<VV> Walmart oil

[Mark Durham]

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-tech-performance/3078239-quaker-state-s-new-defy-motor-oil-lab-test-and-wear-test-data.html
Ernie, there are lots of good oils out there for your engines. Yes, oils
are changing, but even some of the newer oils are still SL rated (Valvoline
VR 1 and Quaker State Defy)and would do a great job lubricating your
engines.  Above is a list of 48 oils I found on the Corvette Flat Tappet
forum last year. It breaks the oil down into several categories, ands the
guy did a shear test on every oil. Suprisingly, the heavier oils were NOT
any better at passing the shear test. Some zero wt 20 and zero wt 30 oils
did just as good a job in the shear test as did the thicker oils. Simply
put, one should use the correct viscosity for the engine's design, then use
a oil that meets or exceeds the "rating", or, add an additive for the ZDDP.

Like the author, I would say that all of the oils on the list surpass the
needs of our engines if properly rated for the engine it is used in,
because there are oils at the bottom of the list and oils at the top of the
list used every day by Corvair drivers with no problems.

While Richard Widman's oil articles indicate that the corvair engine was
designed for a 30 wt derivitive oil, current and past owners have had
excellent results with oils as heavy as 20w50, and driven their engines
many miles that way. As for me, I used  10w30 and 10w40 Havoline products
back in the 60's and 70's on my first Corvair with over 220K miles with no
oil related failures on the same engine including the cylinders. Bearings,
rings and cam and lifters  were replaced once when the fiber cam gear broke
at 120K miles. And oils today are far superior to those oils. The base
stocks are better refined, and the engineers that design the oils are spot
on  with their formulations. I say this because people today are getting
200K to 300K miles on engines using normal or semisynthetic oils with
regular oil changes, and it was rare indeed to get 100K- 150K miles out of
engines in the 60's when our engines were designed.

As for the 20w50 oils, try the local farm or tractor supply. We have Big R
here, and they have their own branded oils in the 20w50 that carry the SL
ratings. But, also take a good look at Diesel oils. Check out Shell Rotella
and Chevron Delo oils. Those engines use a heavier oil and have excellent
service records.Richard Widman talks a bit about them, too.

Regards
Mark Durham


On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 1:58 PM, Ernie Sanders <epssax at yahoo.com> wrote:

> A friend just bought 5 cases of 20w50.  Went to several walmarts to find
> it.  Seems they are getting rid of their brand oil and filters.  Vavoline
> is handling their garage now and now the shelves are going to have
> valvoline oil and filters.
>
> I only hope this is a local issue and not nation-wide.  I have 6 cars, two
> tractors, and a zero turn mower and they all require different oil.  It's
> getting difficult to wrench on our own cars.
>
> I'd love to hear some input on this from better informed people.
>
> Ernie from Louisville, KY
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