Oil viscosity for working engine.

[dfarr67]

On a daily driver-

In the summer I usually run 15-40 synthetic, winter here 0-40 synthetic.

Just had an sbc 385cid done and although I don't particularly favour high volume pumps the builder pretty much insisted on a high pressure pump even while tightening up the bearing specs, he commented when priming the engine (Gibbs 5-30) that 60psi was achieved on the drill. I've had engines that while running cold pinned the oil pressure gauge until hot- was wondering if I changed to- say a 0-20/30 synthetic and if it gave reasonable oil pressure, will it give the needed protection? I've never gone that light.

 

[Oregoonian]

Why not Use 0w40...year round ???

 

[Oregoonian]

Why not Use 0w40...year round ???
Or M-1 0w30 year round might be a better choice and give you plenty of protection. Its a great oil and highly regarded by many Bitog'ers.

 

[splinter]

I'd adhere to the builder's recommendation(s) and then closely monitor "working" temperatures and pressures whilst subjected to your operating conditions.

Builders and their customers should establish and maintain honest two-way relationships for long and happy component durability imho.

$.02

 

[Merkava_4]

Don't use 0W-20 or 0W-30 in a vintage small block Chevy. You need a real oil with the required viscosity and ZDDP level for proper lubrication. Ask your engine builder if he used 0W-20 for an assembly lube and see what he says.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Don't use 0W-20 or 0W-30 in a vintage small block Chevy. You need a real oil with the required viscosity and ZDDP level for proper lubrication. Ask your engine builder if he used 0W-20 for an assembly lube and see what he says.


It might be wise to read the OP.

As well, 10W-30 was a preferred and successful viscosity lubricant in these engines - therefore - to the OP - a 0W-30 would be well worth trying!

 

[mpersell]

I'm pretty partial to 10w-30 Amsoil Signature. Good NOACK as well as heat and cold numbers. I've tried both 0w-30 as well as 10w-30 and like the dampening of the 10w-30 better. I do have the temperature advantage of North Texas vs other areas though.

10w-30 has some HDMO properties and the truck seems to like it. In the BMW I'm running 5w-40 year round and have good results.

 

[ShotGun429]

"In the summer I usually run 15-40 synthetic," I do agree with this, In the winter good results would be a 10w-30 oil, Brad Penn is a good choice if its a flat tappet engine. Why in the world would he use a High Volume oil pump??? If a engine needs a High volume pump, you need to find out why??? Gregg

 

[Bluestream]

You drive this vehicle year round? Are you located in northern Canada?

I would not use a 0W40 in the winter, as that oil will be too thick at operating temps.

 

[userfriendly]

The standard oil pump is the same one that came on the 1955 265 cid that had a
three inch stroke and smaller rod journals.
The high volume pump was standard on factory high performance engines and has
comparable performance to Ford and Chrysler V8 oil pumps.

The pump comes with the 60 lb relief spring installed and a 35 lb spring in a
little bag in the box.

The pit-fall up north is that the temperature can go well below freezing 11 months
of the year. I wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of nowhere with an engine
that won't crank.
If I was to build a stroker SBC tomorrow I would go .0025" on both rods and mains.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Don't use 0W-20 or 0W-30 in a vintage small block Chevy. You need a real oil with the required viscosity and ZDDP level for proper lubrication.

I bet I can find a 0w-30 with higher HTHS and phosphorous content than your GF-5 10w-30.

Actually, I can name three right off the top of my head: PC Duron 0w-30, GC, and Mobil Delvac Elite 222 0w-30.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Garak
I bet I can find a 0w-30 with higher HTHS and phosphorous content than your GF-5 10w-30.

Actually, I can name three right off the top of my head: PC Duron 0w-30, GC, and Mobil Delvac Elite 222 0w-30.


If I had a vintage Chevy V8 with flat bottom lifters, I'd either add a bottle of Justice Brothers zinc additive to some 20W-50, or go with Joe Gibbs hot rod oil 15W-50. I'd save the ST synthetic for my rollerized 3800.

 

[simple_gifts]

I don't understand the dilemma here. All the SBCs I've had I just used OTC 5W30 Sx rated oils. 0w-30 is just another 30 weight with a optimal cold temperature rating for areas like you are in. Just use that.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: dfarr67
On a daily driver-

In the summer I usually run 15-40 synthetic, winter here 0-40 synthetic.

