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The Japanese have better (slicker) oils that still protect flat tappet cams, they are good enough
that they can even improve fuel mileage and protect that ‘cadillac’ thing. With all the pressures from the environmentalists on our so-called elected representatives in Congress, along with $3.00 a gallon gasoline, the oil companies are doing lots of research on improving oils to catch up with the Japanese. One of the additives that may prove to be the answer is called molybdenum carbamate. This moly is soluble so it mixes with the oil and stays in suspension. It is very slippery like its cousin the gray stuff and it actually sticks to, or plates up, on metal parts as opposed to zinc phosphate, that does not stick to the metal. In the start and stop situations that our cars go through it is actually better than zinc phosphate. Some race only oils may have super high amounts of the zinc phosphate that is fine for a 500-mile race where the engine is never shut off.