Oil weight for flat tappet engines

What is a goo weight oil that contains enough zink for older engines?

 

Wow- a whole new tangent to go off on- nooooooooo.......

 

Brad Penn 10W-30.

 

Sir, I am saying this RESPECTFULLY, I am NOT flaming you in any way, that said, could you please give us all more info when you post a thread. We are all glad to help, so hit us with all the info you can at the beginning of the question. So tell us what mill you have, modifications made, that kind of stuff, and we can help. Thank you, TR

 

what were the bearing clearances set at? loose or tight? etc. way to little information to make a decision, if it's still how the factory did it, go with their recommendation first.

 

Any reasonable oil weight is ok, it's the oil type you need to be concerned about.

 

289 that has been rebuilt by previous person. Flat tappet. Tolerances unknown. Been told to run vr1 20w50 Valvoline racing or any 10w40 due to zink content

 

20-50 I like castrol

 

VR-1 is good stuff and has the correct ZDDP levels for flat-tappets, plus you can get it off the shelf at Kragen

 

I have been running Shell Rotella T 15W40 in my 57 Fairlane with a 312 for years.Flat tappet solid lifter motor. I change oil every 3,000 miles or every 6 months which ever comes first. Older carb. motors get gas and moisture in the crankcase.
Especially with a lot of short trips.

 

Rotella T baby....I also add the lucas zinc additive never had any problems.

 

Might want to check the ZDDP specs on any new Rotella-T you go to buy- I believe they've "messed with it", which is a shame, because it was a great oil. I still have a few gallons of the "old stuff" left

 

So 15w40 and 20w50 are not to heavy?

 

Chevron /delo 400 15W/40 at one time was but I think they have altered the amount of zinc in it also . ZR-l is also very good. Brad Penn is the old style Kendel ( green )smell like () , but really used it a lot on the race track with good results.

 

VR1 20W-50 in the summer, and VR1 10W-40 in the winter, no additional ZDDP is needed, you'll be good 2 go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm also running Brad Penn like the guy above..high zinc levels... 20-50 in summer and 10-40 in fall winter

http://www.bradpennracing.com/

 

I found some 10w30 vr1.

 

Who told you to run 20w50? Was it the previous owner? They would probably know. Or find who actually rebuilt it and ask.