Today's Motor Oil And Flat Tappet Cams

racecar builder

racecar builder

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hobby machinist's

over the years, car makers have gone to roller lifter

cams and oil makers have reduced the protective stuff in the oil.

when i heard this i was a little resistant to the idea.

'gee, the oil you get now must work in old engines!'

i don't think it will, except some of the 'high mileage' marked oils.

i'll put the links in next post.

have a nice day!
 
hobby machinist's

here's what Schneider Cams says about it.

http://schneidercams.com/

it's in that link in red that say's 'about oil'.

Schneider is a real camshaft shop to the best of my knowledge.

they make the cams right there and can regrind to custom order.

here's what Brad Penn oil says.

http://www.penngrade1.com/

click the ZDPP link on the left.

have a nice day!
 
Royal Purple makes oil specifically for performance engines, without regard for API specs for new cars. They specifically mention flat-tappet cams. http://royalpurpleconsumer.com/why-rp/faqs/#vtab-271

All Royal Purple engine oils contain the zinc/phosphorous compound zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP). Royal Purple HPS and XPR lines of engine oils are formulated with a higher concentration of these elements and are suitable for both roller and flat tappet valve trains. For stock or mildly modified flat tappet valve trains (>.525” lift), we recommend our HPS or XPR engine oils.

Probably Lucas and other oil packagers also have equivalents. If nothing else, just stick with any racing oil that says "off-road use only" and it should have the wear additives you need.
 
Pep Boys sells a product containing Zinc Diaylkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) for use as an additive for flat tappet motors. ZDDP is an anti scuffing additive. It's what used to be in motor oils but has since been greatly reduced or eliminated as a result of EPA regulations. It's supposedly bad for catalytic converters.

I buy this stuff and add a bit to all of my engines, big or small (except those with wet clutches lubed with engine oil - like some ATVs). It's also great stuff to add to way lube!

Since nowadays, most engines are fully roller, the need for ZDDP is questionable except for cold starts.

Basically any oil with an API "star" logo on it is low in ZDDP and other zinc/phoshporous/sulfur. Amsoil doesn't have any antiscuffing additives (but uses real API group IV polyalphaolefin synthetic base oil - or so I've heard). (I hate to bring up Amsoil since it brings people out of the woodwork!)

Red Line purportedly makes an oil with the old fashioned amount of the good stuff (and group IV base oil). Allegedly so does Royal Purple (but not group IV base oil). But.... Royal Purple stuff in my opinion is overhyped stuff (along with anything sold by Lucas). Just because it's on a Sprint cup car....


John
 
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You can go to a GM dealership and buy EOS. Engine Oil Supplement contains the additive that we are writing about. Sold cases of the stuff to the racers and engine builders in the area before I changed careers.
Pierre
 
pdentrem said:
You can go to a GM dealership and buy EOS. Engine Oil Supplement contains the additive that we are writing about. Sold cases of the stuff to the racers and engine builders in the area before I changed careers.
Pierre
Click to expand...

+1

That's good stuff! Or was... It was recently discontinued, then brought back with a new part number.

The old number was 88862586 and has been superseded by 88862587. One word on the street is it was reformulated to reduce zinc and phosphorus. The other theory is GM just changed suppliers. I couldn't find an MSDS sheet for before and after versions so I can't confirm either.

John
 
Amsoil Racing oils and their Z-Rod oils have the proper content of ZDDP, nothing to add. In fact, Amsoil says adding any additives to their oils voids their warranty. We users are not petro-chemists and additives have chemicals and some can do harm if mixed in with some oils. Also, any engine can be broken in on synthetic with no problems but, it is no economical. Why pay $8 to $10 a qt. only to dispose of it in, say, 500 miles. They also have a break-in oil. I have been using their product for almost 20 years exclusively, in my cars, trucks, motorcycles, lawnmowers, weed wackers, etc.
 
I use the lucas breakin additive in all of my race engines I also ship every engine I build with it. I have had very good luck with this product.
 
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