Oil in the 1980's
- Thread starter Camprunner
- Start date
- Status
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega?
I am truly jealous. Although not fast by current standards, it was quick car in its day and handled really well on smooth roads just like any other Vega on what where then considered wide tires and with a rear anti-roll bar.
The black with gold stripes JPS-look car always seemed really attractive.
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
You had a Cosworth Vega?
I am truly jealous. Although not fast by current standards, it was quick car in its day and handled really well on smooth roads just like any other Vega on what where then considered wide tires and with a rear anti-roll bar.
The black with gold stripes JPS-look car always seemed really attractive.
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
Curious statement from someone with a Camry in his signature.
The Cosworth Vega was one rare bright spot for automotive performance in the mid-70's. With a 16-valve DOHC, all-aluminum, electronically fuel injected engine, it was years ahead of its time.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
Curious statement from someone with a Camry in his signature.
The Cosworth Vega was one rare bright spot for automotive performance in the mid-70's. With a 16-valve DOHC, all-aluminum, electronically fuel injected engine, it was years ahead of its time.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
Goodyear NCT ?
had them on my LJ Torana, and they were incredible, and lasted 4,000 miles.
So as an out of work Uni student I replaced them with Olympic Steelflex (the last syllable was a lie)...they went forever, and I felt like a drifting champion, 20+ years before drifting.
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
Goodyear NCT ?
had them on my LJ Torana, and they were incredible, and lasted 4,000 miles.
So as an out of work Uni student I replaced them with Olympic Steelflex (the last syllable was a lie)...they went forever, and I felt like a drifting champion, 20+ years before drifting.
.....
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
Goodyear NCT ?
had them on my LJ Torana, and they were incredible, and lasted 4,000 miles.
So as an out of work Uni student I replaced them with Olympic Steelflex (the last syllable was a lie)...they went forever, and I felt like a drifting champion, 20+ years before drifting.
Yes, Goodyear Eagle NCT. A step above the Goodyear Eagle GT. My first experience with performance tires, and I was hooked.
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Yes, I had Eagle NCT's on it, and it had great roadholding. I could take Interstate cloverleafs that were marked at 25 MPH at 60 MPH. I never did take it on track, though. It didn't have big enough brakes for that.
Goodyear NCT ?
had them on my LJ Torana, and they were incredible, and lasted 4,000 miles.
So as an out of work Uni student I replaced them with Olympic Steelflex (the last syllable was a lie)...they went forever, and I felt like a drifting champion, 20+ years before drifting.
Yes, Goodyear Eagle NCT. A step above the Goodyear Eagle GT. My first experience with performance tires, and I was hooked.
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
I remmember the Eagle NCT on my black 85 Pontiac Trans Am, I wanted to transform it to K.I.T.T.
That was a dream that still didn't came to.
That was a dream that still didn't came to.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Pontual
my black 85 Pontiac Trans Am, .
Nice !!
my black 85 Pontiac Trans Am, .
Nice !!
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
A nice car like that, and all SS can do is call you a "boring guy."
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
A nice car like that, and all SS can do is call you a "boring guy."
From 82 to 84 I worked in an auto parts store in Memphis part time while I was in college. We sold foreign car parts.
We sold probably 90% Castrol 20W50, a little straight 30W and 10W40. I cant remember what other weights and brands, but the 20W50 was super popular with shops and walk in customers.
That company had an engine shop. There were lots of engine problems, but engines were pretty clean even back then if they were not abused.
It was in the mid 70s that the Quaker State sludge engines were developing and by 1978 that they fully ripened. Thats when I first started tearing into engines and saw the nightmare under the valve covers.
We sold probably 90% Castrol 20W50, a little straight 30W and 10W40. I cant remember what other weights and brands, but the 20W50 was super popular with shops and walk in customers.
That company had an engine shop. There were lots of engine problems, but engines were pretty clean even back then if they were not abused.
It was in the mid 70s that the Quaker State sludge engines were developing and by 1978 that they fully ripened. Thats when I first started tearing into engines and saw the nightmare under the valve covers.
My dad used Castrol GTX 20w50 in his 1987 Hyundai Excel. When he traded it in at over 110,000 miles towards a 1992 Nissan Sentra, everybody at the dealer had to see it for themselves because nobody had ever seen a Hyundai Excel go that distance.
He also used GTX in a 1971 and 1979 Toyota Corolla.
He did do a few oil changes to mom's 1985 Nissan Maxima, he probably used Castrol GTX 10w40.
He also used GTX in a 1971 and 1979 Toyota Corolla.
