STP

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Mar 30, 2020
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Houston, Texas
It couldn't have been the same pancake syrup viscosity as the shelf additive, right?

Quote
The actual "invention" of what is now known as "STP" was originally invented by German scientists during WW-2 as a response to Germany's need for lubrication of the German war-machine vehicles. It was alleged by WW-2 U.S. Army divisions in Africa that overtook German infantry vehicles (mostly of the original Volkswagen design) that the Germans employed "engine oil" that is now known as STP formulation full-strength in the VW air-cooled 4-cylinder engines, which successfully traveled through the hot African Desert war-front without seizing due to friction and extreme heat. How the German's original chemical synthesis formulation found its way to the U.S. after WW-2 is not known, but most likely came along with many of the other German inventions.


220px-STP_(motor_oil_company)_(logo).png
 
...not to mention the German scientists.

FRITZ: "Hey Hans, they're closing in. Should we go surrender to the advancing Russians or the advancing Americans?"

HANS: "Fritz, you're not as smart as I though you were. Grab your notes and come with me. I all-veys vanted a Plymouth"
 
You didn't say what your source was so I checked Wikipedia and there it is... the first paragraph.

Usually Wikipedia correction trolls are all over the site looking for references but this thing doesn't have any footnotes or sources at all. There is a link back to the history of STP which starts with the oft quoted mid-fifties start as Scientifically Treated Petroleum. So my guess is this is just a bogus paragraph placed into the article which will eventually be challenged and removed.

Remember reading a fairly straight foreward bio of the Western Illinois (ex) men's basketball coach on Wikipedia. The last paragraph was about what kind of sauce he ordered with fajitas when he visited a named Mexican restaurant in Macomb, Illinois on Thursday nights. That insertion lasted for close to a year, probably up to the point when he took another job. With Wikipedia, sometimes things fall through the cracks.

Maybe someone on here is a Wiki volunteer who can go on there and challenge the STP story. It would certainly be interesting if it had a source, but I bet it doesn't.
 
It's been noted...

It sounds to me like it may have been a fake, early sales pitch equating STP to the likes of Wernher Von Braun or something...
 
When I was in high-school a cousin of mine who was older than I bought a used small motorcycle and he was a heavy set person. He made the mistake of putting STP in it. It had a wet clutch and the clutch slipped so bad that it would not even go up a slight grade by his house. He tour that entire engine apart and cleaned it well and put it all back together and it ran fine. Never put STP in a wet clutch bike.

I had seen how thick STP was when other people used it, and one winter years ago my youngest brother had the oil and filter sitting on a shelf in the cellar along with a can of STP and a oil catch can near the shelf. I saw that and figured he was getting ready of do an oil change on his first car and warned him that he did not want to put a thick oil like that in his car in the winter time, so he did not use it then.

STP has it place, like when the ambient temperature is very high, but it can cause problems if used wrong.
 
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David Crosby knows it stands for "Serenity, Tranquility and Peace" and was manufactured by Messrs. Shulgin, Stanley and Scully.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
...not to mention the German scientists.

FRITZ: "Hey Hans, they're closing in. Should we go surrender to the advancing Russians or the advancing Americans?"

HANS: "Fritz, you're not as smart as I though you were. Grab your notes and come with me. I all-veys vanted a Plymouth"



Got that right ↑↑↑↑↑

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The first thing I heard about STP was that it means: Super Toilet Paper. Of course I was in Kindergarten at the time....
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Way back in the day, friend of mine had a big STP sticker on his toilet seat, said it meant,Stop Take a Pee.
lol.gif
 
I always thought it stood for Studebaker Tested Product for their association with Studebaker and Andy Granatelli.
I think you're right. I've heard this. My brother had a Studebaker that would barely pull itself. Put STP in it ran like new .
 
When I was in high-school a cousin of mine who was older than I bought a used small motorcycle and he was a heavy set person. He made the mistake of putting STP in it. It had a wet clutch and the clutch slipped so bad that it would not even go up a slight grade by his house. He tour that entire engine apart and cleaned it well and put it all back together and it ran fine. Never put STP in a wet clutch bike.

So as thick as is it, I does have some extra slippery properties to it. That's kind of neat. I thought it was just the opposite. I remember seeing it used by family and friends back in the 1980s on old well worn engines. The old metal can with the tear off top.
 
I think you're right. I've heard this. My brother had a Studebaker that would barely pull itself. Put STP in it ran like new .
Speaking of STP, years ago I was in Costco here picking up their version of Gatorade. I heard a voice from behind me say "young man can you get one of those for me?" I turned around and it was Andy Granatelli in a powered wheelchair. I took the one I had and put it in his cart saying "anything for Mr 500." Not sure if he was in a bad mood or what but he had this huge grin and laid a bit of rubber with the wheelchair after he rode off.
 
I remember back in the '70s when STP had their own motor oil. It promised 15,000 OCI, which was crazy at the time.
They sell one at AZ … last jugs I grabbed was Dexos 1.2 and made by Amalie …
No mileage claims anywhere … but only ran 5k in a Pentastar engine
 
Speaking of STP, years ago I was in Costco here picking up their version of Gatorade. I heard a voice from behind me say "young man can you get one of those for me?" I turned around and it was Andy Granatelli in a powered wheelchair. I took the one I had and put it in his cart saying "anything for Mr 500." Not sure if he was in a bad mood or what but he had this huge grin and laid a bit of rubber with the wheelchair after he rode off.
I have run into several celebs in global travels …
The only one being exceptionally friendly was James Baker III.
Most, it was best to leave be …
 
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