VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Which oil do you use?

There has been a lot of talk about the removal of zinc from engine oil. What kind of oil should we be using in our antiques? It used to be some would say diesel oil but now that is changing because catalitic converter are being installed on diesel powered engines. Where do we go to protect our engines in our antiques?

Some quick facts;

#1-There was no zinc in the oil in 1931, 1941, and was just becoming to be added to some oils in 1951.

#2- The zinc has not been removed but the amount reduced by about 25%. Anyone that says it was removed dosen't have the facts. Some oil companies have added other "things" to prevent scuffing of iron to iron or parts. Zinc does no good for babbit to iron or aluminum to iron contact.

#3-If you think you must use a non-detergent oil in an old car it will contain no zinc ( there fore a a detergent oil should be used).

#4- If you feel more zinc is better find an oil that is rated for service SL for the last rating letters and not SM. Some racing oils,10w-40 and #30 oils still have this rating. Rating is listed on the container.

#5-If a new camshaft is installed a zinc additive must be used for the first 1000 miles. Chevrolet sold a product for this since 1957. Has been discontinued.

My choice for most applications is still 10W-30 and not adding any additives. It is 1000% better than any oil available in 1931, 1941, 1951, 1961 or 1971.

Yep, 10W-30 is definitely the way to go. That's all I use.

Speaking of diferent oil's, has anyone tryed the additive Lucas oil? I've tryed it and even though expensive, i've practically fell in love with the stuff. It's probably doing the same thing as the old motor honey but i like. The engine quiets right down. Which is expecially good for that #3 rod which is a little loose and yes i've looked into the #3 rod problem and adjusted to the best i could do, acordingly. Oil pressure increases to 14 cold 10 warm. Normally i would have 5 or so. Anyone tryed it?

Your oil pressure should be around 25 pounds when cold.

Just change to #50 oil if you want thicker oil.....either one will help to trash your engine.

I will go along with: and also let you know what I think about Talk is cheap! I have a large container of REAL LEAD additive for antique auto engines. It came with a large tubful of parts I bought at a swap meet. Price is $29.95! I keep it on a shelf in my shop to remind myself of some of the scammers that prey on old car folks. Use fresh gasoline, 50-50 mix of a good brand of coolant and distilled water in the radiator, and change your oil (10W-30W) in the old Chevrolet engine every 6 months or every 1500 miles or when it get's dark and dirty looking. But the key to keeping the old car running at top knotch condition is "DRIVE It!,DRIVE It! so that you will get to know it! Your old dip, splish splash engines don't have to have 40-45 PSI of oil pressure to last. I remember used car salesmen saying Don't worry about all that smoke, it still holds 40 PSI of oil pressure! Maybe that was for a V/8 F0RD engine?

Im not mechanically dumb here. Your talking to an enthusiast just as your self. I dont beleive the extra weight that a lucas oil add's will trash an engine. I can only see it cushioning internal parts. And it blends in with the oil of your prefrence so when you pull the dipstick and run your finger through it, you hardly notice a diference. That was a rather sarcastic remark to me that i dont care for.

And im not questioning you guys on the oil pressure thing, expecially Junkyard dog becouse chances are you guys have been around chevy more then i, but the way i understand it, didnt these engines have rather low oil pressure to begin with? From other's that i've talked too, 5 PSI wasnt uncommon. As i said, i have 10 PSI now. 25 PSI just seems maxed out.

Just remember you are trying to force the oil through a bearing that has only .001" to ,003" space. The oil is not being fed internally by pressure but just for a split second when the dipper dips into the trough. Then the oil must be broken up into a mist so it can lubricate the cylinder walls, rings, wrist pins, drip dowm by graviy thru a very tiny hole and passage(on a 1932) to feed the timing gears and splash up on the camshaft. The only bearings that are fed at the high pressure shown on the gauge on a 1932 are the main and cam bearings. The rest of the oil is fed from the low pressure side of the oil distributor valve. There have been differnt oil additives around for 100 years now. I have seen them come and go. There is no substitute for a good quality oil of the proper viscosity. ...and if I did want to change my #30 oil to #50 I would just dump in two cans of STP and about a buck each....and it even contains zinc.
Five years from now you will Lucas will no longer be around - but there will be some other snake oil to takes its place.

With the stock 1929-32 vane type of oil pump, on the initial start-up with the oil cold the oil pressure should slowly go up to about 25 pounds. As the oil warms up the oil pressure will slowly drop and when the oil is hot, at idle, the oil pressure will run at about 5 pounds....maybe even a little less.

I understand what you are saying. I knew of this before i got the lucase idea, but becouse of a weak rod bearing that clearance andjustment hardly corrected, i had to try something and 1500 dallors worth or repair just isnt in the picture right now. Beleive me, im not a fanatic that try's every new thing out there. Matter fact it's not likely i'll try anything new at all just becouse "they" say so. It may be just another "snake oil" to most but i've tryed it and ALMOST swear by it and have a close automobile buddy thats been in it for over 35 years that said the same thing. Any other time i would agree. Oil it's self is all you need. But were not talking about a brand new engine eaither. Anything to try and help it the way i see it, without damaging or customizing it.

