Can anyone offer some informed advice on a good, affordable mineral (or synthetic blended) oil for use in my '77 302C?

I never use additives or flushes, believing that simply changing your oil regularly is the best way to ensure engine longevity. (And mucking out the sump every now and then.)

Up until now I've used any old 20W/50, such as the "Just Oil" brand you can get from K-Mart (etc) for next to nothing. And the car's run fine for years like that.

But perhaps there's a more ideal rating and grade to offer better protection when considering the car's usage. I don't drive it every day -- it may even sit for a week at a time -- otherwise, short local runs and a fair bit of distance driving. I seldom drive the car hard.

And I'm at something of a loss when considering every brand's bewildering array of (built-in) sprinkling of additives. While I'm sure many of them are useless gimmicks, and others are overkill for a street car, I suspect that some may actually be designed to provide tangible benefits.

Any takers? What do you use in yours, and why?

I've always been happy running Penrite oils. But if you have a brand that has served you well so far, why change?

The only 'additive' I suggest running is either Crane or Comp Cams super lube. These contain certain elements which the oil companies have removed from modern oils, as they aren't needed in roller cammed/OHC applications (ie 99% the current new carmarket). This isn't such a good thing for us people running flat tappet cams, but a $28 bottle of additive at each oil change is IMO good insurance.

Penrite HPR 30/40 or BP Course Plus. There is alot of talk about the additives in oils, mainly friction modifiers being removed, which will hurt older engines running mechanical cams etc. but I will get some more information and post it up, that will be correct other than my recollections at 6 60 in the morning.

i use Penzoil Street Machine

Check the API rating it will say something like API SM/CF The S is for petrol engines the c for diesel the letter after those is the standard the higher the letter the better the oil eg. ( API SM/CF is better than API SH/CD) This isnt to say all oils are equal but they all meet that particular standard. I think the highest is SM/CF at the moment

I use Pennzoil GT in my 302C. Its a 20W50 and I've been using it for a while. When I first started using it, it quietened the slight lifter noise that the motor had. No other additives are used, just regular oil and filter changes.

Im coming up for an oil change on my XY Clevo.. Ill be sticking to the penrite HPR 30/40

i use hpr 50

i wont use gulf western again , just to make sure

Thanks for the feedback. I'll price these for my next oil change, and see if friction modifiers make an audible difference.

Heretic, that motor in your a*** has been sitting around for quite a while now and so I would suggest this.

1.Change oil and filter with any cheap brand of no name stuff and run for a couple of days to a week.

2.Get a good brand of engine oil flush (wynns etc) and follow directions.

3.Put in decent oil, you usually get what you pay for, and another new filter and drive it for 2 weeks to a month and change filter and oil again.

In step 3 start with a heavier oil (20-50w etc) and as you do further changes you can use thinner oils as you watch your pressure.

If you want to read up on oils then Amsoil has a good site, if you can ignore their hype, and they have a reference to Fast Fours and Rotaries who did dyno runs with different oils.

I use BP Visco 5000, but it is up to you for price/availability/whether motor will like it.

Don't use the no name oils except for flushing and short term as they evaporate and break down too quickly and may not meet your motors needs.

Protection costs, how valuable is your asset and how much protection can you afford.

Always liked those P6 and the a*** should look wild when finished.

Hope this helps.

Grumbles

There's a point -- I changed with the cheap stuff about a week ago now, and it turned black after the first few minutes of idling. Given the long sitting time, it does sound wise to just use this as a flush, and change again to a better oil shortly. So thanks for the tip!

I wouldn't be going with Visco however, as it's a synthetic. BP Course Plus seems thicker than I need, but then again, the engine does tend to run hot in heavy traffic. I might try this on the NEXT change, after winter.

For now, Castrol GTX seems to have the additive package I'm after. These others are interesting but I hesitate to go for anything too thin, for now.

I'll use my remaining tub of no-name oil in the girlfriend's Laser, instead. (Shhhh.)