I was using Brad Penn 20W50 they now discontinued it here. Should I go to the Valvoline Racing VR1 or Royal Purple Synthetic 20W50. Its a flat tappet hydrualic engine.

Dave

I hate to sound like this but the question is like asking if someone likes vanilla or chocolate. Use whatever you think will work for you.

I was using Brad Penn 20W50 they now discontinued it here. Should I go to the Valvoline Racing VR1 or Royal Purple Synthetic 20W50. Its a flat tappet hydrualic engine.

Dave


Personally I've settled on Royal Purple as my oil of choice, and I run it all my cars, without issue. So, of course I'd say go with the Royal Purple. But I do have to say that their street oil would rely soley on its superior film strength to prevent metal to metal contact, since the zinc/phos levels have been reduced just like all other street oil. That still might be all you need, however, if money is not an object, then go with Royal Purple Racing Oil (you can order it from Summit or Jegs, I forget which, but not both), since it has the superior film strength PLUS it also has the high levels of zinc/phos you're looking for. Check this out to see how their film strength compares to other oil brands:

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

With that said, you'd also be fine with the VR1.

Pepboys has RP on the shelves, but its expensive - I thing around $6 a qt. I'm running the VR1 20w-50, but I think its too thick for me...takes a long while for the oil pressure to drop, probably b/c its cooler up around here. I didn't see a 10w-xx VR1, it was like 30w, 50w, and 20w-50.

I like both the VR-1 Valvolie and Royal Purple! :thumbsup:

Vince,

Ask your local parts stores if they can order the VR-1 in 10W30. We're in the same boat down here (30W, 30W, 50W, and 20W50). I asked my local O'Reilly's and they said no problem, they could order the 10W30 and have it in next day.

Jason

Here is the ZDDP test data for the RP 20w-50 full syn oil which showed below the 12000ppm-1400ppm Zn & P thats rec for flat tappet cam.

The Brad Penn oil wasnt much better then the RP and was also well below rec lvls for ZDDP too.

Here is the test data found in the the 2007 LN Engineering oil test rept:

We are shooting for 1200ppm-1400ppm each for Zn & P for proper protection of flat tappet perf cams that have higher then stock spring rates but keep in mind the P is usually less then the ZN in most cases. So after looking at bthis make your own conclusion.

Royal Purple 20w50 668ppm(P) & 763ppm(Zn) 02/07 (test date)

Brad Penn Racing 20w50 664ppm (P) & 852ppm (Zn) 04/07 (test date)

Try the Lubirplate GPO 10w-30 or 15w-40 that has plenty of ZDDP,here are the ZDDP #'s for that oil. I also listed a couple oils that have better ZDDP lvls then the RP/Penn oil had .

These oils listed below can be bought on ebay or from the mfg. The lubriplate i odered showed up at my door then next day after ordeing it and shipping was FREE too,this saved me time and gas $ for not having to go out and search for the oil. All these oils were mfg/tested in 2007 so ZDDP data is current. Of coursethere are other full syn oils you can run like for ex the newly reformulated castrol syntec 20w-50 full syn oil ,look for ref of increased ZDDP and for calssic Care use on back label of contanier to ensure you have the correct version.

GPO 15w-40 (average over 5 samples), P=1199 ppm Zn=1288ppm Ca=2474ppm

GPO 10w-30 (average over 2 samples), P=1176 ppm (0.1176%) Zn=1326ppm Ca=2322ppm

Penrite 20w-50, Zn=900ppm and p=700pp,(SEMI?)(Some EOS or STP in Red Bottle and this will be ok)

Penrite 15w-60(yes 60) oil shows approx 1150ppm Zn & P (SEMI?)(very close should be ok with stock to mild perf cam valve springs)

Here is a statement /zddp info from a Castrol rep which a fellow t/c'r sent me on the newly re-formulated Czatrol syntec 20w-50 for classic cars with flat tappet cams, it looks good with a minimum of 1200ppm Zn,here is the info from the Castrol rep pasted below:

The level of Zinc in the new Syntec 20W-50 is a minimum of 1200 ppm, which
will provide excellent anti-wear protection for the cam and lifters in a
flat-tappet cam engine.

scott