Need expert advice on oil for 1975 Dino Ferrari

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Thanks for all the info and suggestions guys,

The engine is a 3 liter DOHC V8, with flat plane crank, rubber timing belts, 4 weber carbs and standard ignition. I has the bucket and shim valve train, with the shim on top. That shim looked fine . I think maybe the conensus is the hardening is wearing off. I never took short trips in car alway ran weekly about 30-40 miles, on backroads or freeway. I drive the car moderately hard but only warmed up and changed the oil every 6 months or 1000 miles religiously.

I have heard that since diesel engines were lower revving engines that these oils would not be suitable for the higher revving Ferrari? Is there any truth to this.

Thanks again for all your suggestions

Rob






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No truth at all! I run HDEO's on all of my engines, which vary in red line from 1300 to 7000.

Any of the 15W-40 oils from your favorite oil company would be a good choice. I'd also give a hard look at the Rotella T5 10W-40 if you want to step it up a notch without going to a group IV-V full synthetic. T6 is a great option too in a group III+ oil.

Doug, I had a Giulia Super for a while. I bought it with the head in the trunk, spent a day getting it going and sold it to buy my Giulietta. I probably should have figured a way to keep the Super around.

Ed
 
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I know you guys have made some great suggestions but i am leaning towards redline 10/40 and was curious if the amsoil was superior to redline. What is the difference between the two?

Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary


Pablo's comments "I won't rag on the NEW Castrol 20W-50 (the old stuff was NO GOOD)." are totally erroneous and unhelpful!



You should say in your OPINION before you make such tosser statements.

I stand by what I wrote in that earlier thread (2005!). The 1970's versions of Castrol 20W-50 available in the USA were loaded with non-stable and terrible (read: NO GOOD) thixotropic thickeners. Not only did these thickeners cause the oil to flow terribly at moderate start temps, they actually quickly oxidized and gelled with even modest heat. Black death was real.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/advise-for-ferrari-v8-engine-oil.10062/
 
Have to agree with Pablo on this one. Oil formulations in the early 70's sucked.

I worked at a Ferrari dealer in the early 70's in Dallas, and if I'm not mistaken, we used Shell Rotella T 15W-40 in the Ferrari's that were serviced there.

As for as the Red Line Vs Amsoil, they are both fine oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary


Pablo's comments "I won't rag on the NEW Castrol 20W-50 (the old stuff was NO GOOD)." are totally erroneous and unhelpful!



You should say in your OPINION before you make such tosser statements.

I stand by what I wrote in that earlier thread (2005!). The 1970's versions of Castrol 20W-50 available in the USA were loaded with non-stable and terrible (read: NO GOOD) thixotropic thickeners. Not only did these thickeners cause the oil to flow terribly at moderate start temps, they actually quickly oxidized and gelled with even modest heat. Black death was real.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/advise-for-ferrari-v8-engine-oil.10062/


As to "New Castrol 20W-50" ...

1) If you found Syntec 20W-50 for SALE somewhere, I WILL PAY YOU.

2) Are you speaking of white bottle GTX, Synthetic Blend 20W-50 (may or may bot be high mileage) .. ok "Syntec Blend" .. or just 5W-50? (Replaced 20W-50?)

3) NEW Syntec wont "Black Death" anything.

For a high-revving Ferrari like that, wouldnt a 5W-40 be great? or 5W-50?

I like rumbly exhausts. BITOG once recommended 5W-30 or 10W-30 for a Lamborghini Murcielago, IIRC.

Site donation coming soon. Ferraris and BITOG? Christmas came LATE!
laugh.gif


832695_220742_290.jpg
 
Hanger, Pablo is referring to the old (1970's formulation) GTX 20W-50 in the white bottle. Long before Syntec or blends were ever thought of. He is not saying anything about "black death" with todays engine oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Hanger, Pablo is referring to the old (1970's formulation) GTX 20W-50 in the white bottle. Long before Syntec or blends were ever thought of. He is not saying anything about "black death" with todays engine oils.


EXACTLY. It's almost like people don't actually read what I write. It's a VERY strange BITOG phenomena. I always wonder if it's the Amsoil logo.

Anyway - the OP PM'd me and I have emailed him. I cannot say what the root cause of the actual failure is at this point. There are better choices out there for corrosion protection and better/quicker pump up. I am NOT singling out any brand, I'm just pointing out a known weakness of an oil in the USA in the 1970's.
 
