Revisit the debate: oil for flat tappet cams

But that's good news about the Valvoline and Lucas - I'll look into both for next time.  

Man, that Lucas website is sllllloooooowwwwwww.


I bought a 4 pack of ZDDPlus off ebay and just use that with Mobil 1 or Valvoline Synthetic 10w-40.

I've heard that 10w-40 and thicker weights don't have to comply with the lower zinc levels and may actually have the right levels.



Also, I don't think the Valvoline VR-1 is designed for daily use, it's a racing oil and doesn't have the detergent additives that a daily use oil would have.  I could be wrong. 


|UPDATED|12/28/2012 10:32:49 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

 I have a comp cam as well and use Joe Gibbs. 1 quart of break-in oil and 4 qts of J.G. on initial rebuild start up. 1000 miles, change to 1/2 qt break in oil and finish with J.G. 3000 miles, not made it that far yet, but will use ALL J.G.

OK, so I hit NAPA, AutoZone, and O'Reilly's today.

NAPA has Amzoil Z for classic cars, 9.69 per quart!  Said they could order that Lucas cam break in bottle.  It costs 13 bucks!  Also had Castrol Syntec for classic cars and it too was 9.69 a fricken quart.

AutoZone didn't have chit.

O'Reilly's had a quart of Rislone Zinc additive for 12 bucks.  Geez.

I think I will stick with ZDDPlus and just use my choice of 10w-40.

AmsOil for me here after replacing the engine in my '81 last year with a new GM crate motor. My mechanic looked deep into this subject and he now only recommends AmsOil and from their website you can input correct data for your setup and get the proper oil suggested. It ain't the cheapest, about $10 quart but knowing it has the right amount of stuff easy the mind for me.

Here is a link to a great list on another forum.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-tech-performance/2484100-list-of-flat-tappet-oils.html

I used the Rislone ZDDP additive:  

|UPDATED|12/29/2012 11:13:15 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I know I posted this before but this is my cam that came out last year and that is the fuel pump lob that is toast. Now not sure if off the counter oil was the problem but now using only Amsoil for my proper set up. As far as mixing in the additives you may not get an even flow of the amounts thru out all the oil. So for me again I'll stick with Amsoil Z-Rod 10-30W.