Who Made My Kendall?

[Red91]

I have found absolutely no information on the SJ Kendall GT-1 SAE 30 I have in my stash. One thing to note, mine carries the same part number as the current GT-1 30, 527-7133, and does NOT say "Kendall Refining Company, A Division Of Witco Chemical Co. Bradford, Pennsylvania." Rather, it's marked as Kendall Motor Oil, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. My oil was made around the time that Witco sold the Bradford refinery, and Kendall was passed through several owners, ending up with Phillips. Mine is green, like the Witco Kendall GT-1, and makes no mention of Phillips on the bottle or case. My question is, did Kendall operate independently for a short time in the '90's, before it finally ended up at Phillips? I've searched exhaustively for any and all terms I could think of to produce results, but nothing comes up. Kendall history articles talk very little of the buyout. Anyone know anything about my Kendall?

 

[Merkava_4]

Did you take that picture with an Apple iPhone ?

 

[BrocLuno]

That refinery ended up being Brad-Penn, makers of racing and high performance oils. My bet was they kept making the Kendal until another contract was let somewhere else. So it could have been made on the same line, just new owners ...

 

[Uregina09]

I think the Kendall bottle with the beautiful background would make a great poster for your wall.

 

[doitmyself]

That's an interesting question Red91. SJ oil came to market in 1997. Witco sold the Kendall and Amalie brands to Sun Oil (Sunoco) in late 1996. Witco sold the Kendall Bradford refinery to American Refining Group (Brad Penn Oil) in 1997.

So, what was Kendall Oil of Valley Forge, PA??

Because your Kendall Valley Forge oil is green, can we guess that it was a product of the Bradford Refinery?? I wonder if American Refining Group had use of the Kendall name for a certain time period during all this transition. The use of a Valley Forge address might have been a business deal, maybe similar to how NAPA Oil has an address of Ashland Kentucky vs. Valvolene of Lexington, Kentucky.

You should write to Brad Penn/American Refining Group and ask them.

http://www.oil150.com/essays/article?article_id=165
http://www.hdmworld.com/lube-brad_penn.htm

Here's another reference to Kendall Oil of Valley Forge:

 

[Red91]

I'm
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
That's an interesting question Red91. SJ oil came to market in 1997. Witco sold the Kendall and Amalie brands to Sun Oil (Sunoco) in late 1996. Witco sold the Kendall Bradford refinery to American Refining Group (Brad Penn Oil) in 1997.

So, what was Kendall Oil of Valley Forge, PA??

Because your Kendall Valley Forge oil is green, can we guess that it was a product of the Bradford Refinery?? I wonder if American Refining Group had use of the Kendall name for a certain time period during all this transition. The use of a Valley Forge address might have been a business deal, maybe similar to how NAPA Oil has an address of Ashland Kentucky vs. Valvolene of Lexington, Kentucky.

You should write to Brad Penn/American Refining Group and ask them.

http://www.oil150.com/essays/article?article_id=165
http://www.hdmworld.com/lube-brad_penn.htm

Here's another reference to Kendall Oil of Valley Forge:

That barrel is the only other Kendall branded piece I've seen labeled as Valley Forge, besides my bottles and the cases they came in. Everything else I can turn up is Bradford, Pennsylvania or Houston, Texas. Thank you for those links, I'll look into contacting ARG, as I've questions about their Penngrade 1 products as well.

 

[Red91]

According to the articles, and similar ones I've read, when Witco sold Kendall to Sunoco, Sunoco imposed the separation of brand and product, by not wanting the Bradford refinery. So Witco sells the refinery to ARG, and Sunoco sells Kendall to Phillips. So.....where does the product I have originate? That is what I can't find. All my searches turn up with the above mentioned information only.

According to one of the linked articles posted by doitmyself, ARG is making GT-1 and selling it as Brad Penn Penngrade 1, but I can't confirm that as fact, nor can I verify the proprietary formula as GT-1, but they describe it as being pretty darn close.