He did do a few oil changes to mom's 1985 Nissan Maxima, he probably used Castrol GTX 10w40.
GTX was the default oil for everything... You had to be different to use something else (I used Trop-Artic and Sta-Lube
)...
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
I worked on them when they were new, another car GM could have got right with little effort but like the Corvair they screwed the pooch.
If GM had developed these two cars to half of their potential the Japanese would never have gotten a foot hold in the US.
The corvair had the recipe long before Porsche ever thought about it, optional turbo flat 6 rear mounted in a light car when Porsche was still using modified VW beetle engines.
Both could have been game changers, it makes you wonder who was paid off to kill these cars and by whom.
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You had a Cosworth Vega? I am truly jealous.
You must be one boring guy.
I may be a boring guy, but I can tell you that any Vega, even a base car, would leave either of your Toyotas for dead on a smooth, twisty back road. The smooth part matters, since the Vega had no suspension travel at all. All Vegas had great roadholding and were very chuckable, something you don't find in any FWD Toy. Such are the benefits of RWD along with decent weight distribution.
The Cosworth was a Vega GT with actual power.
The engine was apparently an expensive build, since Chevy actually advertised the car as one Vega for the price of two, which was about right.
I worked on them when they were new, another car GM could have got right with little effort but like the Corvair they screwed the pooch.
If GM had developed these two cars to half of their potential the Japanese would never have gotten a foot hold in the US.
The corvair had the recipe long before Porsche ever thought about it, optional turbo flat 6 rear mounted in a light car when Porsche was still using modified VW beetle engines.
Both could have been game changers, it makes you wonder who was paid off to kill these cars and by whom.
Originally Posted By: Trav
it makes you wonder who was paid off to kill these cars and by whom.
No conspiracy. It was simply arrogant, short-sighted management & stingy bean counters.
A few words from Smokey Yunick's autobiography:
"An example: a man without a driver’s license writes a book, Unsafe at Any Speed (a cross-threaded brain named Ralph Nader) about a GM Car named “Corvair.”Somebody told him what a dangerous s**t-box this car was, and factually he was correct. But. There was a German-made car called the Volkswagen, or lovingly called the “Beetle,” cause it did look like a Japanese beetle. This car was probably 25 percent more dangerous than the Corvair, and to this day, 40 years later, is still revered as great vehicle. In reality it was a dangerous, gutless, no handling, piece of s**t, but at a price many people could afford. It however had one very remarkable and important characteristic. It didn’t break. I believe there will be a few still running that are 100 years old someday."
"My last visit was to drive all ’87 new GM Models, and meet with all the GM brass, including Lloyd Ruess (then president of GM) on a Saturday morning, and describe my opinions on the various models. In a nutshell, I said, “All were still s**t-boxes.” Lloyd said, “What’s your proposed solution?” I said, “Stop production on all models Monday. Take a couple years off, and fix them.” You’re right, that meeting was over in five minutes. I’ve never been hired or talked to by GM since."
it makes you wonder who was paid off to kill these cars and by whom.
No conspiracy. It was simply arrogant, short-sighted management & stingy bean counters.
A few words from Smokey Yunick's autobiography:
"An example: a man without a driver’s license writes a book, Unsafe at Any Speed (a cross-threaded brain named Ralph Nader) about a GM Car named “Corvair.”Somebody told him what a dangerous s**t-box this car was, and factually he was correct. But. There was a German-made car called the Volkswagen, or lovingly called the “Beetle,” cause it did look like a Japanese beetle. This car was probably 25 percent more dangerous than the Corvair, and to this day, 40 years later, is still revered as great vehicle. In reality it was a dangerous, gutless, no handling, piece of s**t, but at a price many people could afford. It however had one very remarkable and important characteristic. It didn’t break. I believe there will be a few still running that are 100 years old someday."
"My last visit was to drive all ’87 new GM Models, and meet with all the GM brass, including Lloyd Ruess (then president of GM) on a Saturday morning, and describe my opinions on the various models. In a nutshell, I said, “All were still s**t-boxes.” Lloyd said, “What’s your proposed solution?” I said, “Stop production on all models Monday. Take a couple years off, and fix them.” You’re right, that meeting was over in five minutes. I’ve never been hired or talked to by GM since."
I am aware of the story line I lived through it but I strongly suspect Ralph Nader may have been paid off to eliminate the competition.
If you've heard Nader speak it's hard to believe he's anyone's flunkie. If he is he deserves an Oscar. Nader was astonished when GM filed bankruptcy. When Nader was after GM in the 1960s, and the other car companies don't forget, about safety GM was one hugely capitalized and profitable company. I guess he didn't picture the fall of Rome.
