what oil, Pontiac 455 for best bearing protection

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Likewise, 5800 rpm was my redline in a tracked Firebird I owned with a built 455 in it. Touched 6k pretty regularly, drove it well over 100k miles on the street as well. But I have heard stories about this issue. FWIW that's why we went to the 400's...

 

[edhackett]

When they increased the journal diameter to increase strength did they also increase the width of the bearing to handle the increased load? To put it another way, are the bearings spinning because they are larger in diameter or because they are too narrow? Ed

 

[zray]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Excellent motor, do not run light oil in it. I raced many of these and we liked the 400 better, that long stroke 455 gets great power at lower rpm but seems to come unglued once in a while. I like that 15w-50 that Zray suggested. But these aren't Ford small blocks either!……".

I have put that same oil in numerous Ford 427's and 428 engines. They do OK on it, and like the Pontiac, they don't revs exceptionally high, The Ford 428 is a very stable engine, but a 427 will just come apart sometimes with no explanation to be found. Luckily, that hasn't happened to any of ones I've touched. The Mobil 1 15w-50 has a good track record in the British sports cars too (Jag, AM, and Triumph) Z.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: zray

Originally Posted By: ws6formula

I know Pontiacs with larger journals (and cast rods?) could be a bit more prone to spinning bearings. I was hoping to get an oil (if possible) that could offer better protection against main and rod bearings spinning and protects my thrust bearing. I was thinking - get an oil that has a stronger oil film? or an oil film that resists breaking down better?

I reccomend Mobil 1 15w-50. I use it in all the classic cars I've restored, and have never had any engine / oil issues. It will provide exceptional protection for someone in your situation. I've ran my Ford engines flat out at 6,500 to 7,000 rpm for as long as a tank of gas would last, which is generally 130 miles. And I've repeated that high speed endurance run numerous times. Do you think your engine will,get treated more harshly than that ? Probably not. I started using it about 19 years ago. So far so good. As far as your thermostat goes, do not run your engine with a 160 degree thermostat, that is way too cold. 180 should be considered a minimum. Z

+1 on the M1 15W50. When I used to build my engines for my street/hot rods, I learned that if I ran an engine without a t-stat, or even a 160* t-stat, it didn't make a difference. Why? Because, without a t-stat, the coolant was always flowing, and using a 160* t-stat had almost the same effect as not having one at all. After installing a 180* t-stat, or even a 190* t-stat, the engine ran nice and cool. The only time the e-fans kicked on was if I got stuck at a long red light on a hot day, or, if I ran my a/c. I could watch it on the temperature gauge. When the temperature gauge got to 200*, or very slightly over 200*, the e-fans kicked on and the t-stat opened allowing the cool water from the radiator to enter the engine and I could watch the temperature gauge drop back down to 180*-190*.

 

[ws6formula]

Here are a few pics

 

[Merkava_4]

Oh my gosh that thing is beautiful.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

Oh my gosh that thing is beautiful.

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet those cars are rare as hen's teeth!!

 

[spasm3]

That thing looks sweet!

 

[killswitch83]

Man that is purdy purdy lol......Clean for sure

 

[donnyj08]

Very nice car! What about Amsoil's Z-Rod line of classic car oils? that could be a top-tier option for a beautiful classic.

 

[LubricatusObsess]

Nice pics! When we serviced steam & gas turbines in utility power plants, the turbine manufacturer spec'd a very light, high quality (long life) oil akin to SAE 10W engine oil viscosity. The reason being, the high speed of the rotor surface (large diameter spinning @ 3600 rpm) of course, but also because there is almost no radial load - unlike a reciprocating piston engine journal (there is a thrust bearing, of course). So the reference to the turbine lubrication of bearings in this thread is not relevant, IMO. Concur with other posters ... M1 15W-50 for big blocks.

 

[Brigadier]

I bet it sounds even better.

Originally Posted By: spasm3

That thing looks sweet!

 

[4wheeldog]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4

Does have the rope seal on the rear main or a conversion to a modern seal? If a synthetic is desired, I would run Rotella T6 in 5W-40 which should provide ample protection.

I agree with this suggestion. OCI no less than yearly, or 5k miles, max. 3k, if you do not drive it any distance.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: ws6formula

Here are a few pics

That's the way to do it. Looks totally bone stock but has a hot rod engine. Thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately mine has the 301.

 

[quint]

That's a nice T/A, there is a car show every Friday evening in the parking lot at a shopping center a mile or so from my house, and there is a T/A there all the time that looks exactly like this one. Looks like it just rolled out of the showroom.