 

[Red91]

Obviously hardly anyone is interested in this thread, but for those who did participate I appreciate it. I'm going to bump it anyway because why not? I'm still looking for the answer, but I'm still coming up with nothing more than what I already know.

 

[SR5]

I'm interested Red91, I just have no useful knowledge to add. I'm a bit of a Kendall fan myself.

I've always said we need an oil history section here. Like back in the late 80's I could get Castrol XL 20W50 or Castrol GTX 20W50, what was the difference ?

BTW love the Alabama background in your first images. It looks like a nice place.

 

[53' Stude]

I'm interested as well SR5

 

[Red91]

SR5, let me do some searching for late 80's PDS or VOA sheets on the aforementioned Castrol. That's an interesting question, as one would assume that late 80's GTX would be high in zinc and phosphorus, and one would hope the XL would to. Lol I might as well as I've had no luck with that info on the SJ Kendall.

I second a vote for an oil history section. Something simple like post for old advertising, PDS/VOA documents, and information on refineries and brand ownership through the years.

 

[doitmyself]

I think that what you are going to find out is that in 1997 and beyond, Kendall Oil was a Sunoco (Sun Oil Company) product. Sun Oil/Sunoco was headquartered in Philadelphia at the time of the acquisition and I bet that the Valley Forge, P.A. labeling was simply some kind of corporate scheme, either financial or marketing, maybe both. There may have been financial incentives to NOT list Philadelphia in its marketing literature. Above, I gave a similar analogy where NAPA oil is labeled Ashland, Kentucky and Valvolene is labeled Lexington, Kentucky. There is a business reason to do these things.....$$$$$...... keep separate business entities, Kendall vs. Sunoco. Again, just a guess.

Here's some news links of the acquisition:

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sun+To+Buy+Kendall%2FAmalie+Lubricants+Business+From+Witco-a018548837 "J. Greg Driscoll, Sun's senior vice president, Marketing, said the Kendall and Amalie brands will be operated as a separate division."

https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+oil+...+kendall+amalie

There seems to be 2 Valley Forge "communities", if they can be called that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge,_York_County,_Pennsylvania

 

[Red91]

So it does appear that an educated guess as to the maker of my Kendall would be Sunoco. I wonder if they kept the formula the same as the Witco sourced product. If this turns out to be the answer, my guess is formulas stayed the same, as they also kept Witco Kendall's slogan (Pour In The Protection) and the green dye. Thank you doitmyself for those links, as I hadn't found that info in my own searches.

SR5, I found nothing on Castrol's products last night as far as product data sheets for their late 80's line up. Castrol does have a section of their website where you can download a PDS of there current XL products, but that is all I found

 

[Red91]

Does anyone know the zinc and phosphorus levels of this oil? I haven't found information on the add pack either.

 

[53' Stude]

Best guess is send some in for VOA

 

[Red91]

Unfortunately I believe you're right. I really don't want to sacrifice any of it for a VOA, but it would be definitive. Blackstone?

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: Red91

SR5, I found nothing on Castrol's products last night as far as product data sheets for their late 80's line up. Castrol does have a section of their website where you can download a PDS of there current XL products, but that is all I found

Thanks mate, I couldn't find anything either. I think the new XL is quite different stuff. Reusing an old name.

 

[Red91]

Any updates from the moderators on an oil history section?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Speaking of Kendall, I recall in the 60s - 70s and 80s that some of their grades were green oil. Does Kendall still produce any green-colored oil?

 

[Red91]

GT-1 was the green oil, and it was produced right up until ConocoPhillips bought the brand. Mine is green GT-1, but I'm having trouble figuring out who made it because it's post Witco and pre ConocoPhillips, my guess is it's Sunoco owned at the time with Kendall producing their products independently. The Kendall made my ConocoPhillips did realease a "Racing Green" 20W-50 back around '05 or so, but I don't know much about it and it was a short lived product.