<VV> Selecting an oil - (No Corviar)

Mon May 29 22:35:50 EDT 2006

At 09:22 PM 5/29/2006 -0400, Bill Elliott wrote:

>Actually, that's EXACTLY where the name came from. Some of the "hardcore" 
>vintage racers (including the motorcycle guys) still use it... but others 
>just add a little bit to the petrol tank for the characteristic smell. 
>Lots of two stroke folks use it as well... but the difficulty in getting 
>parts for a 50-year old two stroke engine means that I run synthetic there 
>as well!

The vintage racers aren't all nuts.  I discovered castor oil for two 
strokes when reading both about WWI airplanes and sports car racing of the 
late '50s.  When gotten hot next to metal, castor oil bonds to the metal in 
a gum layer so strong that it can only be removed by machining.  In short, 
it really does what Slick 50 et. al. claim to do.  I ran it in my 
much-abused moped in college (got it in the itty-bitty bottles in the 
drugstore, which lasted about three tankfuls at 20:1), and have used it for 
end-of-the-season tanks of fuel for the various seasonal two strokes that 
populate life.  Mix it 20:1.  it smokes more than the modern synthetics, 
but it is indeed a wonderful lubricant for total-loss applications.  I 
wouldn't add it to gasoline for a four-stroke just because it will probably 
form carbon on intake valves.

Castor oil was used in race cars because it had better film strength than 
any available petroleum oil of the day.  Yes, it has a characteristic smell 
when burned.

>(I also understand that in WWII (possibly WWI as well), many of the RAF 
>planes used this... some early ones with external lubrication... leading 
>to undesirable effects on the pilots in the open cockpits. I further 
>understand that a diet including lots of cheese was somewhat of an antidote)
>
>Bill Elliott

The evil device in question was called a "rotary radial engine."  The idea 
was that airplanes went slowly through the air, and were hard to start (so 
tended to be idled a lot after starting while the mechanics went to get the 
pilot).  Cooling was a big issue.  All of the successful aircraft engines 
of WWI were either water-cooled or had moving cylinders to force air across 
their fins.  If you bolt the crankshaft to the firewall and spin a radial, 
you get a "rotary radial."

Aside from "interesting" flight behavior due to gyroscopic precession, 
their other unique characteristic was that the engines were lubricated and 
fed with a fuel/castor oil/air mixture through the hollow crankshaft, which 
was then burned in the cylinders.  The result was that wherever a WWI 
Sopwith or Fokker (except for D-VII) pilot went, the smell of burned castor 
oil followed.  And yes, the castor oil had its usual effect.  The origin of 
the "medicinal dram" for flight crews is the necessity of a quick dose of 
peppermint schnapps to calm the digestive tract after the pilot has spent 
an hour inhaling castor oil fumes.   I would not be surprised that a 
high-cheese diet was also popular.

So why do we care?  Because they're still digging LeRhone and Clerget 
rotary radials out of the French soil today, 90 or more years after they 
were buried.  They often turn out to be restorable because of the thick 
layer of castor oil varnish on their exteriors, and the gum coating inside 
the crankcase.  It really is that good a metal preservative.  Try smearing 
some on some metal and heating it to about 300 F.  It's the one thing I've 
found that keeps the wife from rusting the carbon steel kitchen knives.

Considering storing some engine parts long-term?  Castor oil - it's not 
just a digestion aid anymore.

>Rick & Janet Norris wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Castroil?  Isn't that the stuff your mother (maybe your grandmother) 
>>>make you take when you were sick?  If it is for human consumption, 
>>>probably not appropriate for your car.  <GRIN>
>>>
>>>Later, JR
>>
>>
>>Well,
>>I certainly remember what it did to me when I was forced to take it as a 
>>kid so I don't want my Corvair to do that!!
>
>
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__________________________________________________________________________
Rad Davis:                                        rad.davis at comcast.net
Corvairs--65, 66 Corsa coupes, '65 'brier Deluxe   http://www.corvair.org/
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