Oil recommendation for short tripped 83 Chevy

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caprice_2nv

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My winter beater is a 1983 Chevy Caprice classic with a 305 engine with a carburetor. This has been my winter car almost every year for the past 6-7 years and I've always felt confident picking a decent oil for it. One of my favorites was Castrol 0w30 (German). Good flow in the cold but a little bit thick for my slightly worn engine with leaking seals and a bit of piston slap. I've never really noticed a problem with fuel dilution but I've never sent away a sample. Maybe one day.

I moved into my girlfriend's place and now I'm going to be driving like 3 miles each way to work Monday to Friday. Not good for fuel dilution in a carbed car. We regularly get down to well below 0F (-25c or colder sometimes). I'm wondering if certain 0w30 oils might be better suited to dealing with any fuel dilution. The carb is fairly well tuned and usually starts immediately but you can hear that it runs a little bit rich on the really cold starts for the first minute or so.

Any suggestions? In summer time I usually ran something a little bit thicker or just with gm EOS or other zinc additive to protect the camshaft. I'm not sure what the best solution to cold start protection and camshaft protection is.
 
For a short tripped aging car with a carb, the best solution for max engine life is frequent oil changes with an inexpensive oil. Oil filter every other oil change.
 
I prefer synthetic and 5w or 0w30 because of the difference in cranking speed in the cold. I don't have a block heater and the battery isn't very new.

I also prefer not to have to do several through the winter since it sucks changing the oil outside in the snow and ice. (I don't work in the garage on weekends anymore).

The car will get some longer trips on weekends too. My girlfriend prefers to be a passenger so usually her 2013 Sonata stays at home and we take my car. Drove it 2 hours each way to a pumpkin inferno thing last night doing 75mph on the highway most of it.

I'm sure these trips will help clear out some of the fuel and moisture.
 
Given all that, I'd probably go the no-holds-barred approach and use Amsoil 0W-30. The esters in it also will help keep the old seals pliable. I wouldn't fret about the price. In the grand scheme of operating and ownership costs, it is a minor component.
 
Before winter make sure you've got a good thermostat in there and that the carburetor is tuned properly. Might be able to find some old school guys in a shop to adjust it perfect.
 
Same boat here, 3 miles round trip to work. In my 89 Sierra 5.7 I'm going to start running 5w30 of what ever I can get a good deal on in the winter (Nov-March/April) and VR1 or T5 10w30 in the summer. My thought is to get some fresh oil in the sump for winter and then get rid of it in the spring.
 
How long are your winters? Dec to May so about 6 months? What does the owner's manual say, 10W-30 or 10W-40? I have a 1993 Pickup and the OM specs 10W-30 so I'm assuming similar for yours. The longer trips does help with vaporizing fuel and water. Get any brand name oil - conventional or synthetic in 5W-XX or 0W-XX, change it right before winter and in the spring thaw. The go back to your OM spec'd oil for the spring - fall. Sorry that's just my guess as we don't have winters here.
 
I like the 0w30 idea. Consider blocking off most of the radiator with cardboard. Even if your thermostat is in perfect shape it will help keep the arctic breeze out of there. Cold air blows over the oil pan and everything else.
 
I did block off the rad last year actually. Thermostat is is good and the carb is set pretty good also. The winter is basically December to April is when we get the cold weather. Snow season is much longer but with relatively warmer temperatures.

The owners manual said 5w30 even back in 83 iirc. But it lists 10w30 as okay for above 0f or something like that and 5w30 up to 100 or something. Even 5w20 is acceptable for winter use.

I'd like to change it next month before the weather gets brutal and hopefully run it until April depending on mileage and how the oil looks. It always tends to stay clean for a while in this car. I'll see how the short trips affect that.
 
Any ordinary 5w-30 ILSAC would work fine. However, if you really want to bump up the HTHS out of fear of fuel dilution without troubling yourself in the cold starts, Delvac Elite 222 0w-30 straight from Imperial Oil will cost barely any more than conventional, and will be very suitable as a year round fill. There are other 5w-30 HDEO options, not to mention other A3/B4 options, but I'm talking about saving the maximum dollars here. If you don't have an Imperial Oil distributorship nearby, a Petro-Canada distributorship could get your their 0w-30 HDEO at a reasonable price, too.
 
A 5w-40 syn could handle the dilution a little longer because it's thicker to start with, but really that 0w-30 you're running is a good choice and already on the thick end of 30. Change every 4-5000 miles
 
Thanks for all the recommendations. If I can find the delvac somewhere I'd go with that. In any case I'll end up going with a 0w30 I think, amsoil or GC or one of the others recommended.
 
Originally Posted by carviewsonic
For a short tripped aging car with a carb, the best solution for max engine life is frequent oil changes with an inexpensive oil. Oil filter every other oil change.



This. A 305 doesn't care and you shouldn't either. The cheapest name brand 5w30 conventional year round. You don't need worry about wiping the cam on an old 305 that is already worn in.
 
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I'm sure it will last with any oil but I figure synthetic is worth the price just for the reduced wear and tear on my battery and starter in the morning. Years ago I experimented with conventional 5w30 and then synthetic 0w30 in my old Caprice and it sounded like it cranked twice as fast when I switched to 0w30 at -25c for both cold starts.
 
High mileage mobil 1 is on sale at Canadian Tire right now. I might try to grab it before the sale ends. Just the 5w30. It might help with the leaky seals. Although I kind of doubt anything can help with how much this one leaks lol.
 
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