Late 80s/early 90s oil tech

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Pepsibottle1

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Help a youngin' out. Was thinking about this the other day and wanted to ask; back in the day of V8 power, early turbo setups and the advent of fuel injection, what was your choice of oil? Was Mobil 1 a thing and were there other synthetic choices? When did they hit big in the market? And what were the best conventional offerings, and have they changed much since?

Watching the older NASCAR and Indycar races and seeing all of the glorious commercials/paint schemes has piqued my interest in the matter. Oh what fun it was.
 
I started using M1 5-20 in 1978 because of the superior cold start benefits. and extended OCIs to 10K. About the only other synthetic option then was Amsoil, but it was hard to find. Penz and QS conventional oils were well known for sludging engines. Valvo was a fairly good dino oil per my experience.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
I started using M1 5-20 in 1978 because of the superior cold start benefits. and extended OCIs to 10K. About the only other synthetic option then was Amsoil, but it was hard to find. Penz and QS conventional oils were well known for sludging engines. Valvo was a fairly good dino oil per my experience.


10k intervals even back then? Wow!
 
Originally Posted By: Pepsibottle1
Originally Posted By: tig1
I started using M1 5-20 in 1978 because of the superior cold start benefits. and extended OCIs to 10K. About the only other synthetic option then was Amsoil, but it was hard to find. Penz and QS conventional oils were well known for sludging engines. Valvo was a fairly good dino oil per my experience.


10k intervals even back then? Wow!

That was the only wt M1 had then. I used it in engines calling for 10-40. I have used M1 ever since. First vehicle I used it in was a 78 Dodge truck. The engine performed great, but used a little more oil.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Marco620
First time I heard anything about synthetic oil was Mobil 1. I remember the sharp edged bottles with Tri-Synthetic and green caps on 10w30.


In the 70's M1 5-20 only came in round silver colored cans.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: Marco620
First time I heard anything about synthetic oil was Mobil 1. I remember the sharp edged bottles with Tri-Synthetic and green caps on 10w30.

In the 70's M1 5-20 only came in round silver colored cans.


And you had to go to a Mobil station to get them.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: Pepsibottle1
Originally Posted By: tig1
I started using M1 5-20 in 1978 because of the superior cold start benefits. and extended OCIs to 10K. About the only other synthetic option then was Amsoil, but it was hard to find. Penz and QS conventional oils were well known for sludging engines. Valvo was a fairly good dino oil per my experience.


10k intervals even back then? Wow!

That was the only wt M1 had then. I used it in engines calling for 10-40. I have used M1 ever since. First vehicle I used it in was a 78 Dodge truck. The engine performed great, but used a little more oil.


Out of curiosity why did it use a bit more oil, simply because of the lower viscosity? That's really good to know. I didn't know M1 5w20 was that versatile

Also suprised to hear about the Pennzoil sludging. My grandmother absolutely swore by Pennz Yellow and put it in everything she ran for whatever reason.
 
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Because I was a kid growing up in So Cal, I took the advice of my gearhead neighbor and ran only Valvoline Racing straight 30 or 40 weight with a can of STP on top of it! I only owned V8's at the time with the exception of one Triumph Spitfire motor. My step dad used that fancy Arco Graphite. This was in the late 70's.
 
Originally Posted By: Pepsibottle1
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: Pepsibottle1
Originally Posted By: tig1
I started using M1 5-20 in 1978 because of the superior cold start benefits. and extended OCIs to 10K. About the only other synthetic option then was Amsoil, but it was hard to find. Penz and QS conventional oils were well known for sludging engines. Valvo was a fairly good dino oil per my experience.


10k intervals even back then? Wow!

That was the only wt M1 had then. I used it in engines calling for 10-40. I have used M1 ever since. First vehicle I used it in was a 78 Dodge truck. The engine performed great, but used a little more oil.


Out of curiosity why did it use a bit more oil, simply because of the lower viscosity? That's really good to know. I didn't know M1 5w20 was that versatile


I,m sure it was the Vis. Even today there are those that use M1 5-20 or 0-20 in engines calling for 30-40 wt, oils. One member here uses M1 5-20 in his MB that calls for 0-40.
 
Originally Posted By: c502cid
Because I was a kid growing up in So Cal, I took the advice of my gearhead neighbor and ran only Valvoline Racing straight 30 or 40 weight with a can of STP on top of it! I only owned V8's at the time with the exception of one Triumph Spitfire motor. My step dad used that fancy Arco Graphite.


Wait a second, what is this graphite you speak of? My youth is really showing.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: Marco620
First time I heard anything about synthetic oil was Mobil 1. I remember the sharp edged bottles with Tri-Synthetic and green caps on 10w30.

In the 70's M1 5-20 only came in round silver colored cans.


And you had to go to a Mobil station to get them.


I sure did. $5 a qt. compared to .45 for dino valvo. However it was worth it because the cold temps in Maine(where I lived at the time) made starting much easier.
 
Originally Posted By: Pepsibottle1
Originally Posted By: c502cid
Because I was a kid growing up in So Cal, I took the advice of my gearhead neighbor and ran only Valvoline Racing straight 30 or 40 weight with a can of STP on top of it! I only owned V8's at the time with the exception of one Triumph Spitfire motor. My step dad used that fancy Arco Graphite.


Wait a second, what is this graphite you speak of? My youth is really showing.


True. Arco had graphite in it.
 
This ad sold my Dad (and myself, independently.) Castrol 10w40 in the 200-6 Fairmont and the Dodge 024 Miser.

PS, "Protection against Viscosity"... sweet.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino


This ad sold my Dad (and myself, independently.) Castrol 10w40 in the 200-6 Fairmont and the Dodge 024 Miser.

PS, "Protection against Viscosity"... sweet.
Good thing they didn't hook you on cold start wear marketing .
 
Early 1980's Honda Civic I ran only Castrol GTX 20w50 in summer and 10w40 in winter.

1992 Volvo 960 with a 2.9 straight 6 I ran only Mobil 1 15w50 it seemed to be the only oil I could run to 7,000 miles without having to add a quart or more between changes.

1991 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 I-6 ran only PYB 10w40 summer 10w30 winter.
 
'80s what went in everything was GTX or XLD 20W50, oft with a tin of STP (they were tins, the oil wasn't)...service station that I worked had AGIP Synt 2000 10W50 at $10.50/L back in '86.

Early '90s M1 in Oz was a 15W50, and I made my own brews with that and Duckham's 10W50 dino (was green).

The original 5W20 M1 was more like Redline in terms of HTHS, and would easily and safely replace any 5W30, or 10W40 of the '80s.
 
I learned to drive in the early 1990's.

Our Toyota Tercel got Toyota 10W-30 at the dealership, and drank it like many Tercels did.

The 1985 Reliant I got my licence on, I don't know what my folks mechanic put in it, but recently when cleaning our their basement found a bottle of Pennzoil 5W-30 from the early 1990's that was used to top it off.

In Canada, everything then took 10W-30 or 5W-30...Pennzoil and Castrol GTX are the ones I remember being most 'visible'.
 
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