[Healeys] ZDDP Contrarian

[joe mulqueen]

I've been reading the reports and concerns about "no
more zddp for flat tappet engines" but I have a
question I haven't seen answered:

What's the difference between a cam lobe sliding
across the tappet face and an overhead cam engine
where the cam is slapping across a rocker arm (or a
flat tappet on top of the valve stem in a twin cam
engine)?  Seems to me it's all the same motion and
effect but with maybe more inertia from the pushrod...
FYIW, I commute the fwy daily with old cars (82 jag,
56 mg, 67 Landrover).  I change oil frequently but buy
the cheapest, on sale, oil at Kragen. I don't seem to
have any problems. I just had the valves adjusted on
my '82 jaguar XK engine after 100K miles and there is
no pitting or scuffing on the cam lobes or tappet
faces (which sit atop the valve stems).  But I do
agree things can go wrong with those surfaces.  My
first ca project out of highschool in mid '70s was '59
MGA.  The cam and rockers on that engine were
definitely erroded.  So if it happened back then it
can certainly happen today...but would I blame it on
the lack of ZDDP?
Regards,
JoeMulqueen
'60 BT7 project