44 year oil QS 10w40, 4.5 years 1811 mi, 1973 240Z

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As promised, I just sent off my sample of new old stock 1973 QS Super Blend 10w40 that I have run the last 4.5 years in my 1973 Datsun 240Z. Filter was an STP spin on.

Hopefully this clears up any confusion:

The oil was stored in a cool dark place from 1973 until 2013 in my uncle's vintage oil stash that I became owner of after he sold his house. I then used 5 quarts of the oil from April of 2013 until I changed it in December of 2017. It is 44 year old oil but not the original oil in the sump for that long. I know somebody will ask.

The car has 93k miles and the last oil run was 4.5 years and 1811 miles (mostly hard driving).No make up oil was needed or added. The car sat from 1989 until 2013 when I bought it, revived it and turned it into a track rat.

This oil run was hard use, months of tracking down leaking carbs with leaded fuel half the time, cold starts etc.... I expected extremely high fuel % and while it was high, it's lower than I thought. The carburetors have been properly tuned and synched for a year now so hopefully fuel will drop off slightly. As noted, the lead from the VP racing C16 is washing down in the oil some. I expect that to decrease slightly with me using less leftover race gas and also because of the better tune. Like the old oil, I had a few 30 gallon drums of C16 that I used because....well it was from a past car that I took drag racing and I needed to get rid of it and also because there's no ethanol and it did well being stored in the tank.

Virtually no moly, but high zinc confirmed what I thought might have been the blend in the early 70s.

Also note the TBN of 5.0 left. Even after 4.5 years and 1811 miles of beating on it. With the fuel and moisture issues (if you want to call them that) I have from infrequent use, I'll probably drop to 3 years instead of the 4.5 I had on it. I had the wear average of vehicles with 2000 more miles on the run but i'd be willing to bet most of those weren't at WOT as much as mine. Hey, when you don't get to drive the car that much, make it count when you do.


Cliffnotes: I'm very pleased at the results of a 44 year old stored in a dry dark place. This was an experiment for me to see how it would hold up in a vehicle that is the exact same vintage and I'm not convinced that a similar modern SN dino 10w40 would have done any better in the use it was subjected to. For you people who are afraid to use 6 mos and 1 year old oil.....well I hope that changes your mind.

OIL DOESN'T JUST EXPIRE IF IT IS STORED CORRECTLY

I'm not saying use 44 year oil in your new Volkswagen. What I'm saying is, if it meets the specs needed by your application and is stored properly and unopened, stop being afraid to use it.


HMqlWX2.jpg

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From 4/2013 when it first went in while I was getting it running:
khLRvzm.jpg


From 12/2017 after the oil change:
nrWqbTm.jpg


What did I put in the oil sump afterward?

hSPk9WF.jpg


10w30 Valvoline White Can also from the 70s.
 
I believe that you are quite correct in your thoughts here. But wow that a lot of lead. Remember that phrase, "get the lead out"?? Here... You put the lead in
smile.gif
 
The QS in the caused terrible sludge in my 1964 Valiant. I did 2K OCIs at the time, but after 50K the engine was full of sludge.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Wow that report looks horrendous.


You really think so?

4.5 years on 44 year oil with leaded fuel on carbs that dumped fuel for YEARS? 1811 miles of full on WOT punishment every time I went back to visit family and drive the wheels off the car.

I have perfect oil pressure and the car runs strong. It's a beater to me and if I really cared, I'd put whatever new oil I wanted to in it. For what I do with it, this is lubricating fine , everybody can learn a little something, and I'll still have years of enjoyment out of the car.




Originally Posted By: redbone3
Or, the oil was fine and you had a small leak of coolant getting into the oil.


What from the report makes you think that?
 
That took balls to use such old Lube. Hard to tell if the extra wear is from the [censored] old oil or old engine. Run some modern oil for comparison.
 
Originally Posted By: Artem
That took balls to use such old Lube. Hard to tell if the extra wear is from the [censored] old oil or old engine. Run some modern oil for comparison.


Literally this engine didn't run for 24 years, I broke it free, threw this oil in it and have beat on it for almost 5 years anytime I get a chance to drive it. I honestly can't see how a modern oil would change much from this report. The copper, aluminum, iron numbers being elevated could all be from previous wear, breaking it free.... who knows? A modern oil still would have had plenty of lead from the fuel.....It is what it is.



If it blows up eventually and I actually spend money on it then I might run a modern oil in a new motor. Then again maybe not.

I'm running the ancient Valvoline now. I'm not changing anything up really, I'm just sharing.
 
