Love old oil commercials ....change oil every 1k

[PimTac]

My dad was always fiddling with our 54 Chevy. Besides the oil, there were plugs, points, rotor, cap, condenser, etc. Havoline SAE 30wt in metal cans with a punch spout. A canister filter that made him curse.

He was not a mechanic but everything was simple then. By the time he finished the car idled like a Singer sewing machine. Those straight sixes were the smoothest engines.

 

[BironDanmum]

When my grandfather was a kid, 500 to 700 miles was the norm when the Model T was the car that 90% of the population that owned a vehicle drove. It was important to run non-detergent oil in those because there was no oil filter, so it needed to be changed often. Of course, the average family only went out once a week and 6 months/600 miles was pretty much standard for OCIs.

Aftermarket oil filters started popping up during the depression. People wanted to go longer without changing their oil so adding an oil filter to your car was a way to go all year without having to change the oil. With the advent of oil filtration, detergent based oil became the norm.

This still didn't account for seasonal grades. You still had to run a winter weight light oil and a thicker weight summer oil, so 1,000 miles was pretty standard. Then when multi weight oils became the norm, the 3,000 mile OCI became the standard.

Now with synthetics and pseudo synthetics we can go 5,000 miles and beyond. I still don't buy the whole Amsoil 25k mile interval thing, but do what you want to do.

 

[HouseTiger]

Originally Posted By: ArrestMeRedZ
If I recall correctly, service interval on the old VWs was 1500 miles. Change oil, clean strainer, etc. I think the valves had to be set and spark plugs cleaned and gapped around every other oil change. I thought I died and went to heaven when I bought a GM in the mid '80s with 20k mile spark plugs.


You recall correctly. All four Type-1 VW I had through the years had 1500 mile oil changes, and you also cleaned the screen strainer and used a new gasket set. Valve adjustments were done on a cold engine, with new gasket set, every third oil change. Would also just replace the plugs every 6000 miles. Also carried a couple of spare V-belts to avoid being stuck out in east bumbletweed.

 

[bchannell]

Originally Posted By: gmh101357
I was BORN in 57 and hit the big 60 this year.....I thought I was the only old guy around....glad somebody has me beat


Dont feel bad, i too was born in '57, and i worked at an ESSO, (dont remember when it changed to Exxon), so you are not alone!