VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1929 - 6 cyl oil sump cpacity

Does anybody know how much oil should go in? Any oil type or quality suggestions?

Five quarts10w 30w

Hoppy

Hi there and welcome to Chevy Chatter II. Glad to have you with us.

For lubrication specifications and etc. check your owner's manual. If you don't have one you can purchase a reprint along with a repair manual from the Filling Station in Lebanon, Oregon. www.fillingstation.com

Of course,it is all written down in the original "Instructions for the Operation and Care of ..." manual in English. I just overlooked. Thanks everybody.

Many early sixes had add-on oil filters. If you have one, add an extra quart.
Welcome aboard.

if your engine does not have a oil filter? you should use a NON -Detergent in a single weight viscosity like 30 or 40 depending on engine wear and where in the country you live. 40 weight does not work well in colder areas as well as 30 weight.

Oil brands have a great effect also. Pennzoil oil tends to make the carbon partial float more so than the other brands. I am not saying it is better but something to think about for engines without filters.

Oil levels are usually determined by how far the connecting rods go into the pan. The Connecting rods going into the oil level slows the engine performance damages the the rod bearing in all engine. The damage is not noticeable in a new engine but in old engines if there is a weak bearing it will fail faster. In newer style engines the connection rod do not go into the pan as far as the oil slinger engines we are running. The connecting rod is hitting the oil at somewhere around 23 mph ( 4in crank swing X 1000 rpm ) ( 6in swing X 1500 = 53 mph.)

There is more to engines than meet the eyes. Oil is just not oily is half of the cooling system and 100% lubrication.

I think most people would recommend detergent oil of about 10-30 weight.

ewv715,
We appreciate your post. Because these "splash" engines require an oil mist to lubricate the cylinder walls and (more importantly) wrist pin, high viscosity oils are not recommended. The recommendation in the original literature was 20 weight in summer and 10 weight in winter. 30 weight could be used in summer in hotter southern climate.

I have run detergent oils in all my old Chevys for approx. 40 years. That includes freshly rebuilt as well as engines with unknown past. I also have used 10W-30 in all my Chevys for the past 10 or more years. Works fine for me.

I wouldn't advise using anything heavier that #30 in a 1929 engines as the none of the internal parts and bearins are lubricated by pressure. They are all gravity fed and the thinner oil can pass trough the bearings better.
Todays Pennzoil has no realtion to the Pennzoil sold years ago. Years back Pennzoil was a very popual oil and one of the oils made with Pennsylvania crude. Today the company that owns Pennzoil also owns Quaker State and Shell brand oils and is a mid-continent oil. The present Pennzoil passes all the requirements for the Oil Institute of America,
Years ago some owners demanded a Pennsylvia crude oil. It was said to have a stronger film base than the mid-continent oils and produced better oil mileage. This is back when many makes of cars were lucky to get a quart in 500 miles. If the oil was not changed regularly it could cause more sludge to form compared to the mid-continent oils.

I am also a firm believer in detergent oils and I strongly recommend that you go with a detergent oil instead of a non-detergent oil in your 1929 Chevrolet.

The detergent is important but there are many other beneifical additives in detergent oil,,,,such as anti-foaming, anti-corrosive, ZDDP, sulfur and moly for anti-wear, and many others.

My car has been using 40 weight oil for as long as I can remember, the last time that engine had a complete rebuild was back in 1968 when my grandpa bought the car, since then I made a replacement of valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket and repainted the engine but nothing mayor, oil pump anout 5 years ago and thats it, but can 40 weight oil do damage in the long run?

Yes. In your climate not nearly as much damage as in the Central or Northern US. The damage will show up primarily in ring/cylinder wear and piston wrist pin.