10w40 is what my '70 400 loved,had many of these pontiac 400,455 motors over the years TA,Goat,Lemans,loved them all,ahh the good ol days.
Recommended oil for 1967 GTO
- Thread starter gto78
- Start date
- Status
My dad runs GTX 20w50 in his '65, But I'd also steer tward
A 15w40 HDEO like Rotella, or Delo.
Trying to get my dad to switch, but he is a creature of habbit,
And has been using the stuff in his toys for years.
As for his Tundra, plow truck, and. Mom's Rav, they get bulk
Valvoline 5w30 that comes off the tap at the dealer he works at.
A 15w40 HDEO like Rotella, or Delo.
Trying to get my dad to switch, but he is a creature of habbit,
And has been using the stuff in his toys for years.
As for his Tundra, plow truck, and. Mom's Rav, they get bulk
Valvoline 5w30 that comes off the tap at the dealer he works at.
I own a 69 Firebird 400 car. Living in South Texas, the motor does not like 30 wt. I've run 15w40's but lean more towards the the 20w50. My favorite oil is Havoline 20w50 with some Cam-Shield in it. Havoline has over 200 ppm of moly, 990 phosphorus and 1100 zinc. I add about .75 oz of Cam-Shield to 5.5 quarts which gives me approximately 1400 phosphours and 1500 zinc. Just FYI the 67 400 used 6 quarts.
Last edited:
I just sold my original 67 GTO and it loved Rotella syn 5W40...
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 29,558
If I had a 60s era muscle car,I`d run a 20W50 racing oil in it.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: gto78
Thanks for all your input, Rotella is easy to find here so I'll try that.
BTW its a 67 400 Pontiac with an upgraded Lunati cam, .490 lift and 230 duration @ .050. I'm dedicated to running the right oil, I have wiped out a cam in the past and don't want to do that again.
Good call - Rotella is a good oil. You can't go wrong with a proven 15W-40 or 5W-40 HDEO.
If it were me, and I had access to it, I'd run Brad-Penn 'Pengrade 1' 10W-40 oil. The specs on it seem really, really good.
Thanks for all your input, Rotella is easy to find here so I'll try that.
BTW its a 67 400 Pontiac with an upgraded Lunati cam, .490 lift and 230 duration @ .050. I'm dedicated to running the right oil, I have wiped out a cam in the past and don't want to do that again.
Good call - Rotella is a good oil. You can't go wrong with a proven 15W-40 or 5W-40 HDEO.
If it were me, and I had access to it, I'd run Brad-Penn 'Pengrade 1' 10W-40 oil. The specs on it seem really, really good.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
If I had a 60s era muscle car,I`d run a 20W50 racing oil in it.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Valvoline VR1 is good oil also. I don't run synthetics because I have a slight seep from my rear main rope seal. I put in Mobil 1 15w50(which I love) but it started to leak really bad. So I went back to conventional.
If I had a 60s era muscle car,I`d run a 20W50 racing oil in it.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Valvoline VR1 is good oil also. I don't run synthetics because I have a slight seep from my rear main rope seal. I put in Mobil 1 15w50(which I love) but it started to leak really bad. So I went back to conventional.
Originally Posted By: James408
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
If I had a 60s era muscle car,I`d run a 20W50 racing oil in it.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Valvoline VR1 is good oil also. I don't run synthetics because I have a slight seep from my rear main rope seal. I put in Mobil 1 15w50(which I love) but it started to leak really bad. So I went back to conventional.
Also love Mobil 1 15W50 but changed to VR1 because Mobil leaked out of my GTO and Boss 302 rear mains like a mother. No idea why Mobil 1 15W50 would seep so much...
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
If I had a 60s era muscle car,I`d run a 20W50 racing oil in it.
Valvoline VR1
Pennzoil GT
Royal Purple XRP
Amsoil 20W50
Those would be my initial choices.
