[Fot] VR-1 Oil

[Tim Pettenati]

I'm just finishing up a rebuild which included a reground cam and all new
tappets. Previous Owner was running Castrol GTX, which apparently doesn't work
very well on a flat tappet race motor.  

I'm looking at a couple of quarts of
VR-1.  The 10W-30 is SM rated.  The newer 
20W-50 has no API circle but says "
Exceeds SG/CD".  An older quart of 20W-50 
has an API SM circle.  Seems to go
along with the stories that Valvoline had 
recently bumped up the additive
package.

None have the EC ( Energy Conserving) logo, which I'm told should be
avoided at 
all costs.

Anyways, I'm breaking in using Joe Gibbs BR oil. 
Being overly cautious after 
all the horror stories about flat tappet damage,
I just pulled the head after 
about 45 minutes of run time and so far all is
well and is breaking in nicely.
Cam and tappets were parkerized, tappets were
hardness checked.  Work was done 
by Dema Elgin. I spent some time visiting
his shop in Santa Rosa, and it was an 
educational experience.

Cheers,
Tim
----- Original Message ----
From: Duncan Charlton
<duncan.charlton54 at gmail.com>
To: FOT of <fot at autox.team.net>
Sent: Sat, April
20, 2013 8:14:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Fot] VR-1 Oil

Just to refresh my memory I
had a look at some of the archived discussions on
bobistheoilguy.com.  It may
not be news, but we shouldn't lose sight of the
fact that it's not all about
maximum ZDDP.  Some consider 1800ppm to be the
upper safe limit due to
corrosion of some camshaft materials and that anything
above 1500ppm after
break-in is unnecessary.  Mobile 1 racing oils have
1750ppm, VR1 conventional
has 1300, B-P oils have 1300ppm, Redline race oils
have 2500ppm, Rotella 15W40
has about 1300.  Depending on what research one
sees, an adequate level ought
to be 1100-1500ppm.  Aircraft mechanics point
out that oil viscosity has
something to do with cam lobe wear, too -- those
who are flying non-certified
engines are free to substitute oils, and wiped
out lobes are usually traced
back to low-weight oil, ZDDP or not (one mechanic
mentioned that certified
engines "don't use any ZDDP" but I haven't attempted
to confirm that).

Duncan
(using Rotella 15W40)
Texas
1952 Morgan Plus 4
#6 red

On Apr 20, 2013, at
6:40 AM, Bill Tobin wrote:

> It's not always all about price.
> Maybe you
like the product. If we can save a few bucks and get our usual
stuff, why not?
> I agree with you about the costs of vintage racing, but if you have had
sucess in the past with a product, why not stick with it?
> That's why there
are many oils on the market. Choose the one you like.
> Cheers, Bill
_______________________________________________
fot at autox.team.net
http://www.fot-racing.com

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive:
http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/1964spitfire@pacbell.net