1931 Oil Recommendations

[Zack1978]

Hi everyone,

I was at a car show yesterday and I saw a 1931 Buffalo Fire Truck on display. I figured you would all enjoy the recommended oil weight!
Where would one find that weight today?

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[Highlander 1459]

80 weight... of course in something that old makes you wonder if they even had any common standards on what an 80 weight is..

 

[GMBoy]

WOW!

 

[blufeb95]

What unit is that supposed to be? I would guess whatever it is, it's probably the equivalent of 30 or 40 grade, in an old motor like that I'd just use straight 30 or 40 grade.

 

[ripcord]

80 weight, if you're measuring like they do for gear oil, overlaps SAE 20 and SAE 30. Totally not sure if that's what they mean, though.

 

[daves87rs]

5w30 should be fine ;-)

 

[blufeb95]

I presume it's not a "grade" of oil but some unit of viscosity, what would the prevailing unit of viscosity been in 1931? I guess probably SUS, I believe this is from the 1920s, 80 SuS would be around 40 grade by modern standards.

 

[blufeb95]

So I guess, I'd use straight 40 grade, 15W40, or 15W50 or 20W50.