emo-vet

hi there fellas,
just wandering some recomendations please on what quality brand oil and weight of oil numbers to run new 388 c.i high compresion race motor build in on please ??
i heard not to run new engine while breaking in on full synthetic for starters.
but may i use a semi synthetic oil though or not please ??
also i plan on changing oil & filter intervals at 300 miles,then 500 miles then finally 1000 miles and then switch to full synthetic oil and k&n brand oil filter .
here is some brands i picked go with ,penrite,penzoil,valvoline,shell,e.c.t and there there is the weight of oil to go with.
do i buy 5w-40,10w-40, 20w-40 or go 50 even weight oils ??
is there such a brand as a running in oil also ??
r.e price,price is no concern,engine protection is !!
i want to give this engine the best start in life as i can thats all guys.
hope to hear some advise and help please guys.
cheers
shae

emo-vet

can any one advise me please ???
got to buy the oil very shortly.
thanks
shae

rodj

Ask the builder for recommendations.
I was told and used diesel oil for break in at least.Has lots of additives
Change at 100 miles to flush out the moly used for putting together , then again at 500.
Oil is cheap engines are not.
If you run syn oil at start it lubes so well the rings won't bed in.
I haven't done 1K yet but have changed oil 3 times

emo-vet

hi rod,
ok cool, i will try and get some diesel oil then!
can you buy diesel oil from auto shops or truck shops?
what weight oil do i buy then please ??
any brand diesel oil ?
is there such a thing as 10w or 20w e.c.t when using/buying diesel oil ??
thanks
shae

rodj

Buy same place as regular oil;Autobarn , Supercheap.
Comes in same rating as normal oil, just has more aditives because diesels are harder on parts
I ran 15-40

JLeatherman

You didn't say if this motor has a roller cam or a flat tappet. Makes a big difference. The biggest thing Diesel oil has is ZDDP (Zinc Di-something Di-phosphate). This is a wear-reducing additive that used to be in normal oil. This was phased out when production cars started coming with roller camshafts, as roller camshafts don't require this additive (they also don't require much break-in). On a number of boards for classic cars (mostly stock 50's and 60's cars) they started experiencing surprising camshaft failures in the late 90's on regrinds and original motors. Investigation lead to the discovery that the EPA has cut the ZDDP in normal car oil to about 10%. Diesel oil still has this because Diesel engines are mostly still flat-tappet engines. Shell Rotella T is what I use in my diesel car, and shall continue to do so.

Now, for break-in, I wouldn't use a 15w-40 oil because your tolerances all start very tight and you want the oil thinner IMO. I break my motors in on a high quality dino 10w-30 (usually valvoline or pennsoil, I'm a sucker for the old-school). Along with a crankcase full of this 10w-30 I add a bottle of STP (the small blue bottle). This is mostly ZDDP, and it makes up for the lack of it in the oil. Break it in at 2000-2500 rpms for 20 minutes on a cheap filter, then change the oil. Fill 'er up again with the same mixture of 10w-30 and STP, then break 'er in for 100-200 fairly hard miles on a good filter (seat the rings) and change the oil again, then run as normal. That is only for a flat-tappet motor. Mine is a flat-tappet motor so I run STP in every oil change to keep the cam happy, and dino 10w-30 from a quality provider (no Wal-Mart oils here).

Now, if your engine is a roller cam it doesn't need constant ZDDP. I'd break it in on the same STP/10w-30 mix and change the oil immediately. Then run 10w-30 dino oil (no STP) for the 100-200 ring seating (basically go from ~30mph to ~50 mph over and over again at pretty hard throttle). After that I'd run one final crankcase full of just 10w-30 dino (no STP) for a normal oil change interval and then run whatever you'd like. I've heard you should get atleast 1,000-2,000 miles on dino oil before running synthetic. As far as I'm concerned, the only advantage of synthetic anyway is that it breaks down less under heat. For the break-in period you shouldn't be running hard enough for it to matter, so regular dino oil is fine. My $.02, but the guy who used to do my engines taught me all this stuff and he'd been doing it for 30 years before that, so I'll continue the tradition...

