I actually just talked to a tech at Valvoline regarding their VR1 10w-30 racing oil. It has 1400 ppm of zinc and 1300 ppm of phosphorus. That is all you need for flat tappet cams. And I surely wouldn't be adding any additives to it.
Valve Train Noise after Cam Break-In
- Thread starter Bob Nossal
- Start date
ynst
Well-Known Member
You said flat tappet. I'm taking that to mean a solid lifter flat tappet cam to go along with the adjustable rocker arms. These setups use special pushrods as well.
ALL flat tappet cams will be "noisy". It's the way they work.
What are you running for clearance?
Are you setting the clearance on a cold or warmed up engine? Should warmed up.
BTW, if you're running a flat tappet solid lifter cam, DON'T switch oil and run something less expensive than VR-1 or you'll ruin the cam. Today's lubricants don't have ANY zinc in them anymore. There are precious few specialty brands that contain zinc so your choice of lubricants will be limited.
If you're running a flat tappet HYDRAULIC cam you probably ruined the lifters by NOT pre-filling them before you fired up the engine. An engine that's been sitting around for a while should be pre-lubed before firing it up because the lifters will all have bled down over time and will have no oil cushion inside..
Pull the distributor and distributor intermediate drive shaft out and spin up the oil pump to get oil pressure. SLOWLY rotate the crank by hand (1-1/4" socket on a breaker bar or ratchet) TWO revolutions while keeping the oil pump operating, This will pre-fill all of your lifters with oil. The reason that you have to rotate the crank is to individually lower the lifter in the bore to a point where the oil groove in the side of the lifter is exposed to the oil feed hole in the lifter bore. The lifter only receives oil from the pump when it is on the base circle of the cam. i.e. at the bottom of it's travel.
FWIW, I use an old mechanical pre-luber pump that I screw into a "T"-fitting at the oil pressure switch to do the same thing. I use it to fill the engine with the 5 or 6 quarts of new oil and lubricate the engine in the process.
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ynst
Well-Known Member
I run 20-50 VR-1 in my GTX, my hemi-powered '34 Ford and my sidevalve six in Tex Smith's old '48 Chrysler
Older engines don't have the tight clearances of the newer engines. 10W-30 results in abysmally low oil pressure at idle in these older engines.
Agreed. My Engines are all fairly new yet. 25-30 lbs at idle and 75 lbs going down the road. I think that is ok?
ynst
Well-Known Member
Pretty much what I've been seeing ever since the government took zinc out of motor oils.
Sounds like you're running right at the relief valve pressure going down the highway.
Splangj
Well-Known Member
I’ve been using VR 1 for decades with no additives, with a solid flat tappet. My car is driven so little that I haven’t changed the oil in many years.
And that is with VR1 10w-30. So that's why I would be hesitant switching to a thicker oil.
ynst
Well-Known Member
If I take the car out and really "drive it" like the Boston area to Parsippany, NJ or to Burlington VT, 30 weight oil won't cut the mustard after two or three hours so I switched back to 20W-50.
It was fine around town and short, local, trips but long trips were an issue with the 30 weight oil.
SlinktRR
Well-Known Member
More ZDDP zinc is not necessarily better. All engine oils for passenger cars have zinc, just less than what is needed for a flat tappet cam. Too much ZDDP can be just as bad as less in some cases. That said I run 15w50 Gibbs or vr1 in my solid flat tappet motor in the summer and 10w40 in the winter. Startup is 75psi, 25psi hot at 850rpm. The only downside to vr1 is it is not good for long term storage because of it's limited additive package where the Gibbs is more like a regular motor oil.
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