Junkyard Dog, thank you on the responce. You had me worry for a sec. The guage does exactly as you describe. Only when warm it sets at 10 becouse of the additive.


To the rest, the Lucase oil thing was just a gesture to an idea. "Has anyone tryed it" as i have. It wasnt ment to spark sarcasm.

Okay, you are fine then if your oil pressure is doing what I described.

However, you mentioned in an earlier posting that you had 14 pounds cold and 10 pounds hot. That cold reading is low if you only had 14 pounds.

I guess it was 14. It's been over a year since i drove the car. 14 is probably 20 or so if i look at the guage again.

When you check again, if it is, in fact, 14 pounds cold you might have a problem with either your oil pressure gauge or your oil pump since 14 is too low cold.

Pretty satisfied it was 20 or so. As i've said i havnt driven the car in over a year or started it and me trying to be optomistic about a guage i havnt seen in over a year well, the "math" just doesnt add up. But it's an honest mistake.

Cool! If it was over 20 you are in good shape.

As long as you understand that increasing the viscosity of your engine oil will reduce the lubrication of cylinder walls, wrist pins, etc. then you can make an informed decision. In your case the extra additive might have some overall benefit compared to doing nothing. Just remember that many others read these threads and will assume that if an additive is good for your engine it will also be good for theirs. It is not the case for the majority of old Chevy engines.

I can accept things that are mentioned here and the fact that I shouldn't get uptight about the removal of zinc in the oil. Just keep the oil fresh and keep the oil clean. Is the use of an oil designed for diezel better than oil designed for gasoline engines? I have noticed that oil designed for diezel engines feels a lot sticker than oil designed for gasoline engines.

I am concerned because I just rebuilt the engine and it has less than 70 miles on it. I want to do what is best to break it in and to maintain it for as long as possible because I intend to drive the car as much as possible. Currently I have a premium brand 10W-30 esso oil. I have been told that a diezel oil 10W-30 is better because of some components of the oil. Is there any adavantage to using diezel oil?

I had my engine (1930) rebuilt about 4 years ago. Full rebuild, including new main and rod bearings, line bored, the whole nine yards. The guy that did the rebuild (been doing this for 20 or 30 years or better) just said to use a good quality 10-30 detergent. 10,000 miles or more later, and it still runs great. No oil burning, good power, and starts right up. Of course part of the ease of starting could be because of the professionally rebuilt carb. Thanks JYD. 25 to 30 pounds of pressure on starting, and about 5 pounds when warmed up. I'll just stay with the 10-30 detergent and no additives.

Your oil pressure is just the way it should be. Great!

Diesel oils have an additive package designed for a diesel engine. A gas engine requires a diferent additive package. Racing oil has its own additives. A few years back the diesel oil still had more zinc in it. No diesel has the same amount of zinc as regular 10W-30 oil.......and its more than the engine needs. Just remember the zinc does becaome depleted with use and changing oil more often will insure you have sufficient zinc if the engine requires it. The only time the zinc "works" is when the oil film is lost and there is metal to metal contact.
Changing oil once a year or every 1000 miles is more than adquate.

I see your point chev Nut but i really never thought i would have to put a disclaimer to using additives AT YOUR OWN RISK. But, USE ADDITIVES AT YOUR OWN RISK. In my case, i chose to add an oil thickener...and with me it works. Nore do i have a poor engine. I am just aware of the risks. Dont beleive what i am doing is even 50% wrong though as i only try to help the engine and such with modern technology that doesnt customize, chop or alter anything in any way. Exept for a hidden change for the benifit. Being of only 23, i have seen even my share of farce oils aswell that came and went that i wouldnt give you a dime for a truck load for, but i tell you there is something to this Lucas stuff. And im not a major nor minor fan. Look at marvels mystery oil for instance. been around since....what was it, 1945..'46?

Marvel Mystery Oil has been around since the '20's actually. It has to be the longest surviving name in additives. It has been under new "ownership" the last few yeas but lives on.
MMO is a little bit of light refined oil and a lot of solvent. Rather than "thickning" the oil it thins it. Before the the days of 5W-30 oil I used to add MMO to my 10W-30 oil in my modern cars in the winter. Would help the engine to turn-over faster when it was 20 below. Today it can be used as a top oil when added to the gas or a solvent/cleaner for removing sludge or poured thru the carburetor to loosen carbon.....and it smells good too.

OilSpot, not to worry, at 23 I thought a lot like you. I thickened up the oil in my babbit pounder 235 and now I kinda realize I am not the only driver at 23 that thought I knew about all engines and oil. You will have some good times and some great times if you look, learn, and listen. I never really thought much about what Marvel Mystery Oil was made of. I always just liked the results and the way the smoke smells when you fog an engine with it. Anything that smells that good has to be a MYSTERY! I still remember where I was on my 23rd birthday in 1960. We were 3 weeks into boot camp at MCRD. After a year out of College, that was a mind uplifting experiance!

SEMPER FIDELIS! RIP Lewis Burwell Puller, Jr.