Jayg, thank you for doing this, very interesting.

So 1970's 10w40 had about ~1200 ppm zinc and a Ca detergent package. Good to know.

BTW that picture of all the old oil stacked up looks great.
 
I love that picture of your "Z"........the one looking from the rear towards the front, low.
I forgot how beautiful the lines of that car were.........more "Italian" than "Japanese".
Enjoy!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: incognito_2u
I love that picture of your "Z"........the one looking from the rear towards the front, low.
I forgot how beautiful the lines of that car were.........more "Italian" than "Japanese".
Enjoy!


Exactly !!! To me the original Z cars have a very Italian look to them.
 
Originally Posted By: jayg
Originally Posted By: Artem
That took balls to use such old Lube. Hard to tell if the extra wear is from the [censored] old oil or old engine. Run some modern oil for comparison.


Literally this engine didn't run for 24 years, I broke it free, threw this oil in it and have beat on it for almost 5 years anytime I get a chance to drive it. I honestly can't see how a modern oil would change much from this report. The copper, aluminum, iron numbers being elevated could all be from previous wear, breaking it free.... who knows? A modern oil still would have had plenty of lead from the fuel.....It is what it is.



If it blows up eventually and I actually spend money on it then I might run a modern oil in a new motor. Then again maybe not.

I'm running the ancient Valvoline now. I'm not changing anything up really, I'm just sharing.


I get it. What I don't understand is why you didn't do a few mini flushes to help clean the engjne up internally after sitting for so long and firing it up for the first time in 24 years. I would have ran some short around the block flushes then maybe a 100 miles worth or two AND THEN proceed with your regular daily programming. The way you did it just seems... careless and not BITOGer like.
 
I’d have trouble calling that car a beater, those are some cool cars and that one looks like an actually solid one.

Anyway, it would have been interesting to see the TAN as well. I actually suspect the 4.5 years is a bigger deal than the 44 years.

Here are the comments from a Blackstone report on 5 year old (in use old that is) oil.

Quote:
Thanks for the notes. Storing the oil in a jelly jar didn't hurt anything. You mentioned the oil is
possibly five years old and normally we wouldn't think that's much of a problem, but we do sometimes see
the oil get acidic and cause bearing wear. That may be what's going on here (see copper, lead, and tin). But
you've also done a lot of work on this Ford, so at least some of the metal is from break-in of new parts.
Basically, you should see some nice improvements in the next sample. The TBN read strong at 6.6, and no
contaminants were present. Check back.


FWIW the metals on that report were all elevated and it has not run leaded fuel since a complete overhaul.
 
Leaded fuel for the win, LoL !! Aaaahhhh-ooooogaaaah !!!

Seriously though, excellent restoration of the that classic Nissan....er.... I mean, Datsun.
01.gif
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
The QS in the caused terrible sludge in my 1964 Valiant. I did 2K OCIs at the time, but after 50K the engine was full of sludge.


Well at the 450 miles a year I put on this, in 110 years if it’s filled up with sludge then I’ll buy you a beer for that sage advice.



Originally Posted By: Artem


I get it. What I don't understand is why you didn't do a few mini flushes to help clean the engjne up internally after sitting for so long and firing it up for the first time in 24 years. I would have ran some short around the block flushes then maybe a 100 miles worth or two AND THEN proceed with your regular daily programming. The way you did it just seems... careless and not BITOGer like.


I broke it free with whatever oil was in it and put a few miles on it to get it hot and then changed it. I don’t care about mini flushes. I’m interested in the results don’t get me wrong but I don’t own this car to test oil samples and be 100 % scientific about it. I own the car to flog the [censored] out of it. I’ll see in another few years how old valvoline is doing and in the meantime be having fun and living life.

And I’m NOT the average BITOGer clearly. If I was I wouldn’t have done this in the first place and you’d see me post 10000 questions about “Is my 1 year old oil bad?” Or “It’s 50F out, should I run a 0w?”
 
Ahh i remember puncturing those cans with that metal spout with the sharp knifelike thingy when i was a kid for my dad..in todays time it would be like carrying a concealed weapon lol.

In all seriousness I would like to see a cut open can like they do on the oil filters. I know in my stash the 1 year old oil has alot of sediment (additives) that i have to nearly shake my arm off to get into the solution.

I applaud you for using the same oil that that car would have seen in its prime..

However i gotta say that if i were you i would probably try to sell them on ebay to collectors. The oils you have are worth more as a historical reminder and artwork than lubrication. I can see that oil in the trunk of a 1970s car at a car show gathering all kinds of chit chat.

Kudos to you man.
 
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