Just had an sbc 385cid done and although I don't particularly favour high volume pumps the builder pretty much insisted on a high pressure pump even while tightening up the bearing specs, he commented when priming the engine (Gibbs 5-30) that 60psi was achieved on the drill. I've had engines that while running cold pinned the oil pressure gauge until hot- was wondering if I changed to- say a 0-20/30 synthetic and if it gave reasonable oil pressure, will it give the needed protection? I've never gone that light.


How tight ?

If you look on the Valvoline Pro-V website, they give the following generalisations
0W20 - sub 0.002" clearances
0W30 - 0.002-0.0025" clearances
20W50 - (over 0.0025")

Gibbs state on the 5W30 up to 0.0027" clearances.

Given that those are nominally racing, which implies higher speed operation (hydrodynamics, more speed give more oil film)...pick a 30 with a higher HTHS, 0W if you can find one, or 5W like your builder uses...or 0W40 all year round.

No need for 15W40 IMO.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Garak
I bet I can find a 0w-30 with higher HTHS and phosphorous content than your GF-5 10w-30.

Actually, I can name three right off the top of my head: PC Duron 0w-30, GC, and Mobil Delvac Elite 222 0w-30.


If I had a vintage Chevy V8 with flat bottom lifters, I'd either add a bottle of Justice Brothers zinc additive to some 20W-50, or go with Joe Gibbs hot rod oil 15W-50. I'd save the ST synthetic for my rollerized 3800.

I'm guessing you didn't do well in your geography class did you Merc? In case you didn't know, the O/P is from the North West territories... Considerably north of your current location. Also, it tends to get cold there- and we're not talking like 50 or 60 degrees cold you Cali guys talk about. We're talking temps so low that your 20w-50 won't even come out of the bottle, with 10w-30 not doing a whole lot better at times.

I don't know why you're a member here- since you don't seem to want to accept that there are modern lubes that will out perform your beloved 10w-30 in ALL aspects.

I'm with Garak- there are probably 5 or 6 0w-30 oils that will work exceptionally well. I'd start there, though knowing a little about the lifter and valve spring combination would be better.

 

[oldhp]

Tighter bearing clearances plus hi-volume oil pump equal oil being sheared more, and heated up more by the pump being in bypass more. Do you have a hi-volume or hi-pressure oil pump? I've had many hi-po SBC's and never used a hi-volume pump. Too much pump and you'll fill the valve covers with oil. SBC's like the 10lb per 1000 RPM rule.

 

[splinter]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
..we're not talking like 50 or 60 degrees cold you Cali guys talk about..

Nonsense! It sometimes gets down to the low 40s around here during the dead of winter.

http://www.weather.com/wx/today?locid=92660:4:US&locale=en_US

 

[TiredTrucker]

Well, I lived in the Interior of Alaska for 10 years, very similar to NWT. Coldest I dealt with a few times was -72F, and that was actual not some wind chill nonsense. Windchill was something no one stated, even on the news weather reports. Even the term "minus" was not used. We just said it was 35, 50, or whatever. No one there needed to be told it was below zero. I used 40w oils in that situation in some applications, many of them conventional oils. But we seemed to be smarter than folks in the lower 48 seem to be. We not only have block heaters and battery warmers, but also oil pan heaters. Everything plugged in and it is like a warm summer day at startup. After things get running, the viscosity is a minimal concern anyway.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
I'm guessing you didn't do well in your geography class did you Merc? In case you didn't know, the O/P is from the North West territories... Considerably north of your current location.


And I'm guessing you didn't do too well in reading comprehension class. In response to Garak's post, I said if I had a vintage Chevy, I would run Joe Gibbs 15W-50. I wasn't talking about the OP. The OP can go ahead and use whatever oil he wants. And for your info, it gets pretty cold here in California; right now it's down to 49F at 7:00PM.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
If I had a vintage Chevy V8 with flat bottom lifters, I'd either add a bottle of Justice Brothers zinc additive to some 20W-50, or go with Joe Gibbs hot rod oil 15W-50. I'd save the ST synthetic for my rollerized 3800.

Or, you could use the same 10w-30 you always did, and not worry about ZDDP, since if it's a Chevy SB, it might eat the cam anyhow.

But up north, 10w-30 and winter aren't ideal. It was fine in the taxis, but they were almost never turned off. Those were fairly low HTHS ILSAC lubes, too.