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.
Buick 401 Nailhead Oil
- Thread starter 65riv
- Start date
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.
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.
The US GTX Classic looks good.
The VR1 conventional is all you need.
A little late to the party but my Nailhead has been happy with Motorcraft 10w30 Super Duty Diesel oil. I've done the Mobil 1 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
1,085 phos
1,206 zinc
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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.
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.
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.
Green oil
Resurrecting this old thread as the car comes out of storage in the next few weeks and will be getting its yearly oil, filter, and lube. Have been wondering if Valvoline Restore and Protect would be a good choice now that it has seemed to be a proven oil? I would likely just continue the yearly oil change with it, which has worked out to be only 1800-2000 miles for the two summers I’ve had it. I see it does not come in 10w30, and would do 5w30 instead? My only concern with it getting some cleaning action would again be oil leaks opening up possibly, which I was also concerned about with synthetic in my original post but sounds like that isn’t really the case anymore. I don’t think the engine is that “dirty” inside but certainly there’s some cleaning that could be done in an engine that did its first half of life with oil from between the 60’s and 90’s?
The Valvoline Restore and Protect oil will be fine in your nail head. Modern 5w-30 is good in anything that can use 10w-30. 10w-30 is a semi obsolete weight with today's synthetic base stocks viscosity modifiers.
@65riv if it were me, I would run the Valvoline Restore and Protect with ZDDP additive. It may be a little overkill, but keep your beautiful classic engine happy.
I don't use Shell Rotella T anymore because there are better choices now, but it did have nice cleaning properties.
Remember, the Zinc is a consumable for the flat tappet camshaft and lifters. Maybe stab a hydraulic roller and be done with it?
Love your car, by the way.
I don't use Shell Rotella T anymore because there are better choices now, but it did have nice cleaning properties.
Remember, the Zinc is a consumable for the flat tappet camshaft and lifters. Maybe stab a hydraulic roller and be done with it?
Love your car, by the way.
Just curious. What have you been using the last two years? Valvoline VR1 10W-30 is probably the easiest to get. Walmart still has five quart jugs for $26-27. Change it at the end of the season. Don’t need synthetic or additives. I love old Rivs. I had a neighbor that had a red 64 with dual quads.
I know oils are miles better than they used to be; but I would not run a thin, low-zinc modern energy-conserving oil in it, I just wouldn’t.
Maybe it’s an old-fashioned idea, but that engine needs cushioning - a thick 30-weight with over 1k ppm zinc at a minimum.
Maybe it’s an old-fashioned idea, but that engine needs cushioning - a thick 30-weight with over 1k ppm zinc at a minimum.
VR1 so far, the first year with a blue bottle of STP and then last year with a bottle of Engine Restore instead. It does have a lifter tick that comes and goes, usually a long highway drive will clear it out for a bit. So was considering Valvoline Restore and Protect to help with that, was my main goal in switching. But I'm leaning towards just sticking with VR1 for now and perhaps adding a little MMO and running it for a few minutes before dumping oil this spring.
I’ve also been toying with the idea of running Valvoline Restore and Protect and some extra ZDDP in my ‘63 Cadillac for a few oil changes. I have some HPL Engine Cleaner 30 as well, but since my OCI is 1K, 3-5 consecutive oil changes with EC30 seems like a waste and would deplete my case of EC30 entirely. Should there be a concern about Valvoline Restore and Protect or HPL Engine Cleaner opening up too big of a can of worms on a 1960’s engine that’s never been apart and still has remnants of lead and who-knows-what inside?
I think your 401 has a 10.25:1 compression ratio, so you can run 93 octane. Since my 390 has 10.5:1, I must run octane booster along with lead substitute or it will ping a little. The Caddy owner prior to my dad said he used 87 (cringe) from 1980-2004. 93 octane non-ethanol is unobtainable in my area, so I run 90-91 e0 with VP Racing madditive octanium, which brings up octane 5 whole numbers and has lead substitute.
Beautiful car, by the way!
I think your 401 has a 10.25:1 compression ratio, so you can run 93 octane. Since my 390 has 10.5:1, I must run octane booster along with lead substitute or it will ping a little. The Caddy owner prior to my dad said he used 87 (cringe) from 1980-2004. 93 octane non-ethanol is unobtainable in my area, so I run 90-91 e0 with VP Racing madditive octanium, which brings up octane 5 whole numbers and has lead substitute.
Beautiful car, by the way!
The highest octane we have anywhere near here 91, non-ethanol, so that is what it runs. I haven’t had to mess with timing or carb settings at all but I do not get any pinging on 91. I have slowly used up an old 32oz bottle of CD2 lead additive over the last 2 years and am finally out now, but looking into it I’m finding it isn’t really necessary for this engine due to the nickel content in the head castings. Hardened seats are not an option on these heads, either.
A lot of vintage cars could benefit from a distributor recurve. My old 289 powered Falcon ran a lot better after I welded up the slot in the mechanical advance to limit the amount of total advance so I could run more initial advance. It also liked lighter springs to bring in the mechanical advance at lower RPMs.
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