preferred oil in rover/buick V8's?

[mindseye]

-Like to hear from guys as to their oil reccommendations....the guy I bought my conversion from was using synthetic oil in 10-30W....engine has a comp. cam, edelbrock set up....my brit mech. says I will wreck the cam if I keep using the stuff...he wants to sell me this prestolite stuff he says is made for these engines....please post or send me a pm...thnx

-also does anyone reccommend good after market gauges to fit stock dash holes...I am using the original 4 banger stuff...tach totally wacked out on my T-5 tranny and speedo out by 10kms.

[mowog1]

Check out Autometer guages..available through Summit, and other sources.

A lot of different styles to match just about any taste.

[Moderator]

Perhaps you mean "Prestone" oil? My guess is that 10W30 might make sense for you if you're running in cold weather and if you want a relatively thin oil for slightly better fuel economy.

Go here for mountains of information (and opinions) about oil: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com

My instinct is that synthetic oils might make more sense on a car where you really want/need an extended drain interval. For old cars, synthetic oil seems like a solution looking for a problem. I figure my camshaft is living an easy life: the engine has hydraulic tappets, I don't rev it until it's warmed up, I don't drive in really cold weather and/or with the choke on, my engine only rarely sees high RPM use, the engine is usually lightly stressed because it's in a lightweight car, and I change the oil frequently. I've mostly used Castrol GTX in my Buick 215 since I rebuilt it nineteen years ago... I think the current fill is 15W-40. When I had it apart last spring to upgrade from Buick 215 heads to Rover 4.0 heads, the internals were spotlessly clean.

Some of the fear-mongering in the last year or two about ZDDP has been utterly ridiculous. When salesmen use scare tactics instead of laying out straight facts, it makes me very weary. If your engine was properly broken-in with an appropriate assembly lube, none of the popular engine oils are going to cause immediate camshaft failure, IMHO. (Don't sue me if I'm wrong!)

[BlownMGB-V8]

I think you need the zinc, but I've had a couple of cam failures and that has probably affected my opinion. Never had a problem before the new cars started using roller tappets. Could just be the oil. It's not the sort of thing you like finding out about after the fact.

Jim

[Phillip G]

Mindseye,

I just fired up my first Rover 3.5 V8. I let it run for about 5 seconds

Everything I've read says the Zinc in the oil is important for the Rover V8 - so I used Valvoling 10/40 Racing oil and added my own Zinc - a small bottle of additive.

After 20 minutes at 2,000RPM, I plan to change the oil/filter and add the same.

 .... for what it is worth

Keep them on the track,

Phillip G.

[jimbb88]

I have started using Brad Penn oil, which has all the old additives no longer present in the of modern oils. There are several brands of "retro"oils out there including one sold by Moss.

Mobil 1, which I have used for many years, no longer has the wear additives, so I have felt the need for change. I drive pretty hard, cold weather, etc. & don't need an unnecessary rebuild.

[mindseye]

I ordered a pair of new headers from D&D fabrications who also rebuild and sell the rover V8's....they use castrol 10-40 with zinc additive...I think I will try that since I am going to use the car all the time/conditions