Help me get started

[68LSS1]

As a aircraft mechanic doing oil samples on aircraft engines and apu's for years, it never crossed my mind to do oil analysis on my vehicle engine oil. Never even heard of it.
I've been reading for a couple of months but still feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of information. So help me with some oil recommendations as a starting point.
I have a '68 Chevy Stepside that I'm putting an LS1/T56 into and I'm looking at Redline for it. (I found this place through Patman and his posts on LS1tech.com--thanks Patman.)
I have a '97 Expedition with almost 80k on it. 90% city driving of 30 minutes or less. It does sit idling for about 40 minutes a day waiting in the school parking lot for the kids to get out of school with the a/c on if this matters. It has the 4.6 engine with auto overdrive.
And lastly, a '97 Mustang GT with a 4.6 and 5 speed. It does have 3.73 gears and close to 70k miles on it. 70% highway and the rest in town mileage. It seems to use just a little oil.
With the mileage of the two Fords would you guys start doing this now? I used Castrol Synthetic

(I know now) religiously with Fram filters

(ya', I know now about this too) on both vehicles. Even after the Castrol conspiracy I am still leaning toward a synthetic (a true one this time).
Thanks in advance for any help. Sorry about the length.

 

[Patman]

I think Redline is an excellent choice for the LS1, I know Terry Dyson agrees with me on that one.

 

[3 Mad Ponchos]

You can switch most anytime, I've switched cars with over 100k on them. I don't buy the old "synth makes it leak" line, I've never seen a sealed engine turn into a leaky one from synth and I've switched a lot of cars. Leaky engines, of course, continue to leak, so maybe people just never notice they're losing oil till they're specifically watching out for it.

All that idle time in the Expedition is gonna make the oil look worse than it is, because of all the running time that isn't reflected in the vehicle miles.

The question is, I suppose, whether it's worth the added expense. You have to decide that based on how long you plan on keeping the vehicles and how hard you flog them.

Cheers, 3MP

 

[Al]

I think that if you are leaning toward syn oil either 10W-30 Either Mobil1 or Amsoil would be good. You could look at the Shaeffer Belends:
15W-40: http://www.schaefferoil.com/data/700.htm
10W-30: http://www.schaefferoil.com/data/703.htm