Valvoline VR1 10w30 synthetic for stock rebuilt BBC GMC

Yeah... I appreciate the opinion, but I’m not going to do a HD diesel oil. We are right back to the same problem of inadequate ZDDP.
 
I called Mobil customer assistance and specifically asked about the Euro 0W40. They did not recommend that oil for me. They said I should not do it. I asked why and only got the standard boilerplate response that it was not designed for this motor.

You likely spoke to some sales rep who doesn't know engine oil from olive oil. You probably would've gotten a better response from the high school kid behind the Autozone counter. Your conversation is pretty much the norm when contacting the majors about their oils. Canned responses and completely clueless when you present something that isn't on the sheet paper or spreadsheet in front of them.
 
Yeah... I appreciate the opinion, but I’m not going to do a HD diesel oil. We are right back to the same problem of inadequate ZDDP.
That would be an incorrect conclusion from anything presented in this thread or any of the advice from ExxonMobil.
 
You also have someone in this thread who has been blending and testing oils for everything from fleet vehicles, with >2 billion miles of data, to high end 1500-5000 hp race engines for more than a decade... and he's telling you to get M1 FS 0W-40. Take that for what it's worth.
 
Speaking from my own personal experience, the Big Block Chevy just doesn't care what oil you put in it as long as it's full. I have two fairly stock big blocks in my stable, along with a couple of them built for fun, and they just don't care. Personally, I'd run a 5w-40, 10w.40, or 15w-40 all day long in yours and never think about it again. Or run whatever is on sale. 10w-30, 5w-30...really it just doesn't matter. Don't be shocked if it uses a quart every 1000 miles, while the BITOG crowd will say it's horrible, it's very normal for an old big block freshly built or 300,000 miles down the road.

https://www.mortec.com/bbc.htm for an idea what your engine is.
 
Don't be shocked if it uses a quart every 1000 miles, while the BITOG crowd will say it's horrible, it's very normal for an old big block freshly built or 300,000 miles down the road.

Really? I thought <2% leakdown and <0.25 qt low at 7,500 miles was normal. I guess I've been building them wrong then.
 
Yeah....I actually don’t disagree with anyone here. I just wanted to report what Mobil told me, and I agree about the poor response from them....

I’m going to stick with the Valvoline vr1 10w30 synthetic and change it regularly—maybe slightly more often than planned.

Understood the alternative suggestions, but nobody had an argument for why this is wrong or a bad idea to do what I’m doing. There were suggestions for what might be better, but nobody said this was bad.

Ok then....I do sincerely thank everyone for their time and opinion. I do value what everyone said—really.
 
It also contains alkylated naphthalene

Where?

post-2-0-37798800-1503630106.gif
 
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Interesting thread. In my opinion I agree completely with your desire to use a high ZDDP oil.

The flat tappet cam in this engine has a 1.73 valve vs cam lift rocker arm ratio, requiring ZDDP for the rocker fulcrum, pushrod ends and the cam/lifter connection. In addition, when the oil is cold and sticky, you need over 800 rpm of cold idle speed to get the oil onto the cam. When warm the crankshaft and camshaft live in a cloud of oil mist. My point being that even if the engine will idle fine cold at 500 rpm, don't do it.

Next the crank, rod and cam bearings live on an oil wedge due to there circular motion and load. Only overly thin or lack of oil will hurt them.

And finally, the piston rings depend mainly on the oil film strength, maybe a little on the ZDDP.

Horror stories about the 1970's Chevy Big Block problems were true but based on the 454 which has a larger bore. The cylinder walls would pull inward from 0.002 to 0.006" after tightening the head bolts. That why torque plate honing is used on some engines. Also, they had loose valve guides on new engines possibly due to assembling them dry. You will likely due just fine with minimal oil consumption.

As a final thought, use the best oil filter that you can get, maybe Fram Ultra, or PureOne. If the cam goes south, then the oil filter is the only thing saving the rest of the engine. The later engines have factory roller cams for the above reason.
 
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