Howdy - new to the board and my first question - Im putting together a .030 over 454 to go into a 72 C-20 Chevy for a towing rig and the engine is built for torque so its a pretty much a standard rebuild other than a RV cam(flat tappet hyd non roller)headers and crank/rods/pistons being balanced. Im open for opinions on what weight oil I should use for first start up to break the cam/lifters? Was thinking 10w30 conventional but seems like I remember reading something about one should use 20/50 for this. After a few thousand I will be going to 15/50 M1. TIA::::Multi-Vis
First start and break in oil wt?
- Thread starter MULTI-VIS
- Start date
- Status
A good 10w30 will work.......but a HDEO sae 30 or 15w40 may be preferable...........as the extra ZDDP may help protect the cam lobes during break-in. You can get HDEO 10w30's....but they are harder to find. Mobil 1 15w50 is a good oil....but it's 50 weight viscosity may be overkill. You may be better off with a good 40 weight oil.
Weren't the GM engines of that timeframe using 10w-40 ? I seem to recall 10w-40 on a 77 Olds/Chevy 350 I had back when. I would stick to that weight in a hdeo 15w40 and maybe after it is broken in, consider a used oil analysis to validate the quality of build.
JHZR2
Staff member
in that engine Id use a heavy duty 15w40 oil forever. Go syn if you want to, but given the duty, I think a conventional will be great.
JMH
JMH
In that I'd run a 15W40 HDEO.
I remember rebuild manuals of the 60's and 70's instructing the use of straight 30 weight motor oil for break-in period for the first 1,000 miles.
I'd overfill the crankcase by 1/2 to 1 qt, and use a lighter oil, 10-30 or so, for your first break in oil. There are many other parts needing break in.
I normally use 30wt or 10W30 with a bottle of GM EOS during the cam run in.
Most any oil will works as long as the motor holds good oil pressure. The 15W50 will work well for you. May choice would be one of the M1 XW40 oils or Rottela T 5W40.
Most any oil will works as long as the motor holds good oil pressure. The 15W50 will work well for you. May choice would be one of the M1 XW40 oils or Rottela T 5W40.
Pretty much the same here.
straight 30, bring it up to 2000rpm for 10-15 minutes.
Change it to a mineral conventional 20w50 (well that's what I used to do. I've not built an engine since being on BITOG, but I'd use Delo400 now).
Chenge it at 100 miles, 500 miles, 1000 miles.
Prime the oil system right before start up and use a heavy duty oil ,follow the cam manufacture instructions ,and after the cam breakin change the oil and filter.
- Status