Because Castrol's and others oil formulas sucked in the 70's has nothing to do with todays formulations. I had a Chevy Wagon I bought from a mechanic, race engine builder, he was quite good. He ran this Chevy wagon exclusively on Mobil 1 back in the late 70's. 25,000 miles the engine was in need of a rebuild, the cam was shot would be an understatement. Upon teardown and inspection it was determined the oil was to blame.

Sorry guys you are going to have to take my word on this. I owned this car from around 1987-1990. Does that mean that Mobil 1 oil is bad today? I think not!!!!!!! I ran that car to over 150,000 miles using Mobil 1. He continued using M1 after the rebuild, and I stuck with it during the time I owned the car.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Because Castrol's and others oil formulas sucked in the 70's has nothing to do with todays formulations. I had a Chevy Wagon I bought from a mechanic, race engine builder, he was quite good. He ran this Chevy wagon exclusively on Mobil 1 back in the late 70's. 25,000 miles the engine was in need of a rebuild, the cam was shot would be an understatement. Upon teardown and inspection it was determined the oil was to blame.

Sorry guys you are going to have to take my word on this. I owned this car from around 1987-1990. Does that mean that Mobil 1 oil is bad today? I think not!!!!!!! I ran that car to over 150,000 miles using Mobil 1. He continued using M1 after the rebuild, and I stuck with it during the time I owned the car.


+1

Very well said.

Now, to the AMSOIL Phenomena........
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Because Castrol's and others oil formulas sucked in the 70's has nothing to do with todays formulations.


I never said they did.

In fact, I refrained from posting in this thread until Doug brought my name up from an old thread. I am NOT promoting any oil in this thread (take a look) NOR am I attacking any current oil formulations (take a look). Please people get this thread back on track. This thread is NOT about Amsoil or me.
 
Unless the engine has been through a recent rebuild, I would stay with a conventional oil. I have used numerous oils in my classic car collection and Valvoline VR1 oil has worked very well for me in cars that have not had full rebuilds. It has a very good add pack with enough zinc/phos for full protection. Like I said, if it has miles on it already then VR1 would be a great choice for you. I have a good amount of friends with Shelby's, Ferraris, etc and they use this oil. You can also add a little additional moly, but that is another conversation. LOL. Good luck.

P.S. My buddy has two Dinos(I think a 72 and 73) and he uses VR1 conventional oil.
 
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Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Because Castrol's and others oil formulas sucked in the 70's has nothing to do with todays formulations.


I never said they did.

In fact, I refrained from posting in this thread until Doug brought my name up from an old thread. I am NOT promoting any oil in this thread (take a look) NOR am I attacking any current oil formulations (take a look). Please people get this thread back on track. This thread is NOT about Amsoil or me.


More on topic but slightly off topic still.

How about some pics of this bad boy? I recently did a photo shoot where there was a 70s Ferrari involved. It was pretty sweet. Had like 26k original miles on it.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Because Castrol's and others oil formulas sucked in the 70's has nothing to do with todays formulations.


I never said they did.

In fact, I refrained from posting in this thread until Doug brought my name up from an old thread. I am NOT promoting any oil in this thread (take a look) NOR am I attacking any current oil formulations (take a look). Please people get this thread back on track. This thread is NOT about Amsoil or me.



Pablo my statement was a blast from the past, and a little of how I feel today. I don't think Synthetic oil formulas were very good in the 70's, or for that matter any oil formulas by our current standards today. I remember people saying they'd never use M1 or a synthetic for that matter when I was in high school. The guy I bought my Chevy wagon from owned a Mobil gas station with a shop. He raced cars, and IIRC was sponsored by Mobil, he got lots of perks and free product I believe. He drained the FF on that Chevy Wagon and used M1 from the day he got the car. Lots of rumors circulated about breaking in engines on dino, that he should have waited 10,000 miles, etc. Mobil had no problems paying him to rebuild the engine. He broke the rebuild in on dino and switched to M1 again. I remember speaking with him, and he said Mobil will pay again if the engine blew, what could be better?

You know oil history better than I do. I think Mobil advertised 25,000 mile OCI's and used driving around the world w/o changing their oil in their ads. This Chevy didn't see 25K OCI's.

I'm willing to bet 35 years from today if I'm lucky enough to be alive oil from 2010 API SN will be considered garbage. JMO
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. I did not want to start an argument here. I just want the best oil for my car. Pablo was kind enough to offer advice and I appreciate it. I think I am going to switch to a synthetic but still on the fence. I will probably stay with what i switch to so i want to make an informed decision. I will strongly consider his advice. However the more i explore this the more confused i get.
 
So looking at the detailed picture you sent me - it's only the one lobe? And not all the lobes, or selected lobes?

It appears either some corrosion or metallurgical flaw...
 
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