OK, which oil for my vintage metal family members

[cmayna]

'65 Mustang coupe with mild cammed 302 engine- Use to run yellow death (Pennzoil) but after losing a cam, I have switched over to 15w40 Royal Purple. Engine is much quieter so I guess I should be happy with it?


'67 GTO HO 400-Passed on from my late brother last year. The last oil introduced into the engine before I picked up the car was/is Castrol Syntec 10w40.

Both cars have flat tappet cams.


Now recently I sent a sample of unused oil from each of the above oils to a test lab and got the following Zinc and Phosphorus levels.

Royal Purple
Zinc: 989
Phos: 891

Castrol Syntec
Zinc: 648
Phos: 545

For a flat tappet cam, I am surprised that I find such low levels of Z & P in the Castrol oil and am a little disappointed that the Royal Purple wasn't closer to 1200+

Both cars are occasional drivers putting maybe 2k-3k miles on annually. Don't I want a zinc level closer to 1500ppm? Thinking Brad Penn which I can get locally for less than $5/qt, or Valvoline VR1 or what?

I'm currently restoring another vintage Mustang which will have a stroked 331 so I'll be needed to address this issue again.

My Chevy truck is still running 30w non-detergent oil and won't let me change it. Way too happy hauling Mustang parts around.

 

[addyguy]

WOW! Nice collection!

Brad-Penn or VR-1 would be my choice for those beauties.

Oh, and for the truck, you want to run a detergent oil. You're just gunking up the engine not running it. I'd make sure its not sludged-up before switching over, though.

 

[Johnny]

That is an extremely nice collection you have there. Would have to strongly disagree with you on the yellow death Pennzoil comment. I had a 1965 Shelby GT350 that ran nothing but Pennzoil from new until 142,000 miles when I sold it, and it was as clean as a whistle. And I drove it like I stole it.

For you zinc and phos needs I believe you would be better served with the new Rousch oils made by Valvoline. They are loaded with zinc and phos.

I would also want to slowly introduce that truck to your favorite detergent 30W oil.

 

[txrhino]

I have '67 mustang with mild cam. I've been running Valvoline VR-1 which has plenty of ZDDP, I'm gonna switch to M1 5W-40 Turbo Diesel which has plenty also it will also allow for longer intervals 1 year in my case. I don't drive it much, but I don't like leaving the VR-1 over 6 months or so. Super nice cars by the way!!

 

[440Magnum]

Judging by those numbers, you're probably running "regular" Royal Purple, not their XPR line.

Truth is, once the cam is well broken-in, its not nearly as critical to have the monster loads of ZDDP. I'd second the recommendation for VR-1 or you could go with RP's XPR line since you're happy with their regular line, although I wouldn't risk extending the oil change intervals much. I haven't seen a VOA or UOA on VR-1 yet- but the tendency is for racing oils to skimp on the TBN since the expectation is not to run them very long.

If you stick with the regular Royal Purple, its got a TBN up around 10 or 11, so its fine for longer change intervals.

 

[genynnc]

you know what... I would perform a second round of VOA's before I would use Brad Penn or VR1 (and I have been using BP for almost a year with 4 cases sitting in my shop floor)... there was a VOA of BP posted last week that showed similar #'s to that of the Royal Purple above. GRANTED, the BP rep told the customer that he must have had an 'old' formulation and sent him two new cases BUT I don't trust until verified. And I'm dying to see what this gents' new VOA sample of the 'regular' formulaton shows. (I'm waiting on my VOA to come back right now btw on 10w-30 & 20w-50- both BP).

I've also seen similar VR1 UOA's too where the Z & P was 200-300 ppm below where Valvoline said they were supposed to be.

If I had to change oil before the VOA's came back- Rotella 5w-40 or Delvac 5w-40. Synthetic diesel oils appear to be the only products that seem to consitently meet or sometimes exceed Z & P levels of 1200ppm upon the return of oil analysis results even with CJ-4.

 

[oilboy123]

Nice cars.................I would pick the Stang.

If you want some of the best oils out there IMO.

Amsoil has some good oil with the additives you need as well. Not super cheap, but very good oils. Site sponsors can hook you up. It can also be found other places if need be.

Amsoil AMO and ARO 10w-40 and 20w-50 oil

Also Dominator 15W-50,10w-30 Racing/performance Oils.

 

[cmayna]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
WOW! Nice collection!

Brad-Penn or VR-1 would be my choice for those beauties.

Oh, and for the truck, you want to run a detergent oil. You're just gunking up the engine not running it. I'd make sure its not sludged-up before switching over, though.


How would I make sure the truck is not sludged over? I've dropped the pan and totally cleaned it out a couple times so I know there is very little if any sludge at the bottom.

Yes, I think I'm running regular RP in my daughter's coupe.

I might send a sample of Brad Penn in for testing just to see what kind of numbers come back.

 

[brian12]

Those are some nice looking cars. You could always try Chevron Delo 400 or Mobil 1 15w-50.

Chevron Delo 15w-40
zinc .13
phos .12
flash 399 F

https://www.cbest.chevron.com/generated/MSDS/PDS29828837.PDF

Mobil 1 15w-50
phos .12

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Files/Mobil_1_Product_Guide.pdf

 

[Drivebelt]

I would use a HDEO (heavy duty engine oil) 10W-30 or 15W-40, like Delo 400 or Rotella T.

They will have a higher ZDDP level than the passenger car motor oils with the latest SM designation.