As promised, I just sent off my sample of new old stock 1973 QS Super Blend 10w40 that I have run the last 4.5 years in my 1973 Datsun 240Z. Filter was an STP spin on.
Hopefully this clears up any confusion:
The oil was stored in a cool dark place from 1973 until 2013 in my uncle's vintage oil stash that I became owner of after he sold his house. I then used 5 quarts of the oil from April of 2013 until I changed it in December of 2017. It is 44 year old oil but not the original oil in the sump for that long. I know somebody will ask.
The car has 93k miles and the last oil run was 4.5 years and 1811 miles (mostly hard driving).No make up oil was needed or added. The car sat from 1989 until 2013 when I bought it, revived it and turned it into a track rat.
This oil run was hard use, months of tracking down leaking carbs with leaded fuel half the time, cold starts etc.... I expected extremely high fuel % and while it was high, it's lower than I thought. The carburetors have been properly tuned and synched for a year now so hopefully fuel will drop off slightly. As noted, the lead from the VP racing C16 is washing down in the oil some. I expect that to decrease slightly with me using less leftover race gas and also because of the better tune. Like the old oil, I had a few 30 gallon drums of C16 that I used because....well it was from a past car that I took drag racing and I needed to get rid of it and also because there's no ethanol and it did well being stored in the tank.
Virtually no moly, but high zinc confirmed what I thought might have been the blend in the early 70s.
Also note the TBN of 5.0 left. Even after 4.5 years and 1811 miles of beating on it. With the fuel and moisture issues (if you want to call them that) I have from infrequent use, I'll probably drop to 3 years instead of the 4.5 I had on it. I had the wear average of vehicles with 2000 more miles on the run but i'd be willing to bet most of those weren't at WOT as much as mine. Hey, when you don't get to drive the car that much, make it count when you do.
Cliffnotes: I'm very pleased at the results of a 44 year old stored in a dry dark place. This was an experiment for me to see how it would hold up in a vehicle that is the exact same vintage and I'm not convinced that a similar modern SN dino 10w40 would have done any better in the use it was subjected to. For you people who are afraid to use 6 mos and 1 year old oil.....well I hope that changes your mind.
OIL DOESN'T JUST EXPIRE IF IT IS STORED CORRECTLY
I'm not saying use 44 year oil in your new Volkswagen. What I'm saying is, if it meets the specs needed by your application and is stored properly and unopened, stop being afraid to use it.
From 4/2013 when it first went in while I was getting it running:
From 12/2017 after the oil change:
What did I put in the oil sump afterward?
10w30 Valvoline White Can also from the 70s.
Hopefully this clears up any confusion:
The oil was stored in a cool dark place from 1973 until 2013 in my uncle's vintage oil stash that I became owner of after he sold his house. I then used 5 quarts of the oil from April of 2013 until I changed it in December of 2017. It is 44 year old oil but not the original oil in the sump for that long. I know somebody will ask.
The car has 93k miles and the last oil run was 4.5 years and 1811 miles (mostly hard driving).No make up oil was needed or added. The car sat from 1989 until 2013 when I bought it, revived it and turned it into a track rat.
This oil run was hard use, months of tracking down leaking carbs with leaded fuel half the time, cold starts etc.... I expected extremely high fuel % and while it was high, it's lower than I thought. The carburetors have been properly tuned and synched for a year now so hopefully fuel will drop off slightly. As noted, the lead from the VP racing C16 is washing down in the oil some. I expect that to decrease slightly with me using less leftover race gas and also because of the better tune. Like the old oil, I had a few 30 gallon drums of C16 that I used because....well it was from a past car that I took drag racing and I needed to get rid of it and also because there's no ethanol and it did well being stored in the tank.
Virtually no moly, but high zinc confirmed what I thought might have been the blend in the early 70s.
Also note the TBN of 5.0 left. Even after 4.5 years and 1811 miles of beating on it. With the fuel and moisture issues (if you want to call them that) I have from infrequent use, I'll probably drop to 3 years instead of the 4.5 I had on it. I had the wear average of vehicles with 2000 more miles on the run but i'd be willing to bet most of those weren't at WOT as much as mine. Hey, when you don't get to drive the car that much, make it count when you do.
Cliffnotes: I'm very pleased at the results of a 44 year old stored in a dry dark place. This was an experiment for me to see how it would hold up in a vehicle that is the exact same vintage and I'm not convinced that a similar modern SN dino 10w40 would have done any better in the use it was subjected to. For you people who are afraid to use 6 mos and 1 year old oil.....well I hope that changes your mind.
OIL DOESN'T JUST EXPIRE IF IT IS STORED CORRECTLY
I'm not saying use 44 year oil in your new Volkswagen. What I'm saying is, if it meets the specs needed by your application and is stored properly and unopened, stop being afraid to use it.
From 4/2013 when it first went in while I was getting it running:
From 12/2017 after the oil change:
What did I put in the oil sump afterward?
10w30 Valvoline White Can also from the 70s.