Cool 66' VW/Pennzoil Story

[panthermike]

Just thought I'd share this with everyone. I'm a courier and most of my work involves the airport; delivering/picking up.

Anyways, one of the older guys at the airlines owns a 66' VW Bug. I asked him about it and it has 260,000 miles on the original motor. I thought this was impressive; not only the mileage, but that it's 44 years old.

The dealer he bought it from informed him to use Pennzoil 10w30 and change it every 2,000 miles! Seems excessive but she's still going. He still uses Pennzoil 10w30 and changes every 2,000 miles.

Pretty cool story I thought, and yes he heard the same garbage back then about Pennzoil sludge/wax

 

[SaturnIonVue]

2K OCI is/was standard for VW in those years. Those engines also use an oil bath air cleaner, they work(ed) pretty good but probably never catch all the dust and dirt that paper filters catch today. After 2K miles the oil looked pretty nasty.

I owned both a 64 and a 73 MY back in the day. Lots of maintenance and tune ups but highly dependable cars.

 

[fsskier]

I was probably doing 5 oil changes a day - as a combination college student and evening grease monkey - to pay tuition- in the early 60's. Pennzoil was easily as popular then as it is now, many of our customers demanded it... I never saw any waxed up motors or anything wrong with the oil, never met anybody that had seen anything wrong with it. Still, the rumor of "what it used to do" seemed alive already.

I suspect that once a story reaches the status of "an urban legend" it becomes permanent with enough people always repeating it to keep it alive.

Oops... gotta cut this short.....Wow..... I just saw Yeti running across the field behind my house!!!

 

[crazycrak]

Thats awesome I have a soft spot for the old VW's

 

[y2k345]

Pennzoil is goooooood oil!

 

[Hethaerto]

Yetis kick ash!

 

[Johnny]

I had a 1970 Bug and one of the sharpest German mechanics in the DFW area took care of it. Every 3K he put in Pennzoil 30wt and adjusted the valves. He had this flexible drill bit (very small) that he would open up the down tube in the carb so when you hit the gas it got a little extra. I loved that car. The only problem I every had with it was when it hit a furniture truck one rainy afternoon.

 

[Paul B.]

I had numerous VW bugs and buses in the 60's and 70's. The oldest was a '57 bug(36hp) and the slowest was a 1960 bus also 36hp and rated as a 3/4 ton truck !
The engines only held 2 and 1/2 qts with no filter- only a cleanable mesh screen.
My oil of choice was 30wt quaker state in summer and 10-30 QS superblend in the winter.
Engines would run reliably, but would ofetn swallow an exhaust valve as they approoached 100k miles.

 

[H2GURU]

I had one of these as well and used Pennzoil 20W-40 oil as was recommended by a local speed shop because of the larger tolerances in an air-cooled engine. Must have been correct as it never used oil, never saw a wrench on the engine, and went well over 175,000 which was quite bit for up here in the densely packed Northeast. If an inferior oil was used the oil cooler would clog resulting in higher engine temps an ultimate failure, but this took some time to happen and at $1999 out the door, who cared?

 

[3putter]

I too had a '70 Bug. Lived in Milwaukee at the time. That car was absolutely great in the winter...just plowed thru the snow and always started. I ran any brand of 10w30 I could find on sale and also changed it about evry 2000 miles. Had a particular fondness for Royal Triton...thought the purple color was cool, and Sears Spectrum. It was their best ! Unfortunately the car had the "automatic stick shift" where you didn't have to clutch. That darned thing leaked tranny fluid endlessly. Bet I put a dozen seals in over the years.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: H2GURU
I had one of these as well and used Pennzoil 20W-40 oil as was recommended by a local speed shop because of the larger tolerances in an air-cooled engine. Must have been correct as it never used oil, never saw a wrench on the engine, and went well over 175,000 which was quite bit for up here in the densely packed Northeast. If an inferior oil was used the oil cooler would clog resulting in higher engine temps an ultimate failure, but this took some time to happen and at $1999 out the door, who cared?


