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Engine oil

Jeffm

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What’s the best oil to run in these cars? Also how many quarts does the 383 call for?
 

Ranger

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What’s the best oil to run in these cars? Also how many quarts does the 383 call for?
"Best" is very subjective. Ask 5 guys and you'll get 6 different answers. "Best" is as mentioned, 5 qts with a high Zinc (ZDDP) rating.
 

69hemibeep

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If you run a roller cam and no mechanical fuel pump then you don't need any zddp
 

Ranger

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Can you have too much zddp or is it a case of the more,the better?
I think like everything else, you CAN have too much, but you'd really have to work at it to reach that level. By that I mean use a high ZDDP level oil and then dump huge amounts of a ZDDP additive, WELL above the recommended dosage, into the engine.
 

69hemibeep

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Hasn't in the past, the only reason it was removed is it killed catalytic converters
 

Rapid Transit

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My opinion based on reading and talking to oil analysis people.
The oil one uses can depend on things.
Is this car a race car or a daily driver?
That factors into the detergent content of the oil used.
Don't use diesel rated oil. Too much detergent.
They say race oil has not enough detergent for extended use.
(But I used it when I got it on close out for a while.)

Is this engine a high lift cam? (Not a roller).
That factors into the actual pressure on the lifter face.

I've used Mobile One in a stock 318 daily driver for over 20 years with no issues.
And the engine had 30K on it when I pulled it from the Diplomat.
Probably had almost 200K on it now.
In the last few years I've started adding STP just for fun.
I'm wondering if with a good synthetic oil in a mild stock engine if zinc is really necessary.
Take that for what it's worth.

Oh, and one thing an oil analysis person told me that stuck.
Pick a oil with as narrow viscosity rating as you can.
The more additives it has in it to increase the viscosity indices, the less oil there is in it.
 
Last edited:

Russ69Runner

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My opinion based on reading and talking to oil analysis people.
The oil one uses can depend on things.
Is this car a race car or a daily driver?
That factors into the detergent content of the oil used.
Don't use diesel rated oil. Too much detergent.
They say race oil has not enough detergent for extended use.
(But I used it when I got it on close out for a while.)

Is this engine a high lift cam? (Not a roller).
That factors into the actual pressure on the lifter face.

I've used Mobile One in a stock 318 daily driver for over 20 years with no issues.
And the engine had 30K on it when I pulled it from the Diplomat.
Probably had almost 200K on it now.
In the last few years I've started adding STP just for fun.
I'm wondering if with a good synthetic oil in a mild stock engine if zinc is really necessary.
Take that for what it's worth.

Oh, and one thing an oil analysis person told me that stuck.
Pick a oil with as narrow viscosity rating as you can.
The more additives it has in it to increase the viscosity indices, the less oil there is in it.
No not going to be a race car. Just a driver. Too old and cost to much money to be racing. Yes will run mobile one in the motor. Thanks Russ.
 

Plybeep68

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I bought my Road Runner in 1982, I've used Castrol 20W50 from day 1, no issues ever
 

jww69rrpost

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Depends on the size and build of the engine. I have a 509 stroker in my Road Runner and use Joe Gibbs 15-50 Racing Oil. It is an all around good product and you don't have to have a full on race engine to use it. I'm not racing my car, but it is such a high performance engine, that I decided to go with this plus I have a deep sump 8-quart pan and stroker setups require a lot of oil penetration. There are quite a few excellent brands out there that should work just fine for your application. Just make sure the oil already have the additive in the oil, so that you don't have to mess around adding anything to the oil.
 
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