Over the winter I had a 455 engine completely overhauled and put in my 68 Firebird Convertible. It was already bored 40over and had some scaring so I went ahead and did 60. Also crank was already 30/30 so I decided to replace it all with a stroker kit from Butler. Went with a XE268 Cam and 96 heads street ported with headers. So this is my baby. I just got it back a week ago and am still breaking in the engine. I will NOT be racing this engine but just want to have a lot of fun with the car (shows, drive in, goofing off in town). So my question is this. What oil do I put in it. It has standard 10W40 in it now for break in but I will change it in 2 weeks. I want my grandkids to have to worry about what to do with the rebuild. Standard oil and change often? Synthetic - If so what brand and why? What is Royal Purple - good oil or marketing hype? Is synthetic really better or just hype? I just thought this would be a good place to ask.
If you do a search for oil here you will find an overwhelming amount of information and recommendations. Bottom line is if you are running flat tappet cam make sure you have the proper amount of ZDDP in the oil. This can be achieved by additives such as ZDDPlus, cam break-in additives or using oil designed for Flat Tappet engines. Some brands include Brad Penn and Summit Racing Street & Strip oil.
Personally, I have used ZDDPlus and standard 10-30 for the last couple of years. But just recently picked up two cases of Summit Street & Strip oil when they had an in store sale.
Last edited by G-Whiz; 03/28/1008:09 PM. Reason: typo
There is a new oil on the market, I saw it at the PRI convention this past winter. I beleive it is now on the market, supposed to be better than anything else on the market. It's call Mucle Car Oil. Beleive it or not, it actually comes in the old school round tin cans so break out that old oil spout if you still have one...
PS: My friend Mike's 65 Tempest, brand new 400, all new parts. Did the break in, changed the oil and went to Jacksonville last w/e for an all Pontiac show. Wiped cam! Why anyone would build a motor now days and not go with a roller cam and lifters is beyond me. I could not convince him, the engine builder could not convince him. Now, pull the cam & lifters and try again!
My friend's 65 Tempest, he used Joe Gibbs' break in oil, CompCam break in lube etc. and STILL wiped a cam in less than 300 miles. Many of you remember me wiping out FOUR cams in a row in my Bird. There is something going on out there and the best way to avoid ALL of it, is roller cam & lifters IMO!
I agree, but my question is why is it that it seems to be happening more and more all the time? My friend Mike has been a car nut his whole life, has owned more Corvettes and Pontiacs than most. Knows how to build and maintain his cars etc. and after building countess engines, replacing cams, racing his 68 GTO from the day it was new etc. he has now had two cams in two different engines wipe out in the past year and a half. There is something going on because we hear it all the time now...
It's no secret the oil formulation has changed due to EPA regs regarding zinc. Just as fuel no longer has lead, and we have to find ways of dealing with the long term results of low octane unleaded.
Fortunately modern chemistry has a loophole for us in ZDDP, but again not all formulas are made equal. I am betting on Brad Penn (which is green and really cool looking).
The cam in my '69 was bad when I got it, I just didn't know it. I compared photos I took in 2003 or 2004 with the cam as just pulled, the lobe wear did not change visibly, and the car ran no worse now than then. Actually for 3 bad lobes it ran quite well! And since this cam was flat long before ZDDP was removed from oil, there was another root cause. In this case, I believe it was lifters varnished in their bores from about 20 years of storage.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
