Mike Ward

Nope, just a rationale decision to avoid all the drama. It's not easy making a mountain out of a molehill, is it.

JD Butter

Wow, I really stirred up a hornets nest here! Ultimately, I agree with the previous post about spending a little extra to get an oil specifically formulated with the additive package that will go the futhest towards protecting my investment. The car is so original, that if I have to spend a bit extra to keep original parts in good condition, it would seem to be worth it. I'm sure my racing fuel bills will be way higher than my motor oil bills in any case. And, as I don't assume I'll be doing more than 1K miles a year, I'm probably looking at a 12 case or thereabouts per year. So even if I went nuts and insisted on using Joe Gibbs, in the big picture, it's probably not going to break the bank. A blown original L46, or wiped cam lobe is a different story, however.

Now, about that tire pressure. . .

Mike Ward

OK, why are using 'racing fuel'?

Joking, right?

jb78L-82

Mobil 1 0W-40 is indeed really good stuff. Not to rehash but most "synthetic" oils, not all, in the US are allowed under US law to be called "synthetic" even though they are only highly refined Group III dino oils. They are NOT allowed to be called a synthetic oil in Europe unless it is a true group IV PAO derived oil.

In the USA only, Mobil 1 0W-40 and 5W-50 ONLY are true Group IV PAO synthetics, the same blends sold in Europe and required by BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes maintenance requirements-probably the only reason Mobil offers these grades and the true Group IV synthetic in the states. All the other mass market Mobil 1 grades, which I use, are really only highly refined group III dino oils. Why would they offer a true Group IV synthetic in all the grades in the USA if they can get away with dino grade oil as dictated by the courts and the other oil companies that sued for the change a few years back-NICE! We can thank all the other oil companies that felt left out of the synthetic train and forced the change in the marketing of oils!

Castrol is another example of this marketing game: Castrol Syntec is a group III highly refined dino oil and Castrol Edge-significantly more costly-is the True Group iV PAO derived oil.

JD Butter

Mike, I don't use ACTUAL racing fuel, they just label it as "race fuel" at the pump. It's 100 octane that you can get at the pump a few different places out here in Cali, where we have some of the worst consumer fuel in the known universe. Our "supreme" gas is 91 octane, and as my engine has not been rebuilt with hardened valve seats, I try to feed it the 100 as much as possible to avoid any problems. It's pretty pricey (@ $9.99 a gallon), but the car purrs on it. There are a few places that you can get leaded 110 octane out here at the pump, but they won't allow you to pump it into the car, because it's "for off-road use only," so they only let you pump it into containers, which are a pain in the **** to deal with. I have also heard of people going to the airport for aviation fuel, but as 100 is semi-readily available, I haven't felt the need to do that. I just don't want to put any bogus gas in there and have it blow up my engine. Minimally, I try to at least mix with 100 if I have to put 91 in there. So if I do about half and half, I should be coming out with somewhere in the range of 95 octane, which should be fine. I have heard that most people consider OTC octane boosters to be snake oil, so I haven't done any of that yet either.

2armor

Cheap insurance for flat tappet cams is to add 1/2 or a full bottle of a cam breakin formula. I use Com Cams break-in additive for $10 ordered from Summit racing and add that to the Rotella HD 15w40.

I just use Rotella HD because I have it in bulk handy for my Dodge truck. I know the Rotella zddp ppm has gone down over the years (thx EPA) but with the mentioned additive, Ive never had an issue. I hear some opt to use the cheaper STP additive which has a high zddp content.

Last week I pulled the lifters to install some new heads and other parts and all lifters looked like new after 5000 miles.

jb78L-82

I used Mobil 1 15W-50 synthetic for the last 10 years and Mobil 1 10W-30 before that and before the major reduction in ZDDP. Mobil 1 15W-50 is specifically formulated for flat tappet cammed engines and has 1,200/1,300 ZDDP-no need for additives-is a Group III+ "synthetic" and best of all is a great deal at Walmart-$25 for 5 qts. I would not mess with adding additives to any oil-strongly NOT recommended by all the oil companies for obvious reasons. Diesel oil is also not recommended for gas engines cars-read the oil sticky at the top of the forum posts. I am currently rebuilding my OEM L-82 with 66,000 miles on it and the oil galley, pushrods, rockers, Lifters, and OEM L-82 camshaft, crankshaft, cylinder walls, bearings etc look literally brand new after all these years of running Mobil 1. I was a believer before and now that the engine is apart, I am thoroughly convinced that my choice of oils was spot on for my car.

Here is the oil galley:

[IMG][/IMG]

akdale

Ok not to stir this up more but Amsoil, not a group IV?

jb78L-82

Yes Amsoil is a Group IV. There are some group IV's in the US BUT they are much more expensive than the Group IV mobil 1's-0W-40, 5W-50-these are the only group IV's from Mobil 1 in the USA, NOT the rest of the world. I did not mean to imply that there are not other Group IV's in the USA-There are. Most of the Mass Market oils that are marketed as "synthetic", are NOT, in the USA only. The other Group IV true synthetics that i am aware of in the US are:

Castrol Edge
Amsoil
Royal Purple
Redline

There may be others as well.

MIKE80

I use Valvoline VR1 20w-50 racing oil (1300 ppm of Zinc and 1200 ppm of Phosphorus), Moroso 22460 racing oil filter, and Shell 93 octane gas for the 385 stroker engine in my vette.

jb78L-82

How often do you change your oil using a racing oil?

From the March 2014 Vette Magazine article posted in the oil sticky on "all about oils" article:

Vette Magazine-All About Oil Article-March 2014
Below is a VERY comprehensive article about everything you would want to know about oils from the March 2014 Vette Magazine. Some very interesting points:

1. There is seems to have emerged an new category of oils other than Group 1-5, called Group III+base stock oils. I assume that is almost all the US marketed "Full synthetic" that are not True Group IV PAO synthetics that includes most Mobil 1 (except Mobil 1 5W-50, OW-40 European Formula, and OW-50 Racing), Penzoil, Castrol Syntec, Shell, etc.

2. Oil additives of any kind are NOT recommended being added to oils

3. For older vettes, Mobil recommends 15W-50 for its higher ZDDP levels-I have used it for years in my 78 L-82. For Corvettes with no cats or track only vettes, Mobil recommends Mobil 1 0W-50 racing. Mobil 15W-50 is also recommend for owners who want to put their cars on a track, not track only, as well as for C4-C7 vettes that are street driven and wish to take their cars onto the track (draining whatever oil is in the car before going on the track and replacing with Mobil 1 15W-50 for the track day), surprisingly. Brad Penn is mentioned as well as Driven Racing Oils

4. Diesel oil should NOT be used in corvettes.

5. Racing only oils should be changed at 500 mile intervals

6. Mineral oils should be used for engine (cam) breaking in for both flat tappet AND roller cammed engines. Apparently roller cammed retro fit engines according to the article require break in as well.

7. "High quality synthetic or semi synthetic blend oil should always be used in your corvette."

8. "It doesn't matter if your ride used conventional oil until now; switching to synthetics won't cause any problems"

9. "today's synthetic oil technology makes it vastly superior to mineral oil, period"

Mike Ward

This thread was dead for a little over a year. Why drag it out again just to beat the same old lame arguments?

jb78L-82

Points are just as relevant today as 1 year ago-that's why! The Vette Magazine article is from MARCH 2014-that would be pretty recent!

MIKE80

My vette doesn't see a lot of miles, so I change the oil once a year. The miles that it does see are a lot of "spirited driving". Also, hoping to make it to the track this spring/ summer.