil, OK??????

Please use in your truck what ever high priced oil that you like, and be happy doing so.





John

 

Rotella and Delo would only be about $2 more an oil change in comparisson to valvoline, penzoil, havoline or Qstate?

Pricy is right. I am surrounded by people who refuse to use fram products but wont spend $2 extra on an oil.......................Wow!

 

The anti-friction components, zinc and phosphorous, were mandeated out of most all motor oils by the EPA a few years. Zn and P damage catalytic converters.

Two choices: (1) additives such as ZDDPlus or Delco's EOS or (2) racing oils, e.g., Brad Penn and Valvoline VR1.

The additive route is pretty expensive when you add up the cost of oil + additive.

I started using Brad Penn in my fleet two years ago. Using racing oils is cheap insurance vs the possibility of flat cam syndrome. Brad Penn is available through distributors. NAPA has VR1

My $0.02, Tony

1947 Ferguson TE20
1950 Buick Super Riviera
1950 Buick/Flxible
1955 F350 dually dump
1966 F350 dually dump
1986 BMW 635CSiA
1989 BMW 635CSi 5-speed
1994 F150 4X4 5.8L
2000 SeaRay 185
2006 Tacoma 4X4 4.0L