[427Roscoe]

Found an old case of Kendall 10w40 cans at my grandfathers old garage. Unopened and look great. I just wonder if it’s usable or not. It’s from around 1980. Better oil than what’s out there now by a long shot.

 

[Tod74]

 

[427Roscoe]

Yeah I saw that info. Nothing really definitive there though.

 

[Johns70SS]

I doubt I would chance it in my SS. Just sayin"

 

[rp930]

I wouldn’t use it. The additives fall out of suspension.

 

[catzodellamarina]

I would have thought oil is like wine and gets better with age. It sat untouched for millions of years before we discovered our use for it and began drilling.

 

[dyno jonn]

Send it to me. My pos daily driver doesn't care what oil I put in it.

 

[427Roscoe]

Lol. I hear ya. I’ll probably pour it in a clear container and see if anything looks interesting.

 

[Calculated Risk]

Found an old case of Kendall 10w40 cans at my grandfathers old garage. Unopened and look great. I just wonder if it’s usable or not. It’s from around 1980. Better oil than what’s out there now by a long shot.

quite the opposite in my opinion, oils today are way better now by a longshot.

it would be better suited as garage art then to put in an engine. Oil technology has come a long way since 1980. I guess you don't remember how sludged up an engine would get in the 70's and 80's. Engines based on the same architecture today don't see even a fraction of that sludge when using a modern oil.

You should open one up and send a sample out to the lab for a new oil analysis, would be interesting to see what a 40 year old results look like

 

[Tod74]

Send it to me. My pos daily driver doesn't care what oil I put in it.

When I was a teenager my sister’s bf would come to our house and get our used motor oil jug and put it in his POS car. He said it used it too fast to care. It probably had trans fluid and antifreeze and who knows what all in it.

 

[427Roscoe]

Oils back then were just better than they are now, especially for flat tappet cams. Sure, synthetics now are just different and far advanced but I never run synthetic oil with flat tappets. No zinc additives back then. Didn’t need them. Very few cam failures back then.
If you don’t regularly change your oil, then or now, it’ll get sludged up. Given a choice, I’d choose old conventional oil over new every single day.

 

[steelcomp]

If this is the old Kendall GT1 "green" oil, that was some of the best conventional oil you could get and still would be today. Kendall became Brad Penn which became Penn Grade. Kendall was based on a true Pennsylvania crude oil base which has been proven to have qualities not found in any other base oils. The newer Penn Grade no longer uses that base oil but Joe Gibbs/Driven GP1 does and has proven to be one of the best oils on the market.
As far as it's age, I would have no problem using that oil.

 

[68Chevele]

Found an old case of Kendall 10w40 cans at my grandfathers old garage. Unopened and look great. I just wonder if it’s usable or not. It’s from around 1980. Better oil than what’s out there now by a long shot.

No don't do it, the case is worth more like it is.

 

[malibuss67]

I bet that old oil is worth something to a collector rather then using it. someone would probably pay good money for it

 

[vortec710]

Those old unopened metal oil cans can bring decent $$$$ at swap meets from collectors, the older oils did not have the technology of current oils in MODERN engines. The high zinc/phosphorus of the older oils helped protect cams and lifters BUT remember a lot of cam/lifter failure could be attributable to defective cam and lifter metallurgy. If I had to use the older oil in an oil change, I would not use more than 1 quart per oil change in a newer engine. Older engines with miles on them...your choice, just remember....may be worth more to the oil can nostalgia collector.......FWIW.

 

[68Chevele]

I was saving a case of Texaco 30W oil years ago (24 in a case back then) and my Dad got into it, I was so mad at him for that. Went over there to get the rest of it and it's gone. Years later my brother said he had a can of my old 30W and gave it to me so I suspect he swiped the rest of it. I still have a case of the 100th anniversary Texaco oil in the shed, might be worth something 100 years from now, LOL.

 

[cheveslakr]

If this is the old Kendall GT1 "green" oil, that was some of the best conventional oil you could get and still would be today. Kendall became Brad Penn which became Penn Grade. Kendall was based on a true Pennsylvania crude oil base which has been proven to have qualities not found in any other base oils. The newer Penn Grade no longer uses that base oil but Joe Gibbs/Driven GP1 does and has proven to be one of the best oils on the market.
As far as it's age, I would have no problem using that oil.

That's nice to know, but are you basing that on fact, lab results, or just the feel between your fingers?
I ask because I've got a few questions of the old brad penn semi synthetic that must be at least 7, maybe 10 years old.

 

[steelcomp]

That's nice to know, but are you basing that on fact, lab results, or just the feel between your fingers?
I ask because I've got a few questions of the old brad penn semi synthetic that must be at least 7, maybe 10 years old.

Basing what? You'll have to be a little more specific.

 

[cheveslakr]

You've got to be kidding.
You listed some facts, and an assertion. Not debating your facts, since they're facts.

 

[steelcomp]

You've got to be kidding.
You listed some facts, and an assertion. Not debating your facts, since they're facts.

If you can't be more specific, I can't answer your question.