Tom and fellow listers,
General Motors had to go with a synthetic oil in the Corvettes' engines
because they had a design problem. On cold start-up, conventional motor
oil could not flow fast enough to lubricate the overhead cams and major
damage resulted. So, GM specified synthetics and that took care of that
problem. On an LBC note, many listers have indicated that the use of
synthetic motor oil in their cars has caused the engine to leak even
more than normal. According to a tech rep from Pennzoil, there is more
than enough anecdotal evidence to support this as fact.
Since the synthetic flows better, it will make its way out through any
pin holes or hairline cracks of an older gasket, and then, if you switch
back to regular motor oil, you'll still have the leak. Just a caution to
anyone who hasn't put a synthetic in their LBC- the downside of leaks
may override any benefit of the synthetic's lubricating properties.
Jeff Johnson
'76 TR6
Tom Gentry wrote:
>
> This may not be pertinent to our LBC's, but Corvettes have been coming from
>the factory with Mobil 1 for some time now. I'm not sure if this means a
>change in oil/break-in philosophy or a change in engine/metallurgy technology.
>
> Tom Gentry
> Life is too short to drive boring cars!
> '96 Ford SVT Cobra Mystic #1345 (mostly stock)
> '72 Triumph TR-6 OD (highly modified)
> '59 Triumph 10 Sedan (in boxes)
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