This is the first time I have run a solid FT cam
in over 20+ years... everything has been a roller..
so my question is.. what is the best break in oil..
and I assume during break in you still add zinc additive
then use zinc in every oil change... I greased everything
with the break in grease while putting it together.. all
the lobes and lifters... I also assume you can use regular
oil with the additive after the break in
thanks
EDIT
And I did remove the inner springs

Gibbs, amsoil and Brad Penn seem to be the big three. Gibbs gets suggested a lot and I had that in the last engine for break in. I think I might try the straight 30 Amsoil break in with the 511 which will also have a solid flat tappet.

I am now gun shy about oil. I took out 2 wiped hydraulic cams out of my engines last year. One was a new comp cams and another was an older mopar purple shaft cam.

Next week I hope to fire up my new comp cams hydraulic lifer cam engine. I am going with the Driven (Joe Gibbs) break in oil and crossing my fingers. I need to ask Driven if I should add the Comp Cams additive or not.

Should extra zinc be added with the break in oil
or is there plenty of zinc in it already... I've
gone to all this work and I dont want a failure now

The local shop that I deal with for machine work switched from Brad Penn Break in oil to Lucus break in oil after they started having some issues. So far so good.

I have been told to use a zinc additive with Brad Penn break in. I'm really leaning towards the Amsoil break in this time.

So far... it looks like there is no consistency in
any of this

Rotella T + STP worked well for my original break in with a moderately aggressive FT. The Rotella has a decent zinc level and the STP adds a bit more. On freshen, Muscle Motors broke it in on Rotella T (their choice) FWIW. After break in and dyno I switched to 15W50 (from memory) Mobile 1 which has high zinc.

If I wanted a dedicated break in oil I would probably use Comp Cams stuff or the oil Hughes sells. Standard car oil + ZDDP should be OK also... but I prefer a mix formulated to work together.

I just broke in my 3rd FT solid cam and use Driven break in oil! I called the oil manufacture and they said not to use any other Zinc product, the break in oil has the exact levels needed for protection. I did use EDM lifters this time and have had no issues!

Gibbs for break in and Valvoline VR1Racing oil after that

I don't have a flat tapped but used Lucas 30wt. Got a 2.5 gallon jug of it. Seemed like the rings seated on the first drive.

i broke my new engine in on driven oil and decided to keep running it. no additives needed. its a little more money but stops me from having to buy the additive so it all works out in the wash.

looks like there is some consistency with joe gibbs. there is a machine/engine builder in Saginaw that has a dyno. He will not run your engine on it for break in unless it has joe Gibbs oil in it. Hes had that good of luck with it. I had joe Gibbs in my last engine that expired on the dyno, but it was no fault on the oil. If fact it probably made it live alittle longer than it should have. I have never had a failure I could blame on the oil. I broke in a few on rotela and never had a cam fail believe it or not.

This is just a cam change... engine has about 850
miles on it but the tight LSA didnt like the EFI
or should I say it the other way around

Redline makes a good additive for regular oil. I used it with Delo 400 in my elcamino

Rotelła T plus Lucas Break In zinc additive part number 10063 here for break in and every oil change. 2 motors (one solid flat tappet the other roller) and a few hundred passes and no oil related issues.

Good luck with your build MR_P_BODY!

hi


amsoil and valvoline vr-1


never a problem!

I also use rotella t with lucas ... solid cam oval track engines... -very- aggressive profiles that were turned up to 8 k week after week. I always used low ratio [special ]break in rocker arms and a minimum amount of spring pressure to get it broken in . we never put anything but oil on the lifters so they would be free to spin. with the proper cyl wall finish , it will seat the rings in a few minutes.

OT, I would confirm the lifters are free to rotate (Hughes "thunk" test) & the usual stuff that you are aware of more than I am, mixture/timing/immediate startup/goosing the throttle.

well I will be breaking in a new cam, solid flat tappit in a new engine. my cam has been nitrided and I will be using EDM lifters. the inner springs will be removed and my spring pressure is 410# over the nose. I'm going to give the amsoil break in a try.