<VV> Conventional vs synthetic motor oils
J R Read_HML
hmlinc@sbcglobal.net
Fri, 7 Jan 2005 23:43:48 -0600
My dad was buying Buicks in the mid '50s. A '55 Century and a '57 Super.
He used Mobil One in both. It was TRUE synthetic in those days. I remember
the '55 leaving spots on the drive. Not sure about the '57 - but probably
yes. In '60 he started buying Pontiacs. None of those left drips that I
can recall. I don't know that it was the change of brands (of cars), I
doubt it since they were both GM. I suspect that the pan gasket material
may have changed to accommodate the (somewhat) higher end buyers of GM cars
who wanted to use synthetic oil. I don't know when Mobil 1 was first
available. Would this have been the "early" years?
On the other hand, I got my driver license in late (Oct) 1958, so maybe that
'60 Bonneville convert (bucket seats) just was not spending much time in the
driveway! I DO recall wearing out a set of butyl (sp?) rubber tires in
about 10,000 miles.
Attachments (if any) are scanned with anti-virus software.
Later, JR
'61 Rampside Standard 4/110
'65 Monza Convertible 4/140
'66 beater Coupe - icemobile 4/140
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Simpson" <simpsonj@bellatlantic.net>
To: <robert.vukas@jostens.com>
Cc: <virtualvairs@skiblack.com>
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 5:36 PM
Subject: <VV> Conventional vs synthetic motor oils
> The "leak" issue is not quite an old wife's tale or an urban legend, but
> it comes close. There is a basis for it -- when synthetic oils were first
> introduced there were leak issues. This was a result of the oils not have
> the proper seal swelling additives. That's been taken care of decades
> ago, but the memory lives on. Lots of these things stay around because of
> some old-time mechanic's story or an article in a 1960 issue of Popular
> Mechanics. Long obsolete data!
>
SNIP
>
> Jim Simpson, Group Corvair