What Oil For My Dads 61 Corvette? Synthetic

[92CB7user]

My Dad wants to change the oil in his corvette to a Synthetic blend. I have no idea what he has been using in it. It sits most of the time but he lives in Texas so it is warm through the winter and extremely hot/humid in the summer.

The vette has around 40,000 miles on it. What type of synthetic oil would he benefit from the most?

Thanks in advace!

 

[Pablo]

I honestly think this will be the best:

Amsoil HDEO 15W-40 (code AME)

Great corrosion inhibitors for storage plus great wear protection of > 1K Zn/P.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would not put a synthetic in that engien unless the seals are all modern. Old seal materials from that time fram were very very cheap and do not always hold up to modern synthetic lubricants or their additive chemistry. The modern synthetics just donot seem to stay in the engine if old buna,rope and leather gaskets are in place. If this car is all origanal I would use a nice modern dino oil like 5W30,10W30 or 15W40 in Havoline,Chevron or Rotella. If he did want to try a synthetic blend i would go witht he cheapest one out their wich is Tropartic from Walmart $1.68 a quart their 5W30 and 10W30 are both synthetic blends. No sense wasting expensive synthetic until you see how the seals are going to hold up!

 

[3putter]

I think Pablo's recommendation of a 15w40 is excellent. I too would not go the synthetic route. In the early 60's those engines were running straight 30 weight routinely.

 

[Merkava_4]

+1 on the HDEO 15W-40

 

[Hasbeen]

Even though I'm an Amsoil dealer, and if I had to use a synthetic I would follow Pablo's advice but It's a complete waste unless he is racing it. We use 15W-40 Dello 400 HDDO in most of the cars in the collection I manage with very good results.

 

[Eddie]

No synthetic but, not sure about a heavy oil like 15w40. What did Corvette recommend for viscosity? I'd follow the manufactures recommendation on viscosity. JMO Ed

 

[Steve S]

Doubt there would be any benefit from syn oil at all.I would use a HDEO. Rotella ,Dello 400, Schaefers etc. 15w/40 is a real good oil viscosity for chev engines .

 

[Steve S]

P.S. real cool car. I was lucky in the younger years to spend lots of time with a 59 vette. Not like the new ones but they have personality.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

Listen to Pablo! No synthetic in a car of this ventage!

 

[teven7492]

John Browning gave you the best advice i agree with everything he said . I would just add that Valvoline Maxlife 10w40 would be a perfect lube for this car.

 

[Steve S]

Hdeo has better additives to protect the cam.

 

[Merkava_4]

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I would just add that Valvoline Maxlife 10w40 would be a perfect lube for this car.

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I agree that Maxlife 10W-40 is an excellent oil, but have we determined yet that it's compatible with flat lifters?

 

[92CB7user]

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I would just add that Valvoline Maxlife 10w40 would be a perfect lube for this car.

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I agree that Maxlife 10W-40 is an excellent oil, but have we determined yet that it's compatible with flat lifters?

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It seems like the majority of you vote for a 10W-30 and approve of vavloline maxlife. What is this concern you have about flat lifters?

Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[nascarnation]

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I would not put a synthetic in that engien unless the seals are all modern.

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I have a "survivor" 67 Camaro with totally original powertrain (35,000 miles). A true "garage queen".
It appears to do just fine on both 5W50 Castrol Syntec and Mobil 1 5W40. I change every 5 years just to be safe

 

[Merkava_4]

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What is this concern you have about flat lifters?

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It's the lack of ZDDP additives in the SM oils. The ZDDP additive found in the older SL oils are for protecting parts from a swiping motion such as a conventional camshaft lobe against the top of a flat bottom lifter.

They took the additive out over concerns of how it effects catalytic converters. Also it's not needed so much for rollerized camshafts of modern day engines.

I was hoping that the experts would chime in so I wouldn't have to carry the burden of this question all by myself with the limited knowledge that I have on the issue.

 

[farrarfan1]

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I was hoping that the experts would chime in so I wouldn't have to carry the burden of this question all by myself with the limited knowledge that I have on the issue.

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That's never stopped you in the past...