What's the best oils for tappet cam engines?

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I use mobil-1 15w50 and have for 15 odd years.


Pulled apart the 340 I have been using it in and the cam and bearings looked like new.

I only pulled it apart to upgrad the cam ,pistons and heads

the 15w50 is on the second page
 

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Im going to run Northland 20/50 racing oil in my 273 S motor, cheep at 4.00 a quart and contains one of the highest levels of zinc on the market today.

my supplier tells me it has a higher level than most additives can supply per can. besides its a real pretty blue in color when fresh.

Been running it our sportmod motors with wix filters and never had a motor failure yet due to oil or lubrication problems.

Very pleased. ;Lon
 
Ask about how many parts per million that oil has.

Too much and it can start rusting the engine. You want to be around 1500. A little higher by about 500 or so on break in.
 
Only one I have seen,is the V-twin/Harley 20-50 Mobil 1.1500 ppm.
 
Interesting side note.My 408 died,breaking in a Comp solid(294s). The cam survived. I used the Lucas break in additive,with the VR-1 . The cam sits in my toolbox. Everything bare metal around it ,has surface rust. The cam has none.Something to think about.....
 
While it's easy to look up zinc content in an oil it is close to useless as the oil companies are smarter than the average gear head(yep,I know I'm gonna get clobbered with stuff) but Zinc is not the magic bullet that many think it is. If you use flat tappets buy them(and the camshaft) from a good source(yep,it's not easy as it sounds and the good P55 cores are no longer made) so go hyd roller for 5500rpm builds- solid rollers for high rpms or make your choice based on many years of building engines that last. If you purchase over the counter oils Valvoline VR-1 is a good choice. It's harder to get quality lifters and cam cores than oils.
 
Gold member good post. I lost lifters,not a cam. Made my choice. ....
 
Abodybomber said:
Interesting side note.My 408 died,breaking in a Comp solid(294s). The cam survived. I used the Lucas break in additive,with the VR-1 . The cam sits in my toolbox. Everything bare metal around it ,has surface rust. The cam has none.Something to think about.....
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Some oil and additives are incompatible. Sometimes the addition of an additive will actually lessen the oils "anti friction" abilities. Sometimes substantially. This is why I recommend the use of the proper oil for the job. As you found out high ZDDP levels can cause rust. :wack:
 
Comp Cams have a manganese phosphate coating and sometimes a rust inhibitor. Likely why it didn't rust.
 
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