Best oil for flat tappet cam

[moparcleyon]

What is the best oil (in your opinion) for a 413 maxwedge with a flat tappet cam. I race the car in 1/8 mile. The car is a 1962 Plymouth Belvedere...I've been using VR1.. Moparcleyon

 

[PeterHisbyGrace]

When hot in the sun you need sunscreen protection, Zinc based.

Hot hard working Engines need a high Zinc based Oil, or a VG *Fully Synthetic* Oil.
New modern engines use roller cams to compensate for lack of Zinc even in best brands of oils.
Zinc like lead destroys Catalytic Exhausts. Sometime in the next
couple of years there will be zero Zinc in modern oils to extend catalyst life.
Use a Zinc Addative.

 

[brasil]

I am using 5w30 Royal Purple HPS fully syntetic oil...WITH ZINK ! I am happy with this oil ( even if it is hard to get here in Germany )

Greetings Juergen


P.S As Peter says.... be sure to have enoughZINK in your oil.. VR 1 Racing has enough afaik .

 

[Plucked Chicken]

Shell Rotella T 15W/40 diesel truck oil in all my classic engines.......

:headbang:

 

[lewtot184]

last i heard straight 30wt rotella still has a high zinc content. easy to find.

 

[383man]

I use Valvoline VR1 racing oil 20W/50 as Valvoline is the only oil I have used in my race cars since the 70's. But today I also add a bottle of zinc additive as that can not hurt any. Ron

 

[Stumper]

As long as it has a high zinc content (1200 - 1500ppm) and similar levels of phosphate you're good.

 

[snakeoil24]

You need an oil with Zinc, Phosphate and Molybdenum. Synthetic Oils May no longer have moly in the lube. Remember you need to protect Cylinder walls as well as Cam lobes. Modern engines have harder Cylinder walls from Hi Nickel. So i fyour looking to have piece of mind look at Brad Penn, which is Kendall brand, Comp cams brand or use off road Diesel generator oil. The current Rotella has been greatly reduced of Zinc and Moly to work with the new Urea Reactors and exhaust filtration systems on diesels.

 

[Moparsmitty]

I use Valvoline VR1 racing oil 20W/50 as Valvoline is the only oil I have used in my race cars since the 70's. But today I also add a bottle of zinc additive as that can not hurt any. Ron

X2 on the Valvoline VR-1. The 20W/50 would probably be good since you live in SoCal, but I use the 10W/30 up here where it's usually cooler. Never had an oil related problem.

 

[lewtot184]

You need an oil with Zinc, Phosphate and Molybdenum. Sythetic Oils May no longer have moly in the lube. Remember you need to protect Cylinder walls as well as Cam lobes. Modern engines have harder Cylinder walls from Hi Nickel. So i fyour looking to have piece of mond look at Brad Penn, which is kendall brand, Comp cams brand or use off road Diesel generator oil. The current Rotell has been greatly reduced of Zince and Moly to work with the new Urea Reactors and exhaust filtration systems.

its my understanding that the straight 30wt rotella still has the 1600ppm while the multigrades are around 1100-1200ppm.

 

[Cranky]

And 11-1200 isn't good enough? It's been a few years since I've researched this but it doesn't take much zinc to control this....

 

[moparcleyon]

I use Valvoline VR1 racing oil 20W/50 as Valvoline is the only oil I have used in my race cars since the 70's. But today I also add a bottle of zinc additive as that can not hurt any. Ron

Ron what zinc additive do you add? I am staying with VR1..

 

[Stumper]

And 11-1200 isn't good enough? It's been a few years since I've researched this but it doesn't take much zinc to control this....

Research I did some time back indicates that 12-1500 ppm is ideal. Anything much over 1500 is a waste and high levels can be counter productive - especially for a new motor. I'd look at the range in relation to what kind of spring pressures the motor has. If you're running 700# seat pressure it's wise to be on the high end while more normal pressures you can get away with the lower end.

 

[67Satty]

IMHO you don't need the additive with the VR1 as it's at 1400/1300 for zinc/phosphorous according to Valvoline. I run the 10W-30 VR1 with no additives.

Here's a link listing the levels of zinc/phosphorous in it:

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/vr1_racing.pdf

 

[Plucked Chicken]

From Shell: "Shell Rotella T Multigrade Oil SAE 15W-40 with Triple Protection
Technology, our API CJ-4/SM specification product, typically contains about 1200 ppm zinc and 1100 ppm phosphorous as manufactured."

http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/tpl-pro.html

And you can find virgin oil analysis online my Googlin' Shell Rotella T VOA.....

 

[383man]

Ron what zinc additive do you add? I am staying with VR1..

Usually I use the Comp additive but I have also used the Risoline additive with good results. Ron

 

[Meep-Meep]

Back in the 80's I just used regular everyday Valvoline and had no issues, so whatever the API rating was then apparently was good enough for a street car. If you have a mild cam with not a lot of spring pressure you can probably get by with less additive, but a Max Wedge would tend to have a hotter cam with dual springs so an additive on top of a good oil might not be a bad idea. I use SWEPCO in my mild cam street cars and no issues at all.

 

[Plucked Chicken]

VERY good read related to flat tappets, ZDDP and Rotella T :

http://www.opelclub.com/ZDDP2.pdf

:glasses7:

 

[soundhd]

I would say it is really up to you what you use and how you use it............some use just regular automotive oil and add some sort of zink additive to it or you can use a oil with the zink in it............Just make sure to have zink in the oil.............. For racing I would talk to other racers and see what they use..........I am sure it depends on how often you change the oil vs the number of runs and/or sets of runs you drive between each oil change.

 

[GrabberOrange69]

Great topic. Check this Mobile1 out, especially the 0-40 and 15-50 blends, both 1100ppm or more zinc:

http://www.mobil.com/usa-english/motoroil/files/mobil_1_product_guide.pdf