Back in the day, Pennzoil GT Performance 20W-40 was one of the best oils they ever made. Really ticked me off when they discontinued it in favor of 20W-50.

 

[hominid7]

Great story. I loved the two VW's i owned. They had terrible electrical systems but great engines.

My father, now in his late 70's, has long been a Pennzoil man. He has yet to have an engine get sludged.

I guess when you are one of the most popular brand oils on the market, combined with some questionable engine designs and lack of proper maintenance, everything gets blamed on you. Engine gets full of sludge and dies, it's Pennzoil’s fault, never mind the fact that the engine had design flaws and didn't have the oil changed for the last 40,000 miles

 

[lexus114]

very god point! ^^

 

[mechtech2]

I had numerous bugs and dune buggys.
I was a VW guy when I was young.
It's is hard to believe that anybody gets 260,000 miles on an old air cooled bug engine, without at least having the heads off. A world record! And dealers in '66 would have spec'd a straight 30, not 10-30.

 

[jazeo]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
I had numerous bugs and dune buggys.
I was a VW guy when I was young.
It's is hard to believe that anybody gets 260,000 miles on an old air cooled bug engine, without at least having the heads off. A world record! And dealers in '66 would have spec'd a straight 30, not 10-30.


I glad you mentioned this, I thought it was just me. I owned 2 in the late 60's and my brother had one also and I don't think we got more than 60k before they blew up. Good on gas and cheap to buy, that's about it. Oh! pretty good in the snow also if it wasn't more than 6" deep...lol

 

[hominid7]

My 2 watercooled VW owners manuals only allowed 10w30 up to 50*F.

The dealer recommended and i used dino 20w50 year-round. They also used 20w50 is aircooled VW's.

That was some thick stuff, especially in the winter, but it never failed to crank for well over 200,000 miles.

 

[fascination127]

I have owned a half dozen VWs. I did that exact scenario, 2500-3K with 30W Penn. Back when you had to punch holes in the can with a beer opener. Never an oil related failure. All mine were easy to work on, dead reliable and fun to drive. Except the 1800 I built right after HS. It was CRAZY fun to drive for a minute... then I found out that a ridiculously over cammed, high compression, 1800 big bore kitted bug motor is much, much closer to a hand grenade than a stock 1600. Wish I could blame the oil. Sure dont miss those VW heaters\defrosters.

 

[ronrackley]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
I had numerous bugs and dune buggys.
I was a VW guy when I was young.
It's is hard to believe that anybody gets 260,000 miles on an old air cooled bug engine, without at least having the heads off. A world record! And dealers in '66 would have spec'd a straight 30, not 10-30.



I, too, wonder about both things. VW oil orthodoxy in the South Carolina climate at the time of my youth, in the 1960s, was to only use straight 30 weight oil because, supposedly, multi-viscosity oil would break down in their air-cooled engines. And, it seemed even more specific than that because Castrol 30 weight is what everybody seemed to use back then. There must have been something to it. That's what every independent shop I knew and, I believe, the dealers themselves said to do. Also, I don't think I ever heard of a VW engine of that vintage going 100,000 miles without some major engine work such as replacing the cylinders (aka "jugs") and pistons - such as with the overhaul kits that could be purchased from the J.C. Whitney catalog for about $50.00 if I remember correctly. I wonder if the fellow with the car at the airport is having some fun with us? If not, this is indeed a unique and exceptional story!

I drove a 1962 Karmann Ghia while in college. It was the same mechanically as the Bug of the same era. It threw a connecting rod while I was passing a truck going up a hill at about 75 miles an hour on an interstate highway before it got to 100,000 miles. The rod broke a hole in the crankcase and I replaced it with a rebuilt junk yard engine and drove it for a couple of more years. I did love that car.

 

[panthermike]

I talked to him again on Friday. He confirmed that he's never been into the motor. I believe he said it has the 1300 or 1600 engine? I'll have to ask which one again.

 

[mechtech2]

'66 is a 1300

And have him get a hold of the people at Guinness World Records