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Any engine that is not a roller lifter should have Zinc.
Zinc has been around since the 1940s to prevent premature bearing failure of crank, rod & cam bearings. Long before flat tappets were even around.
The lovely tree huggers EPA removed Zinc from motor oil in this century. There was no ad in the paper. No ad in magazines. Nothing on TV / Radio. It just happened by Govt officials and deadlines without warning.
Tractor oil was the last to go down of "off the shelf zinc oil". Break-in oil showed up later with a label: Not For Street Use.
Today, numerous oil companies brought back the Zinc for the thousands upon thousands of older vehicles needing Zinc.
Several posters use an Zinc additive. Myself, I just buy the oil already with Zinc.
As others have stated, yes. Beware though, not all oils that have ZDDP have it in proper amounts. It is generally accepted that 1200 ppm is a stated requirement. 👍
my go to chart.. i buy the 1300 minimum.. and the cheapest.. which currently is walmart 15-50 1300 zinc phos.. 24 bucks for 5 quart jug
i can post because i read the oil sticky..
and my name is tom and i have a stock L82
In 1979 I rebuilt the engine (289) in the 66 Mustang I gave my grandson, It has made a couple of trips back and forth to Cherry Point, NC (Marine Corps Base) has over 100,000 miles and has never seen anything other than Pennzoir 10W/30.It stills runs strong and no smoke.And it doesn't have hardened valve seats and is running a fairly stout cam ( Comps installed about 10 year ago). The quality of the components, no chinesium junk, can not be understated. If it makes you feel better run ZDDP, but too much can cause as much damage as none or not enough.
Another vote for Walmart Mobil 1 15-50. Relatively inexpensive and very accessible. I have four flat tappet Corvettes-all on Mobil 1. Moderate NC climate and I don't drive them when its really cold so the 15-50 is not an issue for me.
In 1979 I rebuilt the engine (289) in the 66 Mustang I gave my grandson, It has made a couple of trips back and forth to Cherry Point, NC (Marine Corps Base) has over 100,000 miles and has never seen anything other than Pennzoir 10W/30.It stills runs strong and no smoke.And it doesn't have hardened valve seats and is running a fairly stout cam ( Comps installed about 10 year ago). The quality of the components, no chinesium junk, can not be understated. If it makes you feel better run ZDDP, but too much can cause as much damage as none or not enough.
The lovely tree huggers EPA removed Zinc from motor oil in this century. ...I just buy the oil already with Zinc.
As a moderate tree hugger myself, I wanted to pose a question and suggest a couple of corrections to your post: If the EPA mandated the removal of zinc then how is it still available in your motor oils? The EPA ruled that catalytic converters had to last 120,000 miles / 10 years rather than the previous 5 years. The engine designers and oil manufacturers met that requirement by creating GF-5 oil classification which decreased the amount of ZDDP. Secondly, it's not the zinc that is the issue but the phosphorus that coats the surfaces inside the catalytic converter so as to become ineffective and, I believe, affecting performance.
<now where did I put my soapbox? ah, yes, here it is...>
As much as we bemoan the EPA, would you rather no one monitors industry and its effects on the population and environment? I would suggest that the EPA has led us to a cleaner, more efficient world by forcing engineers to research more deeply and be creative in solutions. I'm old enough to vividly recall the daily yellow/brown haze over Los Angeles, Love Canal, and the burning of the Cuyahoga River (which actually happened 13 times since 1868). In another thread I mentioned the 2020 Corvette doing 0-60 in ~3 seconds while getting 15/27mpg -- all of this while conforming to the EPA requirements. Both of my Corvettes kill thousands of brain cells/second by just being near the exhaust outlets and there's no way they can even dream of 3 second times. The old days weren't all that great.
<putting the soapbox back in the closet>
03-22-2021, 02:47 PM
Does a stock 1978 L82 need a zinc additive ?
