VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Zinc additive question

Not to open up another motor oil debate but I'm nearing the end of my 194 engine rebuild and want to make use of the latest thinking in choice of crankcase oil.
My new tappets came with a note urging the use of oil with ZDDP as an important
component to protect against tappet/ cam wear.
My take from reading up on the subject suggests that most off-the-shelf oils w/ the SM rating don't have enough of this additive to keep our old engines happy.
I plan to drive the car fairly regularly. I'm interested in hearing if there's a brand that some of you would recommend or use.
I was told Lucas C1-4, formulated for diesels is an option and an interesting product called Classic Car Motor Oil www.classiccarmotoroil.com.
Thanks guys

All of todays SN oil contains zinc. 800 PPM.
Find an oil that is rated for service SL and it will have about 1200 PPM.
If it were my car I would break it in with a 5W-30 rated at SN and add a zinc aditive for camshaft break-in.
Too much zinc is also not good. What the zinc does is if the oil is lost on a surface at one point the zinc in the oil bonds to the heated bare metal for a period of time. It does nothing for cold metal or just being in the oil.
The old engines have very little lifter to camshaft pressure compared to newer engines and zinc was unheard of until after WWII. It os also importand to keep the engine speed up ( no slow idle) until the engine is broken-in.
GM makes a camshaft break-in oil called EOS.....Engine oil supplement.
I would add 1/2 of the container for start and add the other half in the next oil change at about 500 miles.

Gene, is the zinc as necessary when changing only the followers and reusing the old cam?

Thanks Gene. This is great information. I read about the GM EOS but also saw high reviews for Royal Purple for break-ins with its high ZDDP. Either way I'll be using an SL oil after a few hundred miles. Not to go off on a tangent but I've heard some people believe these engines without a filter do not benefit from a detergent oil that keeps the contaminants in suspension with no where to go,causing wear problems over time. Their theory goes that a non-detergent oil would result in the particles precipitating out of the oil coming to rest after shut down in the pan becoming sludge and not harming anything, until a conscientious owner cleaned it out someday. I'm sure that's an oversimplification but made some sense to my aging brain. Any thoughts ? Thanks !

I have used detergent oils in my cars for over 40 years.
First non-detergeent oils have no detergents, no zinc, no anti-foaming additives and many other features missing. The "dirt particles" that will accumulate in your oil are so small they cause no harm. Also, for example, they will settle to the bottom of the oil pan when engine was not run for a period of time + these engines, with their thicker bearing babbitt were desingnd to operte with some "dirt" in the oil with out causing harm.
I would prefer to use and additive for cam shaft break-in rather than relying on what some oil company claims to advertise.

I would also fell more comfortable using the added Zinc for new lifters on an old cam.

Begining in the mid 1930's new Chevrolet camshafts and pistons came with a tin (zinc) coating for break-in protection. The wearing surfaces look black in color rather then shiney iron or steel. That feature is lacking on modern reproduction cams.

Thanks for sorting things out especially describing the historical perspective of it all. It's easy to get confused with the tons of clever marketing language out there.
Too many choices everywhere.

I would like to add that these are not my opinions but things I have learned from many articles written by people much are than I.

The basic problem particularly with oil and oil additives is there are too many opinions, understandings and promotional claims. It is nearly all not based on strong scientific facts. As a wiser guy than I once said about opinions is everyone has one and most stink (or was it something else he was referring to?) Smaller specialty oil manufacturers, formulators and marketers often focus on one or two properties and claim their "mouse milk" is the greatest product ever. Remember STP? Best to pay attention to what the major oil companies, auto manufactures and heavy equipment manufacturers they have much more to lose if their claims are bogus. Also trade organizations like SAE publish in cooperation to all major manufacturers specifications for oils to meet or exceed.