I agree with Yunick, the Beetle, especially the swing axle variety, is not a good car. Thankfully most all the bodies have returned to the earth as iron oxide.
At the tail end of the '80s I was selling auto parts in an independent shop. The variety of oil we carried was large, but I don't recall any synthetics. We did have Grade 60 Valvoline for the Harley crowd. Early '90s at a parts store chain the bulk sold was probably 10W-30, but plenty of 10W-40, 20W-50 and 30 went out the door. The small engine shop down the block would occasionally clean us out of Flag SAE30.
I remember Dad tapping cans of Pennzoil 10W-40 Turbo for the Honda Sabre V45 in the mid '80s. I also remember him dumping drain oil in the storm drain.
I agree with Yunick, the Beetle, especially the swing axle variety, is not a good car. Thankfully most all the bodies have returned to the earth as iron oxide.
At the tail end of the '80s I was selling auto parts in an independent shop. The variety of oil we carried was large, but I don't recall any synthetics. We did have Grade 60 Valvoline for the Harley crowd. Early '90s at a parts store chain the bulk sold was probably 10W-30, but plenty of 10W-40, 20W-50 and 30 went out the door. The small engine shop down the block would occasionally clean us out of Flag SAE30.
I remember Dad tapping cans of Pennzoil 10W-40 Turbo for the Honda Sabre V45 in the mid '80s. I also remember him dumping drain oil in the storm drain.
In Canada at least, in the late 1970's/through the 1980's, 10W-30 seemed to be the oil for everything.
If you look at store ads for oil and oil changes, they all specify 10W-30 oil of some brand - Castrol, Valvoline, QS, Kendall...etc...
I don't know exactly what my dad ran in his 1978 Chev Malibu, but it most likely ran some form of 10W-30 through to 1988, when we got rid of it.
I know the 1989 Tercel that replaced it got nothing but Toyota-brand 10W-30 (whoever made that) for it's short life. It burned a lot, so there was always a bottle of Toyota 10W-30 on the garage shelf above that car.
When my dad's best friend left him his 1976 Gremlin, among other treasures it had a full bottle of cheap 10W-30 of some kind (Sears?) in the hatch that later got put in a friends car...
By the 1990's, 5W-30 started to replace 10W-30 in everything big time. My first car in 1994, a 1985 Buick Skyhawk, called for 5W-30. It got GTX every 3k while I had it. My following 3 cars got the same routine, only with PYB 5W-30.
Last 3 cars have gotten a crazy mix of 10W-30, 5W-30, or 5W-20 depending on money and time...I still think 10W-30 is a very useful summer grade of oil...will be disappointed if it disappears...
If you look at store ads for oil and oil changes, they all specify 10W-30 oil of some brand - Castrol, Valvoline, QS, Kendall...etc...
I don't know exactly what my dad ran in his 1978 Chev Malibu, but it most likely ran some form of 10W-30 through to 1988, when we got rid of it.
I know the 1989 Tercel that replaced it got nothing but Toyota-brand 10W-30 (whoever made that) for it's short life. It burned a lot, so there was always a bottle of Toyota 10W-30 on the garage shelf above that car.
When my dad's best friend left him his 1976 Gremlin, among other treasures it had a full bottle of cheap 10W-30 of some kind (Sears?) in the hatch that later got put in a friends car...
By the 1990's, 5W-30 started to replace 10W-30 in everything big time. My first car in 1994, a 1985 Buick Skyhawk, called for 5W-30. It got GTX every 3k while I had it. My following 3 cars got the same routine, only with PYB 5W-30.
Last 3 cars have gotten a crazy mix of 10W-30, 5W-30, or 5W-20 depending on money and time...I still think 10W-30 is a very useful summer grade of oil...will be disappointed if it disappears...
You dont need to be a flunkie to have a price. Nader was/is just a paper ahole IMO.
Originally Posted By: addyguy
...I still think 10W-30 is a very useful summer grade of oil...will be disappointed if it disappears...
Same here, and given my winter is above freezing, it's a good year round oil here.
I'm running Castrol 10W-30 Magnatec (Euro A3/B4 rated) right now.
...I still think 10W-30 is a very useful summer grade of oil...will be disappointed if it disappears...
Same here, and given my winter is above freezing, it's a good year round oil here.
I'm running Castrol 10W-30 Magnatec (Euro A3/B4 rated) right now.
- Status
Similar threads
