<VV> Quaker State "Defy" Oil

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Hi Folks,
 
There have been lots of comments regarding "Defy" oil and oil  in general.  
Comments range from, "The additives are  close enough for an engine that is 
already broken in." to "We haven't seen all  that many tappet failures." 
implying that if there haven't been many failures,  any old oil is OK.
 
Neither of these positions are credible.  First, Defy is  new and I doubt 
we have any success or failure stories yet.  How close does  "close enough" 
need to be?  Second, the "We haven't seen that many tappet  failures" 
position is silly.  The logic that if there haven't been many  failures indicates 
any oil is OK is backwards.  More likely is that there  have been few 
failures BECAUSE Corvair owners don't use any old oil.  The  additive content of 
oils is an ongoing thread on VV and most people know which  types of oils to 
use.  We are a frugal bunch but there are many oils out  there that are quite 
cheap (oops, I mean inexpensive) and still have the  additives we need.
 
Here is the logic.  
 
1.  What is the price difference between Defy or  modern "green" oil and 
other oils with proper additives?  I don't know  the cost of Defy but the 
difference probably is not much, if any.  
 
2.  What is the cost of a rebuilt engine with new cam and  lifters 
required?  With metal particles floating around, you might need new  bearings, 
rings, bored cylinders, reground crank, etc.  The cost is a lot  especially if 
you can't do the work yourself.  More important, the cost is  HUGE if it can 
be avoided.
 
3.  You don't need to do the math to know that even if  you assume that 
there is little risk with Defy oil, it isn't worth the risk to  your engine.  
 
4.  Conclusion-  Use oil you KNOW is safe to  use.  We're talking about 
nickels and dimes here folks.
 
Personally, I do not skimp on my oil.  I do not want  to worry about 
something critical being marginal.  Here is my mental test  for doing something 
one way or another ..... "If doing something the cheap way  or taking a 
shortcut leads to failure, will I look back and regret not doing it  the right 
way?"  In almost all cases, I would kick myself in the butt after  the fact for 
not using quality "stuff" or taking extra care up-front.   There are many 
platitudes but one comes to mind.  "Why do we never have the  time or money 
to do it right the first time but always have the time or money to  do it 
over?"
 
Just my opinion,
 
Doc
 
PS:  I edited out all of Bryan's text except what I felt  was the most 
important point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
In a message dated 7/12/2012 4:08:36 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  8
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:35:07 -0400
From: Bryan Blackwell  <bryan at skiblack.com>
Subject: Re: <VV> Quaker State "Defy"  Oil
To: Mark Durham <62vair at gmail.com>
Cc: Virtual Vairs  <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Message-ID:  <E156C85F-46BE-4463-93B8-9D6193C758EB at skiblack.com>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

..... but I have no desire to  experiment on my own  engines.

--Bryan