My '79 T/A has a well-built 400 Pontiac with around 5000 miles on it. The car is driven around 1000 miles a year. It is raced several times a year, so I want to use a premium oil. I have been using Mobil 1 10W30 synthetic for several years. I have been changing the oil once a year before it sits all winter, but this seems like a waste with the Mobil 1. Besides, with a 7 quart oil pan it costs a small fortune. I am considering switching to a synthetic blend...maybe the new Mobil 7500. Any recommendations? The engine does see high RPM use.
Oil recommendation for infrequently driven high performance car
- Thread starter Mach5
- Start date
- Status
If you want to use a conventional, I would probably go with a HDEO such as delvac 1300s, or delo 400. An additive such as sx-up from specialty formulation (a site sponsor), may help out for the racing, due to its additives and friction modifiers.
Schaeffer's supreme 15w40 would probably be another excellent choice. I am assuming that the car is fair weather only.
Keep doing what you are doing and stay with the synthetic. The cost of changing out the oil is negligible in my opinion. I have a 77 Z28 with a modified HardCore 509 in it that is lucky to see upwards of 5K a year. It's driven hard and it's on nitrous, so in the months it's driven I change the oil and filters (15w50 M1 and dual M1 filters) monthly. Before it goes into winter storage, I change the oil and filters again along with the trans lube and rearend lube. Small price to pay for piece of mind when you've got over 10K invested in the engine, 2K in the trans and 3K in the rearend.
Oh yeah, once you get into cars like ours, the "normal" rules of oil changing go out the window. I once had some guy tell me that I was wasting my money changing my "expensive oil and filters" so frequently. I laughed and told him that if he wanted to cut me a check on the spot for the cost of a replacement engine, I'd leave the oil in and the filters spun on for as long as his little heart desired. He shut up real quick.
Would you have written him a cheque for all the money you saved from not changing your motor oil excessively? In exchange for him taking on the risk of having to replace your engine if his advice failed?quote:
Originally posted by 99:
I laughed and told him that if he wanted to cut me a check on the spot for the cost of a replacement engine, I'd leave the oil in and the filters spun on for as long as his little heart desired. He shut up real quick.
I certainly wouldn't have a problem doing so, with the stipulation that a P.E. or P.Eng (Professional Mechanical Engineer) be required to certify under oath that failed lubrication was the root cause of the engine failure before I paid the claim.
Sounds like someone is a victim of the ol fashioned quickie-lube brainwash, eh? Or probably more accurately, a victim of a lack of knowledge of engines and modern lubricants.
- Status
