The detergent and ZDDP are antagonistic. ZDDP tries to cling to the parts, the detergent tries to clean it off. That is basically what it says in that thread I linked for you. That is why I recommended the Bad Penn or Joe Gibbs oil. It is formulated for our older engines. Yes, it is more expensive, but it is the best oil to use IMO. The Valvoline VR1 is also good. My engine was built by Jim Weise. He recommended the Joe Gibbs HR-2, 10W/30 oil, and that is what I use. http://www.drivenracingoil.com/dro/hr2-conventional-10w-149html/
Nice. Here's the description I pulled about it: Valvoline s advanced synthetic, Valvoline Racing Synthetic (VR1) Motor Oil, is easily distinguished by its sapphire blue color, but the real difference is the track-proven, high zinc additive package engineered to increase horsepower and provide extreme wear protection. Designed for the race track, but is great for other high performance vehicles too High zinc/phosphorus for extreme anti-wear, including flat tappets Track-proven to maintain pressure and protect from foaming Compatible with gasoline or alcohol fuels :TU:
Yeah I might go with the VR1 since I should be able to find that at Autozone. The HR-2 might be good too but if I can find something local to me like the VR1 I think that'll be my first choice.
They make synthetic and conventional. I run 20w50 to keep the oil pressure up under high heat conditions.
Where are you from where you have high heat conditions? I am in southern AZ where it gets up to the high 90s with no humidity in the summer. In the winter it can get down to around 27 to 30 degrees when I need to warm it up on a few cold mornings.
Texas....we see 100+ quite regularly in the summer....but I was referring to under hood high heat conditions. I have 3:42 gears with a TH350....70-75 mph on the highway is well over 3000 rpms....temperature with a 180 t-stat still sees close to 200 degree operating temp.
Yes Texas is hell on vehicles too. Ah, I rarely get up to 70 MPH in mine. I mainly drive 60 on the bypass to and from a 5 mile commute every day so the high heat conditions don't apply so much to my driving conditions.
The stock Buick 350 is very mild on the valvetrain, another benefit of leaving it stock with the **** they want to pass off as oil these days, for an engine you intend to drive regularly. Mobil 1 high mileage 10w30 full synthetic is what I use. It has 1000 ppm of phosphorus and 1100 ppm of zinc. This amount would be adequate for larger flat tappet cams, as long as they were gentle on the valvetrain (good luck). Other grades that have even higher levels are available too. Mobil 1 data sheet can be found here: https://mobiloil.com/~/media/amer/us/pvl/files/pdfs/mobil-1-oil-product-specs-guide-2016.pdf Can get it all day long at any Walmart. More information on ZDDP needed for stock applications: "any stock flat tappet cam application, only requires around 800 ppm of Zinc for protection and approximately 730 ppm of Phosphorus, as Zinc itself will not serve the purpose. " Quote found here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1271805 Gary
Very good information, Larry. Thank you and everyone else who provides valuable information on this subject. I too recommend everyone educate themselves. Gary
I run Mobile 1 extended performance, used to run just the regular Mobile 1 but switched to this. According to the sites Gary provided, good info there, Mobile 1 has the stuff in it of for flat tappets. I mix 3 qts 10-30 and 3 qts of 15-50 and this nets me 50 lbs oil pressure at 3000 rpm. Put Mobile 1 in a steel cap and heat it up with a torch it will bubble and not burn. Do this with regular oil and watch it turn black and smoke like mad. the synthetic oil does not burn or turn black. Good enough for the torch, good enough for the engine. Ran Mobile 1 ever since on all vehicles. I beat the crap out of the Buick with this oil.
I think this actually might have been what I was talking about. But idk if what I used was full synthetic, because I remember folks telling me not to put synthetic in old motors like these
Why not just run all 15w-50? It has higher amounts of phosphorus and zinc than the high mileage 10w-30 So, even though the Mobil 1 has the API Service SN rating with the detergents and such, the phosphorus and zinc levels are what we should be looking for in our flat tappets applications?
Another question that I have is, does it matter if the car is a daily driver or if it spends nearly all year in the garage? I have seen on the Hot Rod & Classic Lucas Oil that it says its good for cars that spend most of their time in storage: http://lucasoil.com/products/hot-rod-high-performance/hot-rod-classic-car-10w-30-motor-oil So, what about us daily drivers? I drive the car 5 or 6 days a week, to and from work (10 miles a day) and around town sometimes.
I just did this last year where I used 4 qts of 15-50 and 2 qts of 10-30 and my oil pressure was too high when cold it would go north of 80 lbs @ 1500 rpm too much of me I always just ran the 10-30 then I read an article to use some 15-50 about 1/2 and 1/2 and I did that. I am going back to 3 qts of 10-30 and 2 qts of 15-50 I have never put in the additive and everything seems ok. This formula gives me 50 lbs of pressure @ 3000 rpm and goes to 70 @ 6 grand and at a very hot 190* idling in drive at the light I am at 15 lbs. btw I did the torch trick by heating up the steel the oil was in and not the oil itself.
