Hi ! What oil for my new race Motor ?????

[5abi6r]

Hi everyone.. yes im new here! what a great site. I have a 1993 chevrolet corvette and have just recently rebuilt my lt4 motor. Im am confused as to which oil i should use. Details of the engine... 388 Stroker with all forged internals... and redline is 7600 rpm. Yes this is a pushrod motor. The oil pump is a high volume/pressure unit and the oil pan is a canton race unit with extra cpacity but i dont know exact specs as to how much oil it holds. It is a solid roller motor with shaft mount rockers... dont know if that helps any bit. THis car is almost daily driven, definitely a weekend warrior and i do take the car (and plan to) on long drives from toronto... to NY and maybe cali this summer. WHat im concerned about it the 7600 rpms. Im worried that revving that high for extended periods would be too much for regular oils.. i was planning to use 20-50 Mobil 1, and ive heard 10w30 is good enough. I would like to hear ANY opinions on what oil to use. Cost is of no concern, and i do plan on changing the oil every 2000 km as i normally have done when the motor was stock. Plz and thanks! [ April 14, 2003, 04:56 AM: Message edited by: 5abi6r ]

 

[Patman]

Redline 10w40! And fellow Torontonian! Who built your motor, ARE?

 

[5abi6r]

Hi! Redline 10 w 40 is better than Mobil 1 for my aplication? where can i get redline from around here?? > No the motor is not ARE.. they like to deal with LS1s, i got the cold shoulder when i asked them about building a serious LT4. Its a local shoppe but boy am i glad i found them =). thanxx for the input!

 

[Patman]

I'm surprised ARE gave you the cold shoulder, as they have built up a lot of LT1 based engines for guys in my car club, including Dave Diluca's 9.1 second 94 Z28! Without a doubt you'd be better off with Redline over Mobil 1 in your engine, as Redline has a much higher HTHS number, so it's going to protect much better for extreme use like you're going to subject it to. I'll send you the info via email as to where to get Redline around here.

 

[5abi6r]

thanxx!! got ur email, very informative. Just wanted to mention to everyone else as well that i used to use mobil 20w-50 in my car.. kind of extreme i guess. ARE never really gave me any negative attitude... just that they werent willing to build what i wanted. They spoke to me as if i knew nothing at all about cars... probably because of what they saw.. a 22 yr old with a vette. That was 2 yrs ago and they insisted i go with their 396, and thats all. but i wanted 7500 rpms and a solid roller setup.... they thought i was nutz. anyways.. that sounds like the oil to use.

 

[7TFord]

....I did the run in on the 351C4V in my 70 Mach 1 on a 10/30, as you don't apparently want too thick an oil with the tight tolerances of a fresh motor. I am running Mobil Delvac 1300 15/40 now and will be installing Redline's 10/40 at the start of this season. Redline suggests 3000 miles on petroleum first before switching to their oils, whether this is gospel or not I don't know. I had some online correspondence with a British Austin Mini racer who suggested that the Redline was far better at removing heat than the Mobil 1 offerings.

 

[Steve S]

Your engine turns 7,600 the valve spring must have 120+seat pressure and 350+ open?you need an oil with lots of anti wear additives 15w/40 fleet oils Redline Amsoil 10w/40, 15w/40,Schaeffers ? any premium oil would work. do a couple of quick oil changes. you can try a 10w30 syn oil . Redline or hdd amsoil would be a starting point or a fleet oil would be fine .How the engine is setup clearance wise is what would determine as well as the oil temps and the climate of operation the viscosity you would start out with and run .A 15w/40 or 30 heavy duty fleet oil would be the best to fire up your engine if not already done then change the oil and filter.The heavy duty oils have very high additive levels even with a roller cam that does 7,600 has to be brutal on the valve train roller lifter and roller rockers or not.plus the heavy duty oils are a bargain for the protection they offer. If you want to pick one that would only have to wonder If this protection is necessary in my opinion is Redline. I don't think an oil like Redline is usually needed . [ April 14, 2003, 04:32 PM: Message edited by: Steve S ]

 

[buster]

quote:

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Without a doubt you'd be better off with Redline over Mobil 1 in your engine, as Redline has a much higher HTHS number, so it's going to protect much better for extreme use like you're going to subject it to.

