What oil for my new engine

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RDJ

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Not quite finshed, but close. My freind at NAPA says the Valvoline Racing oils are on sale. Thought I might get some. Do i just get 10-30 VR-1? Should I go synthetic, which (I think) is the Valvoline "not legal for the street" 10-30?

For the break in (my first), do I run regular type (petroleum, non-synthetic) racing oil , drain it, then run synthetic?

I have the break-in additive Hughes sent me for the break-in.

The engine specs will be:
Stroker 408, Scat crank and rods, SRP 16.9 cc dished pistons
CR will be right around 10.3:1
Hughes 232/237 @0.50 dur, .540/.548 lift cam, Hughes roller rockers
Edelbrock stock (Hughes springs) heads, Edelbrock Air Gap Manifold
 
shell rotella t..........has zinc in it........or penn green.......make sure you have zinc in the oil dude.....
 
aww hell you dont need oil..its a mopar.:-D
 
if you can find Kendal GT1.. it has the highest ZDDP of all the motor oil on the makket today.. 2270 parts per mil. i spend about 4 days looking all this crap up.. so i could make sure what i was putting in my newly rebuilt small block mopar... if you run into brad penn oil ... if anyone tries to tell you his green oil is kendel its not... i talked with the people from Kendel ...other than selling brad penn an oil building they had ... they are not connected with him at all
i did a lot of home work on this but please don't take my word on this ... be sure to do your home work.. on what ever you go with
 
Is there a preferred weight for an engine like this? (10-30?) I live in Redding, CA, it is about 150 miles south of the Oregon border. It usually doesn't drop below the upper 20's in winter and can get to 110+ degrees in the summer.
 
the break in additive is zinc so the valvoline VR-1 will be fine. I use it to break in my motors. also don't run synthetic untill you have at least put a few thousand miles on it. its not recommended for a rebuilt motor since it can screw up proper break in.
 
The normal VR1 has nothing more in it than any other oil, same with Rotella now. If they have the API seal on them, or note protection of SM they dont have much Zinc. The stuff I use is labeled as not legal for street use, but that's if you have catalytic convertors. I think the 20-50 is VV851 or soemthing like that. I break in the engines on straight 30wt, and then use the 10-40 or 20-50 for use after that with flat tappets.
 
If you have moly coated rings, and a good hone, proper break in lasts as long as it takes for you to set your idle up for cam break in...........

For viscosity, I like 15W40, or 30W for break in.
 
Just remember the vr-1 rated "not for street use" only has a 500 mile life. It is supposed to be changed out every 500 miles. The vr-1 that is for street cars has no more zinc in it than other oils.
 
I disagree with most of what these posts say. Awhile back our wonderful government cut back on the amount of zinc that could be in oil due to that Al Gore thing. This includes Rotella which use to be great. Speciality oil used for racing (like VR-1) was excluded. Alot of guys run Brad Penn oil with great success and love it. I always ran VR-1 10/30 even on break-in. I would not consider syn. oil until it's completely broke in, say 20K. Syn. oil is so slick that it stops the break-in due to reduced friction. Wipeing a cam on break-in sucks. Of course all the concern over zinc is a non-issue if you build using a roller cam. There's alot of info out there if you google-up "ZDDP in motor oil".

That's my $.02 but as they say opinions are like assholes.....everyone has one.
 
VR1 does have more zinc. check there site for the info. it also has more anti-foam agents in it than normal oil. still run the break in additive and as usual dump it after the cam break in like usual.
 
I was looking at the Brad Penn oils, and it is listed as a "partial synthetic". So as far as usage and break-in, would you consider this a synthetic oil or a non-synthetic oil? I notice they have separate break-in oil.
 
I use Joe Gibbs Racing Break in oil, it has by far the most zinc of any oil out there for breaking in a new engine, but depending on where your at the price varies greatly from 5.50 - 9.00 a qt.
 
I've been using older, conventional racing or diesel oils for break-in. With flat tappet cams, I use to put either OEM springs on or remove the inner springs from dual-spring set-ups for break in for insurance. It's a lot of work, but for me it was worth it. Right now I have a couple of sets of Schubeck lifters which don't require break-in.

After break-in, I use one of the lighter Amsoil motor oils with corresponding tighter clearances. Many of them do have high concentrations of zinc for long term protection. My engine builders over the years have noticed less wear with Amsoil over conventional oils. There are HP benefits too.

High zinc Amsoil synthetics:
https://www.amsoil.com/dealer/techservicesbulletin/MotorOil/TSB MO-2007-08-08 Flat Tappet.pdf

Amsoil source & info:
www.thelubepage.com
 
The "500mile" interval is because they are not loaded with detergents. Brad Penn is another good choice although harder to find from what I understand (I'd have to have it shipped from somewhere), and Joe Gibbs is also a great choice. These are race oils because of the lower or non detergent component. But with limited use and much better than factory recommended oil changes on thes especial vehicles, this is not an issue. Up here, the cars get about 3500 miles a summer at tops, with most getting less than 2K. The oil does just fine. Non detergent oils were what many of these engines began life using and they will never have the long term issues a stock engine has such as lack of care. (Such as mine :D. I change the oil in my Neon once a year so the filter doesnt rust thru...) In terms of cam break in, as Loco said.. Run no inner springs for teh break in time on any application calling for duals, make sure the lifters rotate in the block during assembly, and measure the lifter to bore clearance to make sure it's not too loose, make sure it fires immediately and that all is in order to break in the cam right, and be realistic with the cam lobe design as it pertains to the vehicle's use, and you wont wipe a cam out.
 
I would use a 30-weight HDEO (Heavy Duty Engine Oil) rather than a racing oil because HDEOs have better detergent additives with similar amounts of ZDDP. In a conventional oil, Shell has Rotella T 10W-30 (CI-4/SL) and Brad Penn has HDEO 10W-30 (CJ-4/SM). A synthetic HDEO is another option and Amsoil 5W-30 HDD (CI-4+/SL) and Chevron Delo Synthethic 0W-30 (CG-4/SJ) are available. Synthetics can have longer oil change intervals so they're not as expensive as they might seem.

ACCCC Engine Oil Article
 
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