[TR] Science of the "Oil Issue" Part 2

[Larry Griffin]

The e-mail below was posted to the North Carolina MG Car Club list by
Max Fulton, of the Flying Circus English Cars in Durham, NC. To me, it
seemed to have some new information on the subject related to the
level of ZDDP to detergents in the oil. Max gave me permission to post
it to 6-Pack and the Triumph list. I am posting in 2 parts due to size
limitations.

NFI in Flying Circus. :-)

Thanks,
Larry Griffin
71 TR6


Part 2 by Max Fulton:

THE NET RESULT: Commercial oils will not suffice. They are made for
modern cars and a larger market, and subject to change. Just like you
wouldn't go into AutoPalace to get a part for your LBC, you pretty
much can't go there for your Oil now, either.

Mobil 1 used to be an oil of preference, esp. for Racing. It built up
a reputationb& then changed it's formulation for the masses. At the
moment, Valvoline VR1 is considered a "decent" oil, but the worry is
the same-- it is sold commercially, and they may change their
formulation at any time without telling in what way and by how much.
(The B-Stingers got caught out on this: we used Kendall GT1 initially,
(and Mr. Speed even used this as his example for an "excellent" old
formulae 20w-50!) Well, they got bought out, changed the formulation
without notice-- and we wiped out a camshaft!)

A "classic" oil will be formulated for old classic (flat tappet) cars.
It will NOT change it's formulation, because this IS what it is for!

There are many of these types of oils out there, but two that I know
of are Brad Penn and Joe Gibbs Racing.

As for Camshafts: Currently the only guy I know of who is selling the
highest quality camshafts (and he's having a hard time getting these
made to his specification!) is Kai Radicke at Wishbone Classics. REM:
the better the finish on the cam and lifters, the less phosphorous
required in the oil to maintain a protective film. I'm not saying
other cams do not have as good a finish-- we don't have the ability to
test them and it isn't information our suppliers have to give us. I do
know, however (as I asked Mr. Speed this directly), that Kai's cams
have the same finish on them as they use at Joe Gibbs Racing for their
NASCAR cams.  (2Ra-- often cams are found to be more like 6 - 8Ra
(coarser).)

Addendum to Camshafts: STAY AWAY from hardest lifters! Moss and others
(APT) are now boasting lifters with Rockwell ratings of 64+. This
means it's quite possible they will be HARDER than the camshaft you
run them on! Well, this is no good. The lifter, where necessary (read:
oil failures), is still supposed to be the "wear item". The OE lifters
(part # 2A13, bucket style, made by AE) had a hardness of around
54-56. These are fine.

Given what we know, the finish on the two mating surfaces is likely
more important than their actual hardness. NASCAR's lifters, for
instance, running on that super-smooth camshaft, are only a Rockwell
of 50b&.

Modern technology is leaving us behind. Support those who are trying to help
us.