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Does anyone use this in their hot rod? I have about 1500 miles on my small block chevy. I want to give this engine, its first oil change. Some of my car friends say, try the Royal Purple 20w50 oil. Its $8.99 a qt. I live in So. Cal - - -is 20w50 the oil I really want to put in my car?
Yep the run good on 20W-50
If you believe you need the extra protection I'd look at either Brad Penn's Racing Oils Penn Grade 1 High Performance Oil or Joe Gibbs Hot Rod Oils Joe Gibbs Driven - Hot Rod Oils. Both are the oils my engine builder recommends for everything coming out of his shop for racing, but when pressed he agreed that any good over the counter oil like Castrol or Valvoline was fine for a street/highway cruiser. The 20W50 seems a bit high in viscosity to me, but you're in a warm climate so it may be OK. Here I run 10W30 or 10W40. Gibbs has a good discussion about viscosity on his site.
My best Friend lives in Simi,,,any good Hot Rod GTG's out there??
I live in Valencia and will be getting mine at the end of the month.
I used Castrol 20-50W in my pro street Dart. It worked fine and cost is lot less then RP. If you change you oil every 3000 mi, think how much $$$ you will save using a brand name like Castrol, Pennzoil etc..
Royal Purple and Amsoil are fine oils, but at $12 - $13 a quart locally are just not in the running. Too many good oils available - and for me, I run what Ford recommends and that's their semi-synthetic Motorcraft at about $3 a quart. Previously, it was all Valvoline. If you have a flat lifter engine, Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs or Rotella. The weight - why 20W-50? Do you have a full out engine or just a mild one? If it's a mild one, 10W30 or 40 should suffice. Thick oil and windage/splash wont help horsepower
What cam do you have in the car? mechanical or roller? if mechanical then go with Gibbs' (my favorite) or Brad Penns' because they have the lead/zinc additves for mechanical cams; if you have modern roller put whatever tickles your fancy, 50w sounds ok to me if you have carburated motor but if you have modern injected motor the heavy weight oil may squew the temps and the 'putor might do some odd stuff - i am not sayin that it will, it is just a thought.
Got to know what cam is in the engine...Flat tappet cams must have zinc in the oil--Joe Gibbs, Brad Penn are probably the best of these. However roller cams thrive on the reduced friction of synthetics--my personal favorite is still Mobil 1 racing, 10W50. The Ford semi-synthetic is also very good oil for roller cammed engines, I've run that in a few because it's reasonably priced and available at Ford dealers and most parts stores....
I've been taking my rod to "Dave's Garage" (custom car shop) at 649 Easy Street, Simi Valley. He's one of the few honest guys that backs up his work. He's an old time hot rodder himself, and
We also have "Hawaiian Racing" for all your racing needs. Only problem is - - --
because its the only speed shop within 50 miles of us, he prices are "pricey"
I've got the Comp Thumper Cam Hydraulic, with a 479 lift, aluminum roller rockers, with Brodix 1K180 64cc Aluminum heads. I also have the Edelbrock performer manifold with the 600 cfm Edelbrock carb. This is all new to me, since I purchased the rod and motor, already finished. It's like - - - going back a few steps, and hiking the ball all over again !
Ok, is it a hydraulic flat tappet, or a hydraulic roller cam??? That's what determines the oil requirements, Mike!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simi Mike
Hmmmmm. must go with the name!!!! A guy just asked me yesterday if I could give him a special deal and lower my prices.... I said sure, if he wouldn't mind that I lowered my quality!!! End of negotiations. He left after I suggested a few other shops he might try...:LOL::LOL::LOL:
Sounds strange, but I would run 15/40 diesel oil .. ;)
It will keep your engine cleaner, especially if you
don't run it everyday ...
I run Castrol Tection, others like Rotella
Jim
This subject comes up often here, when I put in my engine I was asking the same questions. I was steered towards an oil additive called SFR oil fortifier. It cost a bit, but you just add it to your oil of choice and it puts in stuff like zinc to protect your cam. No problems yet, and a lot cheaper than 9-13 dollars a quart. I was also using 10-40 and it gets cooler here than Simi Valley. 20-50 sounds a bit thick, but I don't know much about high performance engines, or racing engines. I bought a quart of it for about 32 bucks a few years back and still have half a bottle of it. It goes for $132.00 a gallon on amazon, but that will treat 128 quarts of oil. So that covers quite a few oil changes. It has zddp in it which lots of other premium oils use. You can read about it here. http://www.sfrcorp.com/product/sfr-1...oil-fortifier/
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21226gzHxLL.jpg
been many post on oil and i posted this many times you can buy a pint of Zddp and added it and hope it works with your oil . lake speed tolds us that detergent oils and thats 99% of the oil out there will strip the ZDDP off the parts you want it on. or block it from working its way in to the parts so you will just have stuff laying in the bottom of the oil pan . i build /machine engines i buy oil made to work and that oil as ZDDP in it. brad pen or joe gibs this is the only oil i use on break in less a roller engine . were is really no need to run 20/50 but you may want a multi weigth . i like to break them in on break in oil get about 800 miles on them and then run what you want for oil i like to see my customers use good oil but you start getting past 6 +bucks a QT i worry that they may keep it in to long and get cheap when it needs to be changed out and use a good oil filter just about any fittler but fram . good ones are wix.s napa. k.n jomar
" There is approximate 1200 parts per million ZDDP in Rotella T 15W-40,
which is 50% higher than is allowed in Starburst motor oils (API
SN/GF-5). Thank you for your interest in Shell products.
Richard Moore "
from Shell Oil's answer to "Questions to our Chemists "
Jim ;)
i posted on this as well there is a fast burn ZDDP and a slow burn ZDDP so diesel oil is not the same as break in oil ..BETTER THEN NOTHING ?????? I FEEL WAY BETTER BUYING SOME THING I KNOW IS MADE FOR THE JOB . AFTER IT IS PAST BRAKE IN YOU COULD USE IT
Hey Pat, all our race engines are roller cammed, of course... We freshen them all in February-March prior to racing starting up again. Ok, for sure they'll all get new rod and main bearings, maybe a new piston here and there, sometimes a change to the current "trick of the month" club cam... Same crank, rods, etc. We use the break in oil and do about an hour's run time on the engine dyno, then it's in the car and on to the chassis dyno for setup and tuning. Once off the chassis dyno, we put in the Mobil 1 synthetic and call things ready.
Should we be running the break-in oil for a longer period, or are we doing it right? We've never had any serious engine troubles, and the machine shop doing the work is a sponsor so cost isn't really the issue either. Just wondering if a few passes on break-in oil would be better for the engines?
i like the break in oil in the flat lifter cams longer as well as i like street stuff broke in on strait weight there not getting loaded on a dyno so i feel 800 or so miles will not hurt . i could get away with less i am sure with TQ plate hone and ultra plateau honed walls just feel better this way .every one has there way alot of the race stuff only see.s 20/50 weight race oil i have guys only run them in just like that it has some zddp and is a roller cam stuff