Rhoads Lifters On Solid Lifter Cam - Setting Valve Lash
I'm with you on everything except the oil. There is no real reason to use mineral oil any more. And there certainly isn't a reason to run a 20w50 for sure.
Oils are so much better today, the additive packages are so much better today that there is never a reason to run that thick oil any more.
Oil flow is important. To get oil flow with a 50 grade engine oil you need big clearances. And then a pump to pump that goo. And then you have all that extra oil slinging everywhere in the crankcase.
You should be able to run a good 5w30 year round. If you are concerned about summer heat, look at a quality 5w40 and run that.
Thick goo for oil is obsolete.
Thanks, yellow rose. Appreciate your opinion on this. Dino oil versus synthetic or synthetic blend is kinda like do you part your hair on the left side or the right side? Or do you just comb it straight back as I do?
My take on it from personal experience over a great many years is this......
As with anything else...... Just give your engine what it needs.
My wife has a 2013 model car that was designed for thinner weight full synthetic oil (internal clearances and seals). It was broken in on that and has always been run on it. Does fine.
However, we have had other cars (a 2003 model in particular) that were broken in on dino oils and after quite a few miles were put on the 2003, my old knees got to where I could no longer get up and down to do my own oil changes out in the driveway. So I reluctantly took the car to a shop we have used many years for mechanical repairs I was not set up to do here at home. Not one of the el cheapo oil change places where you never know if its done right nor if they stripped the drain plug, etc.
With good intentions, they put a semi-synthetic oil of same weight and brand (marketed as being formulated for 'high mileage' engines) in our 2003 car...... Which had always been run on dino oil. Within only a couple days, the engine in that car was smoking, burning oil and the seals were leaking oil on our driveway, as well.
So I took the car back to the shop and discovered what they had done. Seems their supplier at the time was pushing synthetics and semi-synthetics and they did not carry straight dino oil at all. So I worked out an arrangement with the owner of the shop...... I would bring my own oil and he would provide the filter and only charge me for filter and labour each time I brought him the car for an oil change. On that car, I always changed oil at 3,000 to 4,000 mile intervals. So on the 3rd day the semi-synthetic was in that car, I had him change oil again using dino oil I provided. The smoking, the increased oil consumption and the leaking engine seals improved and by the next oil change, the car was fine again. FWIW...... Our car was not the only one which this shop ran into problems with when changing over to a synthetic or semi-synthetic oil. So he now carries straight dino oil for those engines.
My point being...... If an engine is designed for synthetic and run on it from the get go...... Then it should do well on synthetic.
But if the car was not designed for synthetic and / or was run a great number of miles on dino oil...... You are rolling the dice if you take such a car and run synthetic in it even if you stay with the same weight oil it has always run. It might be fine...... Or it might react badly as our 2003 car did. You never know unless you try it.
The other thing is...... I want to drain the dirt and acids and other contaminants out of my crankcase at 3,000 - 4,000 mile intervals. Higher priced synthetic oil is only cost effective if you run it longer between oil changes. And I would never do that with an engine I cared anything about. There is a lot more going on inside an engine when it comes to oil than just lubricity. Even our 2013 car which runs full synthetic gets the oil changed at 5,000 mile intervals (dealer recommends 10,000 miles). Very important on direct injection engines as it helps avoid sludging up the crankcase and having to pull the head and clean hard, baked on carbon deposits off heads and valves and reassemble every 100,000 miles or so.
Bottom line...... The 3 engines my youngest son and I are putting together for my '62 Lancer and '57 Chevy and his '92 Camaro...... Will be run on dino oil. And nothing thinner than 10W40. As for my 360 MOPAR and 292 Chevy engines (these will have the Rhoads lifters)...... I will experiment with both valve lash and oil weight to see what they like best. Will begin with 10W40. But if it turns out that 20W50 works best with the Rhoads lifters, that is what they will get. I ran 20W50 summers and 10W40 winters in several of our cars over the years. No problems. Heck, in the hot Texas summers I have been known to mix straight 30 weight and 40 weight to make a 35 weight oil for our older and / or high mileage engines. Just depends on what they do best on. :)
Best regards,
Harry
