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Cooperative Motor Works

Vintage RV & Motorhome restorations - "The GMC Coop"

You are here: Home / The Daily Pose / The Co-op: (Let’s UPDATE: Strap in…..)While I seem to be on a roll, lets “myth bust” ……………Exactly which oil should i use?

September 18, 2019

The Co-op: (Let’s UPDATE: Strap in…..)While I seem to be on a roll, lets “myth bust” ……………Exactly which oil should i use?

Yep, lets reconvene tomorrow morning to talk about this perplexing question………..and maybe by then I’ll figure out which button I pushed to do this!  ……..I swear, it was the Locust……..!!!!ΩΩΩΩΩ

Well maybe this isn’t quite as much….in your face.  Looks like I got your attention, the hit count chart is already climbing!  I can hear it th=u the screen……boy, he should be setting himself up for all those Mockingjays!  Guys, im not President Snow, relax…..

Its seems like years certain folks have felt I am a worthy target………thank you…..with a bow ………”A bump is as good as a knock, at least they’re talking about you”….Henry Ford.  I would take OUT the talking and insert listening, which of course brings the talking part back.  Probably from not knowing any better like the little kid who blurted out as the vain king passed by in his fraudulent rare invisible spun clothes that was said all loyal subjects in the land will see how exquisite the tunic was…..he shouted, “The emperor is wearing no clothes”…………its good to see you here, those that have opened your mind!

Ok so lets answer that unanswerable “best oil” question.  When the gurus exclaimed our motors were going to immediately blow up if we took the lead out………and we could still burn rubber their reliability dropped but it rose in our beloved big blocks.  Ar Ar Ar…….Binford tools are all big blocks right?  Well there it is!

So swimming thru the ooze of testosterone inspired directives on the subject of oil and why what you’re using MUST be the best…….lets talk about what that “best” means.

Whenever I’m looking at some change or a new doodad that immediately makes my teeth brighter I run that miraculous discovery thru a few filters to try and better understand if it would be good for what we build.

Face it:  our fat tolerance, smelly, long stroke, heavy, inefficient before drivetrains can never been appreciably more than their DNA.  So for our 12,000 pound hot rods I need real lubrication, these era motors had friction built in!  So many will say my first decision in dino or synthetic oil.

Nope…… The lubricity (the degree of slippery turtle sloppiness) is determined for us in the ZDDP level of the fluid.  Google ZDDP and prepare to expand your mind…

Hey, you KNEW me going at a subject like this could get extended, use the 4 point harness and bring water

Ok, because of the increased friaction in older motors, you must know if the oil you choose has 1500 parts per million (ppm) of ZDDP.  If they say yes you want to see the data sheet!  Does not matter, our motors were made for the internal lubricity 1500ppm of ZDDP offers.

Second filter:  Viscosity…… Higher temperatures, tighter tolerances, low friction designs and less contaminates created new motors need different thing than our WWII tanks need.  We need thick oil to fill in the voids and because of the natural expansion of that hot box and the metal and residue particles the oil picks up…….straight 30 weight in the winter and 40 in the hotter months…..

Cleanability (detergents)  So because of how dirty our motors are, how many pollutants they generate…..just like dialysis cleans out your blood when the ole kidneys fail…..we need to clean all that Crap out by flushing it clean with good gas residue….not diesel soot……duck, there goes an arrow!…… and further more you need to like dialasys flush out the dirty blood (oil) with new free slippery, detergent potent, thickly constant friction reduction fluid.

So, in my final act of dodging arrows….I will attempt to make order from caps:

Choose a mixture that has 1500ppm of ZDDP.  Yes, you could use a ZDDP additive like Cam Shield but the more things go into the pot the more smoke it might give off…. Best to find an oil that has that a tribute and all the other chemicals in their concoction are holding hand.  Up to you.

Next, give grandpa dialasys every 3000 miles.  This flushes away all those suspended particulates and contaminates that the fat ole smog belcher creates.  Replace the cleaner/lubricate fluid with new stuff with the same formulation the old stuff had.  Yes, select an oil and stay with it.  There IS a certain sludge level our motors build up and need.  That’s called “breaking in”.  Think about that term.  Lets round off the sharp spots and fill in the low……..

Which brings the filter many people go to first…..price.   Hey, if there is some synthetic flowing gold that you can afford to make that magnanimous investment every 3000 miles because its obvious oil doesn’t grind up metal shavings or turn burnt carbon to potpourri!  You use the oil you can afford.  Where lies the decision you make.

You might want to follow this or that propaganda but if it has the above minimum things addressed…..and you can afford to stay with it AND you can get it when you need it…..go for it man.

We use Valvoline VR1 30 and 40 single viscosity if someone has nothing they have chosen.

Hey, I’m alive and made it thru the gauntlet!  Oh, I’m sure someone will differ or want to add something Hey…………and maybe their idea is good…..ok, the Mic is yours, Email, text, respond below of just jump right up there on social media and prove some point.  If I’m wrong well then go ahead and shoot…..See ya tomorrow

 

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Article by jimbounds / The Daily Pose

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