This new stuff they are selling for 8.00 a quart. Supposedly has stuff for older cams.. Whats your guys opinion? Good or Gimick?

Ive seen this new oil looks very expensive for a name ,I belive it has more zinc than conv. oil and you can replace that with a good additive. my oppinion save the money.

Valvoline VR Max is available for just over $ 4.00 per Qt. Check it out.

GTX 20W-50, a bottle of Lucas or Comp Cams break in lube for 10-12 bucks and call it done.

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This new stuff they are selling for 8.00 a quart. Supposedly has stuff for older cams.. Whats your guys opinion? Good or Gimick?

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It probably does what it says. I'm of the "Old School" way of thinking with muscle engines. They need more zinc than modern engines do. With that, for many, many, years, I've been using Rotilla T 15W-40 with 2 bottles of STP. (my engine holds 9 quarts with filter). One bottle of STP treats 5 quarts.
Just my

how old of a cam? I think most of those 20-30-40 year old cams have been replaced by now. so unless the cam companys are still using steel that was smelted eons ago, how is $8/quart oil going to help?

It's not the steel material that's the issue, it's the lubrication properties of the oil, and the fast that many of us are running more aggressive cams than stock. Plenty of guys are wiping new cams, so why take the chance?

at $8/quart? I'm sure todays cam/lifters with the micro-finishing on them, and the porous nature of the metal that they are using easily compensates for any 'lack' of zinc. also, who much of an advantage is say 1000ppm vs what?? 1500ppm in today 'high' zinc race oil. not trying to start a pissing match. just curious.

Lar, Rotella DOES NOT have the zinc that it used to have. It used to be the old stand-by in regards to zinc. (ZDDP) It now has the same amount of zinc as any other typical oil now. Someone I know now has a very low lift cam as a result of Rotella.

The two oils that I've looked into are the Valvoline VR and Joe Gibbs. I went with Valvoline VR because it's not synthetic. It seems to have enough zinc, and it's relatively inexpensive too.

Warhawk, the new cams still have a tendency to wipe lobes without a greater amount of zinc than the standard oil contains. I'm not a chemist just a guy that's been building engines since the mid 60s and I will not break in a new motor or cam without adding zinc to the oil. So far I have only lost one cam.

I used the Valvoline VR1 20w50 last change, it looked pretty thick but seems to work well, ie good pressure, and lower valvetrain noise.

Valvoline VR1 20w50 is what I run. I have had oil samples of it new and used in my car. It has 1100 to 1200 ppm zinc from the samples I have had taken.

Well greatly appreciate the comeback. I myself run GTX 20w-50 and have been very happy with it. I just dont buy into all the hoopla about some of these oils. My oppinion is if you keep it changed often you wont have any trouble. Thanx guys.

Hey Big, I agree about not buying into hoopla, but please make sure you read up on and understand about zinc and ZDDP in oil. Sometimes, the hoopla is intended to cover up the fact that the zinc level has been cut back. Our cars were designed and built with flat tappets, and oil always had sufficient zinc to protect them. About 5 years ago, zinc levels in typical oils were reduced, to protect catalytic converters in newer cars. At this time, problems started showing up with the older cars. The problems are usually in the form of mysteriously failing camshafts. Changing your oil frequently won't compensate for the fact that there just isn't enough of this specific lubricant in the oil. Eventually, the current API standard will be replaced with another, and zinc levels may drop even lower at that time.

In my experience, and this is strictly anecdotal, but the less forthcoming an oil manufacturer is about the zinc content of their oil, the less zinc their oil contains. Conversely, if the oil is advertised as containing sufficient zinc, and as suitable for older cars, this is usually a good sign. Again, this is just my opinion.

I was going to post the same thing

Personally I prefer Amsoil products and use their Dominator series oil. But whatever your preference is, this bulletin outlines the issues with most common, current motor oil. Comp Cams and other companies have provided similar information.

Amsoil tech bulletin on oil and flat tappet cams.

Amsoil source and added info.

Since synthetics are not recommended for break-in, I'll continue to use my old stock of conventional oil but still add a zinc additive for insurance. Then switch to high zinc Amsoil.

I think the Valvoline VR 1 20/50 has or close to the highest Zinc content for off the shelf Oil at your local parts stores , but if you want some Oil with all the good stuff in it use BradPenn Oil , they also make a Break-in Oil. The BradPenn also has more Zinc in it than the Joe Gibbs Oil if I remember right.

http://www.bradpennracing.com/

whats your motor worth? it don't matter what it cost if its what your engine needs to live! zinc is the key, i don't like $55 a case either,but i'm not taking a chance to save $20. jeff57

But like posted earlier in the thread. Dont you think todays cams are made from alot better materials than the used to be?

It doesn't have anything to do with how good the cams are made, it's still very demanding metal-to-metal direct friction versus the rollers in all modern engines. The need for zinc has practically been eliminated in these modern motors. For the rest of us, there is a quick solution: specialty oil (or additives) that contain sufficient zinc. It's that simple.