Must be good

 

Brad Penn oil is higher priced

 

Quality and extra Zinc.

And purdy bottles.

 

Valvoline also have extra Zinc.....but. Does not cost as much? So is the cost for the puuuuurdyyy bottle?

 

Valvoline doesn't have extra Zinc.

The SM rated Valvoline Racing (VR-1) is about 1200ppm zinc at the most. That's marginal for flat tappet cams and lifters. It's literally the lowest number you want to see on your used oil if you do an engine oil analysis when you do an oil change, and that's what you're starting with now with Valvoline "Racing" VR1 oils.

I think the latest blend, with the SN starburst may be even lower than that. It's definitely not any higher.

Brad Penn (Penn Grade 1) is significantly higher in Zinc than that. Its also higher than the old Valvoline Racing SJ/CD rated oil, which actually did have enough Zinc to work in older engines with flat tappet cams.

On old Mercedes Benz V8's that I work on (restoration, maintenance), I've done a half dozen camshaft sets in the past couple years. I'm out of spare used cams and spare used heads for the old 5.6L MB V8's. Another guy I know with a larger MB Specialty shop down in Atlanta reports the same issue, and he's seen a lot of classic (older) MB "driver" cars totaled by camshafts getting wiped out. He's also used up all of his collection of serviceable used parts, and now it's $3 grand or more for the new replacement parts for one of those engines when the camshaft gets wiped out from current spec (SM, SN) motor oils.

VW guys with older (8V and early 16V) engines are in the same boat. I've seen a bunch of those with wiped out cams and lifters. Especially the older solid lifter engines.

If you're running flat tappet camshaft(s), do an oil analysis on your motor oil at your next oil change. If it's less than 1200ppm Zinc or less than 1400ppm Phosphorous at the time you change the oil, you're running dangerously low ZDP levels and you should seriously consider the Penn Grade 1 oil, or a high Zinc additive with your existing oil.

There are a few "cheap" diesel/tractor oils out there that are still "SL" rated, and theoretically might have more ZDP (Zinc and Phosphorous) than the newer oils, but I run Brad Penn (Penn Grade 1) now in anything with flat tappets or "slider" cams.

 

FWIW, STP oil treatment labels now claim that they have added levels of ZDDP....

 

Extra purdy plastic bottle. And easy pour spout? Resealable cap? IDK Never use the stuff.

Lucas Classic Hot Rod oil is my cup of tea.

 

From the sticky above, the VR1 FAQ and the sticky at Chevelles.com:

VR1 Dino is 1300 PPM
VR1 "Not street Legal" is 1472 PPM
VR1 synthetic is 1180 PPM

 

You can buy proper flat tappet oils at WalMart if you know what your looking for.

 

OK. First, I obviously left a couple zeros off.

My number was for the street legal Synthetic blend, and it looks like my figure was a little higher than current specs. The VR1 synthetic blend is all I ever see stocked at the local parts places. I haven't seen the "dino" stuff in years, although I haven't looked for it online and I don't know much about the "Not street legal" race oils, even tough that would be my pick from those numbers. I thought that Penn Grade 1 is more than that. For some reason 1500-1600 sticks in my head.

Again, I'd consider 1200ppm to be a bare minimum for an engine with flat tappets. And by "bare minimum," I mean that's what I'm looking to exceed on "worn out" oil right at the point where I'm changing it.

What I do know is nobody who I've switched to Penn Grade 1 on their "classic" MB, VW or Audi engines have wiped out any camshafts. And people using more "normal" street oils have been destroying camshafts in the past few years, even if they religiously change their oil every 3,000 miles/3 months. When I've sent samples in for analysis, the ones wiping out camshafts seem to be low on zinc especially, and phosphorous as well.

 

I have bought the VR1 dino from Amazon for a few years now. About $45/6.

 

Thanks for the explanation

 

1200 is more than sufficient imo. I ran a Comp XE high ramp flat tappet cam with dino VR-1 ...absolutely no issues! This oil hysteria is so out of control!

 

For your viewing pleasure... not my not my gospal

http://www.bestsyntheticoilfilter.co...complete-list/

 

having had a flat cam on a low low seat pressure
cam, i am worried.
no fun and no better good if all that metal
take a ride in the oil system.
i go overboard i am sure.

 

flat cams are nothing new is happened every day in the 70s and 80s with factory stuff. Buy a quality core/lifters and dont get stupid with ramp rates
Risky? Maybe....but so are roller lifters coming apart. Build what you want and dont worry about it..I dont believe its all the oils fault bet Im not the only one who installed a cam fired it up and started driving it with no break in? Is oil quality a concern sure, just saying...


Failures Ive had
327/275 GM cam lasted 230k mi
Erson "rv" cam lasted 21 yrs
XFI HR 280 18k mi
XE FT, (3 of them) none made it past 600mi
Unnamed billet solid roller made it to 60 mi, valvetrain didnt.

Not necessarily the brand-

40+ cars most had aftermarket cams none failed all flat tappet except a handful

Anyone see a pattern here?

 

Any advantage in adding Lucas oil additive?

 

From the link above, which is also 540 Rat's sticky:

#21
10W30 Valvoline VR1 Conventional Racing Oil (Silver Bottle) – 103,505 PSI
Zinc: 1472 ppm Phos: 1544 ppm Moly: 3 ppm Calcium: 2707 ppm TBN: 7.6

#122
0W30 Brad Penn, Penn Grade 1 (Semi-Synthetic) – 71,377 PSI
Zinc: 1621 ppm Phos: 1437 ppm Moly: 0 ppm

#124
10W30 Brad Penn, Penn Grade 1 (Semi-Synthetic) – 71,206 PSI
Zinc: 1557 ppm Phos: 1651 ppm Moly: 3 ppm

The Brad Penn have relatively low PSI.
You can order VR-1 Conventional at O'Rielly's and NAPA.