# The age old oil question



## nuggets (Apr 27, 2011)

If yall arnt sick of this already lol
I have a 69 400 bored and stroked to a 461. High street performance cam in it. Engine has less than 5k miles on it. PO spent a huge amount of money on it. However I do not know the complete specs for it(bearing clearences etc.) Ive been running castrols 10w-40 in it for awhile now. But I recently did a complete gasket overhaul on it, leaky head gasket, and I was just curious about the type of oil yall would use during this situation. I understand the importance of zinc but since this isnt your average 400 I was curious. 

Thanks for listening.


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## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

If a flat tappet cam, then yes, keep the zddp coming. If roller cam, run whatever catches your fancy in a 10/30 or 10/40 weight. Some people like 15/40 but I am not one of those guys. The stuff is plenty thick during our cold spring and fall mornings. Keep in mind that I have recently gone through 2 flat tappet cams in 1,500 miles, so take my advice for what it is worth... 

Here is a website that will learn you lots about oil...

- Bob is the Oil Guy


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

I recommend Brad Penn 10w30. Matt


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## rexs73gto (Nov 25, 2012)

I use Royal Purple oil in mine as the rest of the oil on the market is junk. They have taken all the good stuff out of the oil because of emissions so almost every oil company has jumped on the wagon not only for that but it saves them money to. If you have an older car that has a flat tappet cam you need to run the better blends form the companies that build the oils for our cars. If not you'll be doing just what I've done now. This is my 3 cam that went flat in 14 months because I was stubborn & used the reg. oil off the shelf. I now will only use the better blended oils for our cars. It may cost a bit more , but I'll tell you rebuilding an engine 3 times in 14 months isn't cheap either.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I'm with Matt. But, that said, have been running Rotella since Kendall and Valvoline took the ZDDP out about 10 years ago. Both of my GTO's are flat tappet cams: the one in my '65 has 33 years and 50,000 miles of service, and the one in my '67 has 26 years and about 80,000 miles of service and neither have gone flat. But then, they are old, USA made cams, not off-shore junk.


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## 66GTOVERT (Feb 10, 2014)

I also use Rotella because of the zinc. What are your thoughts on Rotella synthetic?


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## SCG Pontiac (Feb 23, 2014)

I use Rotella, have for years never had any oiling issues. I have heard of some guys claiming rear seal leaks with synthetic but I like to just give the seal a bit of attention when I install it. Still using rope seals in all of my engines and don't even remember the last time one leaked.


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## rexs73gto (Nov 25, 2012)

I hope you guys know that Rotella took out the zzdp to about 18 months ago because of cost. About 18 months ago they pulled the zzdp out because of cast & because of the gov. cracking down on them about how much there oil was hurting the environment because of the additives in there oil. They pulled it out to make the powers to be go away & get out of there business. So using there oil no longer helps our engines , it's no better then the cheapest oils on the market any more. There was an artical about them taking it out in Car Craft about a year & a half ago.


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## SCG Pontiac (Feb 23, 2014)

According to the MSDS data sheets on their site ZDDP was reduced but still in the finished blend. Never had a bearing issue using Shell Rottela


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

AS SGC states, the ZDDP levels have indeed been reduced. Still, they are much higher than 'conventional' oils, and in my own first hand experience with Rotella, it is super tough oil. It does not break down and fail like lesser oils can. It's _amazing_ in bearing load tests. Unbelievable film strength.


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## SCG Pontiac (Feb 23, 2014)

I agree with you geeteeohguy, it's pretty hard to argue with trucks getting up to 2,000,000 miles over the road with the same or similar oil in their crank case.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

SCG, I know you are a well informed guy, and I have been in the automotive industry for over 35 years. I appreciate your vote of confidence. I have seen more than my share of oil related failures, and have attended classes, seminars, etc. on the subject. I have torn down engines that have used various types of oils and have seen the results. The most over -rated and pretty much poorest performing oil is Castrol. WalMart oil actually tests better. I've had the best results for anti-scuff and anti-wear with the Kendall and Valvoline oils in the '70's and '80's, and in the '90's until now, with the diesel spec Rotella. It will keep right on going in 22:1 CR diesels all day long for millions of miles. I removed and opened up my '67 GTO engine back in 2011 to reseal it. Had rebuilt it in 1988, and it had about 77,000 miles on the rebuild. Internally, it looked like it had just been hot tanked for re-assembly. And the bearings showed virtually no wear. It uses no oil and runs like new. I guess the oil is doing its job. Good enough for me!


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## maktope (May 22, 2013)

Well I work in the oil industry one of our products was listed above kendall. Currently we are making a push to use all synthetic in our equipment. On all critical machinery we use rotella or royal purple depending on machines rpm and load. Non major equipment we use mobile one. Which is weird because it's a competitor. To another point brought up I wonder if my rope seal leak is related to my switch to synthetic. Anyways my .02 if a billion dollar corporation uses rotella for reliability so will I


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## SCG Pontiac (Feb 23, 2014)

geeteeohguy: the fact that your engine was in such good shape on tear down and inspection tells you how good the oil works but it also tells you how clean it runs in your engine. Clean is maybe as important or more than friction protection as dirt creates friction in bearings. I have used Brad Penn and it seemed ok too but I think you're right on all of the testing you have done hard to find better overall than Rotela.

maktope: I have talked to two different friends that swear their rear seals started leaking when they switched to synthetic. When they switched back both said the leak slowed measurably.Not that everyone would get the same result but it sure makes you stop and think.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Not certain about the leak thing, but as it was once explained to me: the oil molecule strings in dino oil are different sizes. Sort of like a chains made up of marbles, golf balls, tennis balls, and basket balls. The oil molecule chains in synthetics are made up of 'balls' that are all exactly the same size. That's why synthetic flows better. Being that it flows easier/better, I would think that it would be better at squeezing through any marginal seal. It makes sense to me.


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