Buick 401 Nailhead Oil

[FCD]

CharBaby mentions the additive package on the VR1 and running regular OCI's, which in this case is realistically going to be 2-3k miles on a yearly oil change, perhaps 4k at the most. Are there any concerns with running VR1 at a somewhat regular interval instead of perhaps after every outing in a race application?

There are two versions of VR1 , the regular "street" VR1 is perfectly fine for 3-4k miles, then there is the Race VR1 that must be changed before 500 miles max.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I guess I should say that the car has been gone through by a previous owner/mechanic and had most things it could or would need after all these years replaced. Shocks, brake shoes, wheel cylinders, brake hoses and lines, springs, fuel pump, water pump, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, points, etc. Lots of little things that have added up to make it a very nice driving car that doesn't need much work. That being said, I would assume the timing chain has been done already at this point based on how thoroughly and carefully it has been cared for, but haven't checked it yet (and definitely will).

I did find that I am able to get Valvoline VR1 10w30 in 5qt jugs at Walmart here, single quarts are 20w50 so doing a 5qt jug and a single 20w50 would get an oil change a little thicker than all 10w30 if it is needing that (haven't seen it with 10w30 in it yet to see if it will turn the low oil pressure light on at a hot idle). I am also able to get Rotella T4-T6 at Walmart for $16-$24 a gallon so that is definitely an option, too. Walmart used to have the Castrol Classic as I've looked at it there before but they must've dropped it as I'm not seeing it or an empty space for it anymore.

Amazon has Castrol GTX Classic. The reason I suggest it is, while other oils may be acceptable, Castrol made this oil specifically for our 60's flat tappet camshafts.

 

[FCD]

Here in Europe we also have a Castrol Classic 20w50 , but it's API SE rated ( yuck ) comes in a pretty tin can and is overpriced, pure marketing for classic car owners that don't know any better, i think i even saw a Voa of it and it didn't even have much Zddp in it.
The US GTX Classic looks good.

 

[65riv]

There are two versions of VR1 , the regular "street" VR1 is perfectly fine for 3-4k miles, then there is the Race VR1 that must be changed before 500 miles max.

Is the different between the street VR1 and race VR1 the conventional vs synthetic? That’s all I see offered on Valvoline’s site at least. The VR1 I am able to get locally is conventional.

 

[FCD]

Is the different between the street VR1 and race VR1 the conventional vs synthetic? That’s all I see offered on Valvoline’s site at least. The VR1 I am able to get locally is conventional.

The VR1 conventional is all you need.

 

[Milano]

A little late to the party but my Nailhead has been happy with Motorcraft 10w30 Super Duty Diesel oil. I've done the M1 15w50, Brad Penn Green, Rotella in various flavors... VR1.. I'm sticking with the Ford stuff. Everyone else keeps killing the level of zinc and phos. VR1 got pretty pricy on me, the Motorcraft stuff made much more sense. Good luck!


1,085 phos
1,206 zinc

 

[ARCOgraphite]

10w30 conventional is fine. Your cam was worn in ages ago.

The timing chain did not use a "silent" nylon overmolded cam gear, it should be OK

What I have seen on 401 with this mileage is a burnt exhaust valve or two
and the distributor cam worn down causing loss of power.

But If you are seeing 30 deg dwell +/- 1 with 0.016" point gap you are good.

 

[Jcp123]

I used Rotella 15w40 for years in my Mustangs, also at times used some various modern 10w30 synthetics (can’t remember the brands). All had rebuilt engines, though. None seemed to help or hurt, but I clung to my Rotella just because the additive package (at the time) seemed to be the most robust for older flat tappet engines. As an aside, I’ve used synthetic in modern high mileage vehicles (200k+ miles), and didn’t develop oil leaks which has been suggested to me in the past as a reason to avoid switching to synthetics at high mileages. Honestly, I don’t know that just plopping some 10w30 SuperTech would necessarily hurt anything. I do wonder how much ZDDP actually matters.

 

[Randy_R]

Green oil