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I'm not so sure about this.... I say run both and have them analyzed. We have all seen oils that are better on paper, but when put to the actual test and analyzed, don't come through. Amsoil's 0w-30, or S3000 would be great for this car too. [ April 14, 2003, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[pedaltothemetal]

I just finished a NASA track day with 15w40 Royal Purple in my '98 Camaro. Ran it up to 6800 rpms in 3rd (4L60e A4) which is 140mph with 3.42 12 bolt rear end. Engine did not get hot at all. Never got over 180deg. and it was 85 deg that day. I have a superstroker 427 ls1 too. However my brakes did fade. Now upgraded to C5 front brakes. Leo

 

[Michael SR]

whose lifters are you running? it's difficult to make a solid roller setup live on the street. steve, to run a solid roller in a sbc, the valvesprings will be more like 200/550. the numbers you quote are barely enough for a 6300rpm hydraulic roller! -michael

 

[Steve S]

opps I knew they had to be stiffer than stock,Iput the pluses after the numbers radical engines years ago 1976 to be exact had a bbc turned 7500 in my dragboat your engines must scream. worried about valve train life at over 6,500 ? I remember changing broken springs if I let them go too long in trying to not spend the money.Or money to go to the lake or change the springs go to lake it is more fun......tolerances are the amount of variance .clearance is the amount of space. [ April 14, 2003, 11:17 PM: Message edited by: Steve S ]

 

[5abi6r]

>ill be honest and say i dont know squat about the oils you guys mention. From what i knew Mobil 1 was the best and redline/royal purple were just super lube products in those late night sales commercials! When talking about Mobil 1, are you guys saying that it isnt necessary... or it isnt good enough for extreme duty/temperature? >The clearances the engine builder is using is another interesting point. I think it would be in my best interest to find these out, im guessing it may help in choosing a oil. > The Lifters are new crane units, supposedly the 'best' out there. About the spring pressure... remember i didnt go with a solid roller so could go with a nutty lift/duration. I simply went solid for the rev capability. basically saying that the cam is pretty 'small'. The cam is big enough however to take advantage of the heads which flow about 301 cfm @ .550 lift and i think it was 311 cfm @.600 . Either way the motor will definitely generate a lot of heat revving so high and i want to make sure oil is one of the bases i have 'covered'.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by 5abi6r: >ill be honest and say i dont know squat about the oils you guys mention. From what i knew Mobil 1 was the best and redline/royal purple were just super lube products in those late night sales commercials! When talking about Mobil 1, are you guys saying that it isnt necessary... or it isnt good enough for extreme duty/temperature?

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Mobil 1 is a very good oil, but it just doesn't quite have what it takes for extreme racing type conditions like Redline does. In order to get the same High Temperature High Shear number that Redline 10w40 has (4.7) you'd have to go with a much thicker Mobil 1 oil, as even their 0w40 only has an HTHS of 3.6. This lower number means it doesn't offer the same level of protection for your bearings under very hard use.

 

[Steve S]

Right on Patman, use the oil that will get the job done . Seems to me that the oil we use should depend upon how we drive ,what we drive and when we drive. Petro oil gives good wear numbers ,but if we live where it gets cold or want to push the mileage on the oil changes. operate in an extreme manor then use a heavier duty oil . weather a syn.oil or petro.oil. It seems there are heavy duty petro oils as well as synthetic oils.Looking at the virgin oil analysis section, a wonderful resourse for oil nuts will help us select an oil for our use will it not?

 

[Patman]

Exactly Steve, different drivers and different cars need different oils. Redline would be overkill for Grandma in her 2001 Buick Century for her highway trips to Bingo Country!

 

[Michael SR]

quote:

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Originally posted by 5abi6r: The Lifters are new crane units, supposedly the 'best' out there.

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well, at least you have those. even their regular series have pressure fed bearings. i've used the pro-series in a few engines with good results. still, you'll have a hard time keeping the valvetrain together on the street. good luck with it! -michael

 

[5abi6r]

Just curious as to what other types of ratings that are iportant besided HTHS #s?? Also i have 2 olds auroras, 1997 and a 1998. What oil do you reccomend for these cars? >> destroked northstar 4.0L DOHC V-8 I used synthetic last time, think it was valvoline, but id like some opinions on what to use for summer/winter.... its time to change it soon!! thanxx

 

[5abi6r]

just thought it was funny... i posted like 5 times but i could never find it... i kept pressing NExt>> at the bottom... i just realized it took me to the next post not next page ! now i know

 

[427Z06]

What are the clearances on the mains and rods? Which high volume oil pump? Any modifications to the oil passages in the block? Make sure you install some accurate oil temp and pressure gauges. RedLine is a good choice, you just have to fine tune which one is best for your engine.

 

[5abi6r]

emabrassed as i am. its been 3 years since i posted this and im asking the same question again. I had to dig to find my login info and i didn't even remember to search my old post. 3 years is a long time without my car .. forgive me