× 1-800-946-2642 Home My Account Social / Forum Articles Contact My Cart
Shop Now
Select Your Car Type Sale Items Clearance Items New Items
 

 oils of yesteryear

 Created by: Richard1
   Forum Width:     Forum Type: 

 Posted: Mar 13, 2013 07:43AM
Total posts: 3749
Last post: Mar 26, 2024
Member since:Jun 23, 2000
Cars in Garage: 1
Photos: 201
WorkBench Posts: 0
US

Great data

Thank you

It is nice to have real data instead of conjecture, it is just that sometimes the data does not meet predetermined expectations.

 Posted: Mar 13, 2013 06:03AM
Total posts: 397
Last post: Sep 27, 2018
Member since:Jul 29, 2008
Cars in Garage: 1
Photos: 107
WorkBench Posts: 1
US

thanks Richard - a great read

some new cars, 99 disco II, 88 jag xj40, 76 cadilac de ville 500c.i. (8.2l), 74 450sl, 69 lotus 7, 61 countryman (restoration)

the best view is always from the point of no return

 Posted: Mar 13, 2013 04:38AM
Total posts: 606
Last post: Feb 2, 2024
Member since:Mar 11, 2010
Cars in Garage: 0
Photos: 6
WorkBench Posts: 1
US

Many of you have read my paper on oils, specifically aimed at the selection for classic cars with flat tappets.

One of the thousands of readers sent me a sample of oil from the late 60's, so I had it analyzed and added the results to the report. The full (updated) report is here:
  [url=//www.widman.biz/Corvair/English/Links/Oil.html]Selection of oil for flat tappet engines[/url]  

For those only interested in the synopsis, here goes:

After a 30 minute shake to get everything in solution (not that it hadn't gotten shaken a bit in the mail), the can was opened and 120 mm was sent out to my lab for analysis.

This sample can had MM-MS-DG stamped on the top of the can, which means, in the current API system it would have met SC standards of 1964 or their upgraded 1968 standards for SD (both called MS back then), and DG means a CA for diesel use. The use of the word "plus on the label might have signaled the higher level that became "SD".

Additives are strange.....
First because it uses 124 ppm of barium. That is a DEMULSIFIER that would try to separate water from the oil. Obviously discontinued as that would cause more rust and sludge. It is more often used in turbine oils to separate the water in the drain area of the tank.

The normal additives are:

[b]Calcuim[/b] (detergent): 807 ppm (vs about 1800 top 2000 for an SN and 3000+ for a CI-4)

[b]Phosphorous[/b] (part of anti-wear package with zinc): 482 ppm (vs a minimum of 600 ppm and maximum of 800 ppm for an SN oil today and about 1300 to 1400 in a CI-4 - limited to 1200 in a CJ-4)

Zinc (part of the anti-wear package with zinc): 517 ppm (anti-wear packages have about 10% more zinc than phosphorous in any formulation that uses ZDDP).

So this was a post-1964 oil (possibly post 1968). It has a little more than half of what today's SN oils have in anti-wear and detergent, or about a third or less of what a CI-4 oil has.

When GM offered their additive to raise the ZDDP levels to this level or so, I can see why. But cannot see the need to raise it higher than CI-4 with the aftermarket additives on the shelves.