I just picked up a '66 Skylark Special with a 300ci motor and was curious if I need to run a special/different type of oil when using a lead additive. I was going to use 10W30 but this is my first pre-67 all stock car and am new to the whole leaded gasoline heads.
I have a 66 Nailhead all orginal( no build) with 68000 miles that I run Rotella oil in with 93 octane. Once in a while Ill throw a few gallons of race fuel(110) in there just for the hell of it. Use the search function on this board and look up lead additives and ZDDP. This has been brought up and discussed many times so you should be able to find some good info within those threads. I dont believe there is an overly prodominent formula thats been proven to be the best combo for these older motors.
Thanks for the info guys. I read a bunch of threads on ZDDP and will get non-synthetic 10W30 and a bottle of ZDDPlus. William do you use the lead gasoline additive as well for you Wildcat? I bought a bottle of it just incase.
No additives for me in the oil or gas. I like to THINK Im lightfooted enough so with the higher octane mix, 2-3 day a week driving in the spring and summer,with no detonation I should be alright. Im sure as more people see this thread, a few inhouse Nailhead Gurus will chime in with many more years experince and many more Nailhead rebuilds under the belt then I have.
Okay, I was just reading some more threads on it and some people say plug life is short with leaded gas which is normal. My engine is running fine with regular unleaded, at least I drove it 500 miles back from St. Paul like that with no problems. I just don't want to ruin the unhardened exhaust valve seats so I'm going to try going by the book this cruisin season. I'm going to give 93 octane and the leaded additive a try. The 300ci has 9.0:1 compression ratio.
I asked this same question(lead additive) a while back...and the replies I got stated that the lead is not needed because the valves and seats are hard enough. this was for an unopened 401 LR with 54k miles
Nick- Just so there is no confusion... The 300 is not a Nailhead, even though everyone here is giving you good advise and still applies to your engine. Especially at 9:1 compression ratio you shouldn't have any problem on pump gas. Just make sure your distributor timing is in good working order, and adjusted correctly. Erik
As Erik said, the 300 is not a nailhead. There's a small block forum that has a ton of good info on the smaller Buick engines. What has been posted so far is based on knowledge of the nailhead and basically that it was built with such a high nickle content in the iron, so that there's no need for hardened valve seats or lead additives. What you should consider is asking the same question of the small block guys to see if those engines were built with the same iron as the nailhead. If so, then the info is good. If not, you'll have other things to consider. Ed
William,,,, Pard,,,, if you dont get some zinc in that engine, it will be destroyed....some of the oils that we get nowdays do have some zinc in them, but not enough to protect a flat tappet engine....better to be safe than sorry... engines are expensive to build , not to mention all the work....:Smarty:
Hey Doc; Would that apply to my '71 Buick 350 in my '66 Lark also? It's a rebuilt crate motor running 10:1.
That would apply to any engine running a flat tappet cam from a 1902 chevy 4 banger to the last year that flat tappet engines were produced.... The oil companies took the zinc out to make the epa happy and did not tell the public about it.... some oils say they have zinc but dont have enough to completely protect an engine...so you got to protect your self....:Brow: :Brow:
How about using Valvoline racing oil? My local O'reilly store guy told me it has zinc in it. Price isn't bad.
Rich,,,, if it specifies flat tappet engines in the description.... but do you trust an oil companys description.... they are the ones who took the zinc out of the oil and did not tell the public.... and they did not continue to offer oil with zinc in it for those who had flat tappet engines...I would rather add the stuff to my oil, that way I know it has enough to do the job.... because if the oil fails the cost and labor to correct the situation will fall on you, not the oil company,,, they wont be there...
i was thinking of using the valvoline racing oil also. it says in one of the descriptions it is for older engines needing zink
The Valvoline stuff is ok to good, however there is better stuff out there. Just do some Googling. You'll even come across info on other forums where people have actually had an oil tested for it's zinc and phosphorus content. For what it's worth I'm running Royal Purple 10W-40. Alot of other guys on the forum are partial to Brad Penn. Either would be a good choice.
Mobil (Delvac) and the other companies still make oil with quantaties of ZDDP, it's in the oils they make for diesle engines. I know a guy who has 400,000 miles on a I-6 Jeep Cherokee and he uses Shell's Rotella in it. It's really inexpensive in gallons at Wal-Mart.