JLeatherman

As an add-on, if price is no concern my drag-racing buddy Dave absolutely swears by Royal Purple. Claims to have had a big-block crack an oil pickup at the start of a 1/4 run and go the full trip (which was a 9.XX run) without spinning the bearings. He won't run anything but RP in his serious motors since, and he buys it by the case. Full synthetic. That would be his $.02...

emo-vet

hi there jleatherman
the motor is a roller cam motor.
r.e oil, i have royal purple full sysnthetic oil to be used once engine is run in fully.
thanks for the reply.
cheers
shae

Curveit

with JLeatherman... Chevy dealers used to have a suppement for breaking-in motors that i've used for 40 years; the STP stuff might do the same thing. Save the Syn until you've got some miles on it.

mr.beachcomber

The GM product is called Engine Oil Supplement (EOS) and comes in quart sizes. Use one quart of EOS as a substitute for one quart of oil during the initial fill. (I use racing oil in place of conventional oil during break in because the racing oil has more anti-wear additives and little, if any, detergents to leave deposits on the piston top if the oil gets into the combustion chamber.)

As for the oil change intervals for a new engine, I have always run the new engine for at least 20-30 minutes between 2,000-2,500 rpm and then changed the oil and filter.

After installing the engine, I would change the oil and filter at the 500 mile interval and the 1000 mile intervals. A street engine should be broken in by then so I would then switch to regular oil and the 3,000 mile interval oil changes.

If I were going to run synthetic oil in a new engine, I would extend the break in procedure to 1,500 miles to make sure all the engine parts were "friendly" with one another before adding the super lubricant.

85blkrose

my builder wanted me to run valaoline #211 20-50wt oil along with a can of BG zink additive. the additive is supose to prolong the life of the cam lobes due to the fact that zink was removed from motor oil some time ago or something like that. he is very reputable and he knows better than me.

genefree3

For my .02 cents, I run Rotella 15/40 year around, street and strip. My builder swears by it, three big horsepower big blocks and 2 small blocks later and not a minutes trouble. Personally, I won't run synthetic in a motor, it fine for trans and diffs, but I would rather change oil more frequently and see what's going on. I've pulled down Cummins motors with 400,000 miles and practically no ring land, why fix something if it works.

Muffin

Lot to be said for synthetic oil but Rotella is mighty good.

leatherman I don't use Wally World either but it would be interesting to know who makes their oil. Bet it is a standard oil in a different bottle. The old Discount Auto Parts oil was Valvloine, Advance is Havoline by Texaco.

C409

This stuff is now sold as engine assembly lubricant at GM dealers

LouisvilleLT4

I use 75w90 oil in my race engine:

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/su...gent-help.html

hope this helps!

cv67

Personally Id run a thinner oil being as its new so you get circulation quicker. Less drag on the oil pump, too.
If youre stuck on Dino oil I used to run the Kendall Racing line of oil (its the green stuff), was impressed for non synthetic.
Personally I am going to forgo all that, the additives and go synthetic from the gate. Hone finishes these days are pretty fine and with a tight tolerance motor I dont see the need for a long "seating", or break in period.

I had heard from a few places (yeah yeah, I know ) there is a byproduct in the Rotella that is harmful to cats. I dont know if thats true or not, may wanna check it out.

genefree3

I heard the same rumor and contacted Shell's tech dept and they assured me that it was just a rumor. Currently, two of our company cars have around 80,000 miles ea. and no problem yet. My vette has about 35,000 since I went to Rotella, and my mothers car has 72,000 and no problem. My 65, 427, with a blower has two seasons on it and I did an inspection on lower end this year and basically wasted my time, the rod and main bearing looked new, no build up in pan whatsoever, and looked like it did the day I put it together. I change every 4,000 miles in gas engines and every 5,000 in deisels. I just spent about $12,000 in a new 434 build and Rotella is already in it, and will stay there. My contention is "if it works don't fix it"