VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Oil Change

With most of the old cars if they didnt leak a small amount of oil somewhere (including the crankcase draft tube) you started worrying that there was a lack of oil in the sump. But a lot of oil leak was equally worrying.
Tony

Ok I changed the oil. I let it drain for a couple hours to make sure I got the most out. I put 5 quarts 10W-30 conventional but the question I have is that cold and Hot it still just registers just Above Low on the dip stick. Its in the safe zone but I thought it would register Full

Steve

You might want to check your dipstick to be sure it is the correct one.

5 qts in my 1936 is good, I don't know about the '35 but should be OK. Does it have an oil filter? That would take a bit of oil.

My experiance over the years is with the 5 quarts(which is correct) it should read just slightly over the full mark after sitting for an hour or so.
The 1935-1936 dip stick should measure 7 7/8" from under the washer to the bottom tip. Below the cross hatch area if should say "low" and above say "Full" with an arrow pointing down.
The 1929-1934 dip stick has the cross hatched on the lower end running down to the tip and 5 quarts wlll be well above the cross hatched area.
If you were to need a new dip stick I believe I have one.

[quote=Chev Nut]
Zinc in motor reached a high point about 20 yeas ago with 1600 parts per million .Then it was reduced to 1200 PPM and then down to 800 PPM. The 800 is more than sufficent for 6 cylinder cars runing a well broken-in camshaft. Too much Zinc is also bad.

Gene,
I try not to over think the confusing subject of what oil is best, but any thoughts as to just how much zinc could be harmful ?
I bought a case of detergent 15W-40 Classic Car Motor Oil http://www.classiccarmotoroil.com formulated for vintage engines with 1500 ppm as ZDDP. I was going to use this in my rebuilt 194 whenever it's done.
I see Lucas Oil has a 20W-50 detergent with a whopping 2100 ppm. Shell even has a high zinc product for classic cars, X-100, unknown ppm.

Maybe to be safe, just use the aforementioned 1500 ppm oil for a break in period, then replace with something a little lower on the zinc scale ?

From what I have read about 1400 ppm is sufficent. Too much is as bad as none (for break-in) from what I see.
For break-in I would use a light oil such as 5W-30. The light oil can pass through and between the tight moving parts faster to carry away the heat. Before multi=grade oils Chevrolet filled the crankcase with stright #10 oil and that was recommended for the first 1000 miles. You could use a 5-30 and add a Zinc break-in additive to it.
After the engine is got some miles on it 10W30 is a good all around choice. Chevrolet never recommended anything heaiver than #30 for that engine as the cylinder wall and wrist pin lubrication depends on the thin oi being splashed areound.
Many cars from the time had full pressure oiling and to keep the pressure up and control oil consumption they recommended like #40 oil and some even #50 for high speed driving.

Thanks for the insight and historical background. A lighter oil seems the way to go initially. Would make cold weather engine cranking a little easier too.

What's your thoughts on using diesel oils in a non diesel engine? Specifically Shell Rotella 15-40 that meets CJ4 & CI4. It's my understanding the CI4 meets the SL & SJ gasoline engine standard. I believe the SL & SJ oils have 1000 PPM zinc which should be sufficient. Rotella seems to be on sale a lot around here and I have been tempted to try it. Can using oils designed for diesels harm our 216 engines or for that matter any gasoline automotive engine?
Thanks

Dick

I have used shell or mobil delvac both are diesel for more then 40 years in all my gas and diesel engines. the years are from 1922 through 2009.
I have 5 antique cars and large diesel trucks. things that use 2 cyl oil don't get diesel oil all others including lawn mowers get diesel oil.

The 15W-40 is a little on the "heavy" side for a 216 unless it is worn out.
A 216 has very light lifter to cam lobe load so conventional oil is sufficent.
From what I have read diesel oil has additives for diesel engines and formulate for diesels. I would prefer running diesel oil to racing oils which contain little or no additives required for day to day driving othe than a lot of Zinc.

In my over 65 years of being around 216 engines I never saw one loose a cam lobe and many ran on dirty old oil before zinc was ever added

Thank you for the information on the the length. I will check that. It does have the LOW and FULL with cross hatches in the middle. The oil pan looks original not modified in any way I can see.

Steve