Valvoline VR1 is good oil also. I don't run synthetics because I have a slight seep from my rear main rope seal. I put in Mobil 1 15w50(which I love) but it started to leak really bad. So I went back to conventional.
Also love Mobil 1 15W50 but changed to VR1 because Mobil leaked out of my GTO and Boss 302 rear mains like a mother. No idea why Mobil 1 15W50 would seep so much...
Either Delo 400 or Rotella 15w-40. I have 2 60's era Corvettes (with stock motors) and that's what I moved to. Also use the Delo is my wife's '79 Camaro. Now, if they further change the LE formula downward with the Zinc level, I may have to move elsewhere. Right now I think it's rated at no more than 1200 ppm. Aren't most non syn "regular" oils (10w-30, 10w-40) at the 1000 ppm level - or even less?
To give some extra input... Up until last May I had a '67 Pontiac Bonneville with the 428 engine (just like the 400 except with a 1/4" more stroke). 10w30 would boil away like water but I had much more success with 20w50 conventional (Valvoline?). The last OCI had a special cocktail recommended by a friend of mine. It consisted off 5 quarts of 15w40 Rotella plus a 1/2 quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and a 1/2 quart of MMO (the oil capacity is 6 quarts). I'm sure the Rotella alone would have been just as good anyway, but I'll tell you... that car ran it's best with the cocktail. So you know why I like the Rotella 15w40.
One note of interest, in 1995 I attended a POCI (Pontiac Oakland Club International) convention where they had an engineer from GM as a guest. He mentioned how the old Pontiac motors from the era (1960s and 70s) were not designed for the use of synthetic oil. I think it was probably because the synthetic molecules are smaller and are more prone to create leaks, along with the first synthetic formulations being non-compatible. Of course with the advances in oil technology, this theory would probably be more debatable now. So I'm curious to see how everyone else feels about this.
One note of interest, in 1995 I attended a POCI (Pontiac Oakland Club International) convention where they had an engineer from GM as a guest. He mentioned how the old Pontiac motors from the era (1960s and 70s) were not designed for the use of synthetic oil. I think it was probably because the synthetic molecules are smaller and are more prone to create leaks, along with the first synthetic formulations being non-compatible. Of course with the advances in oil technology, this theory would probably be more debatable now. So I'm curious to see how everyone else feels about this.
I do not think there is a Pontiac 350, 400, 421, 428, or 455 that does not leak from the rear main seal at least after the seal has some age on it. My rear main on my 400 leaks and contributing to that is the fact that it basically is a garage queen & I let the seal get dry and thus hard. Anyway, I once used M1 10W40 and once used Amsoil 10W40 and both leaked like crazy. I when back to a conventional 10W40 and the leak lessened. I would rather run synthetic due to the heat the Pontiac engines generate but unless I was to reseal the engine with some of the newer main seals available today for Pontiac engines I will continue to use conventional so as to avoid the the leaks as much as possible.
Brad Penn 40wt. Plenty of zinc and phoshphorous for your old cam. It will be a good oil with the high temps of Fla. I'm assuming that you have no cat converters?
I remember in 67, I went down to the Pontiac dealership in Pensacola fl. the show room had a brand new 67 gto. It was 3200 bucks,,I still want one. I was in the Navy, and to poor to afford a 125 dollars a month payment,,omy
It's a 67 400 and 4 speed that I installed in my 79 Grand Am. I also had a 78 Grand Am with the same setup, recently I stripped the drive train and junked the car, it was too rusty to fix on my low budget. The Grand Am is a mid size 3400 lb 2 door car.
I've had this set up for about 18 years and love it. The more it sits the worse the rear main leaks, and I never run synthetic. I just change each 3,000 miles or if it looks darker from carbon etc.
I've had this set up for about 18 years and love it. The more it sits the worse the rear main leaks, and I never run synthetic. I just change each 3,000 miles or if it looks darker from carbon etc.
- Status
Similar threads
