OK, I have a little time now....so we'll talk oil. Theres a conceptoin that alot of these super low viscosity oils can be run on the street without much problems. Its a yes and no answer. Everybody sees the oils we now run on the track as a trick for street preformance, picking up horsepower here and there....
Well, those motors on race day thay are running 0W15, 5W15, etc, those motors are designed for such things, we cut down on lube in certain places, while running high pressures so we can run looser clearances here and tighter there, to take advantage of the thinner oils.
Because of the higher oil flow, bearings can run cooler, and with the thin stuff, it takes less horses to drive that oilpump.
All this is fine for a Nascar motor that only sees 250 to 5oo miles, all afternoon and this is sold off for scrap afterwards, or for the weekend runs at the strip after your 1/4 mile missile has seen 15 really hard runs....
The Pro's have what it takes to run these low viscosity fluids, the means, the raw resources, and the money from the sponsors to be on the cutting edge. For street cars that are getting hotter and hotter, smaller motors with less than Ideal design concepts, they're able to cut some costs, running lighter lubes to pick up horses, and therefore, a shorter motor lifespan.
A light breakin oil is wanted and needed for sealing on your pistons and rings after startup. You want to seat those as fast as possible. You used to be able to do those by running your motor hotter, thereby thinning out your oil....since on that new motor you had assembly grease on your cam lobes and lifters....
By the time we figured out that benefit of running things hotter (we owe alot to you Smokey Y.), less parasitic loss due to thin oil, oil sheds off the rotating assemblies faster, less drag at the pump, and, less internal friction.
These oils have alot of modifiers and additives in them. They shed heat faster, stay slicker, longer. But, they do break down. As clearences in your motor opens up, your pressure drops faster with those thin oils.
Me, myself, I set up the motors to run in quick, that means lower viscosity, after breakin, a flush is then done, at 200 miles, another is done, then at 1000 miles.
I prefer to have a motor you pamper alittle at the start of its life, then drive it for 250,000 miles if able to. In a T or your Hotrod, most of us plan on changing things every few years. Not because we need to, but because we want to.
All this is just a little food for thought when setting up your next motor. I'm oldschool. Somethings I gotta do 'NewSchool', thats because the racing dictates that. Hotrods that lived for years on the street pushing 32's around, or T's. All these folks did it with simpler oils, with less technology, with heavier cars, and these guys/cars were the epitome of rodding back in the 50's/60's/70's.
Just so you'll look at this work of art. Ed 'Isky' Iskenderian, has a T that he built back in the mid 30's, that he still has. Its Totally OldSchool, its awesome, and I bet it saw some pretty trick stuff back in its time. Look at your lastest EngineBuilder Mags and read the article about him.
Most of use haven't owned houses that long or have stayed married for that long either. He's a great guy, and was put in the Hall of Fame not long ago. A killer T, for all those years. AWESOME! I like seeing these guys that taught me racing get their due, and before its time for them to drive their rods over that last sunset....
