Packard Forum Index » General

Been away for a bit. Now have time to be back. Couple years ago purchased several cans of Shell x100 30 w. Seemed to be the good set up then for classic cars, had zinc? Went to purchase more, and they seem to have disappeared? So if they are gone, what is being used now? Thanks

Hi Tolandis,

Napa carries a 'Classic Car and Hot Rod' oil that has a zinc additive and is available in various viscosities. Chris.

Thanks, have A NAPA just a few minutes from my house.

The Indiana Region of CCCA has partnered with D-A Lubricants in Indianapolis to produce Classic Car Motor Oil. It has the correct zinc and phosphorus amounts for our older flat-tappet engines. I've used it in my cars for several years now with good results. The Indiana Region, CCCA, will ship the oil to you if you like in 12-quart cases.

Here's their website:https://inrccca.org/product/classic-car-motor-oil/

The website is really informative.

Good luck!

Steve in Indiana

Thank you, will do.

https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/952344/

You may want to research this topic before you follow the "traditional" wisdom, aka "wisdumb". You're not likely to be sustained driving much over 2-3000 rpm, so what's the fuss? Making money for the sellers.
I had another SAE research level report but can't seem to locate at the moment, but the upshot is the same. After a certain amount, the excess ZDDP offers no additional wear life! ie, not proportional to content! In this article summary, 2x same as 1x at 100k miles.
What I recall was 10-15% goes out during a change cycle mileage, so anything more is just ending up in the used motor oil recycle drum. Waste/pollution - that's just one reason they decreased the level.
It's not going to "grow' new metal on old worn out parts either nor make them last longer. Once they get worn, the friction will be worse, regardless. These cars weren't designed to run for hundreds of thousands of miles - technology didn't exist back then.
Another case of "old" technology being put forward as "better" or "correct" in a future technology state/time. Many examples in the old car hobby. Humans are mythologically driven when they don't understand. A guild/craft based hobby.

disclaimer;I don't recommend nor disparage products nor uses of said. Proceed at your own risk.

ps: A quick search shows your oil appears to be still available, just maybe not where you usually buy it.
The modern "racing" labelled oils tend to be higher zinc, as the problems of catalytic convertors and crankcase emissions do not apply to the race track - at least not at the moment. The rpms are also much higher 2-4X than the antique autos.
Some people have resorted to diesel oil in gasoline engines and that's not recommended. No harm as I understand, but costly. (I own a diesel)

Here is an interesting blurb I saw on an AACA forum that concurs with the Packard manual as regards using 20w as specified by Packard where applicable.

"My daily driver had nothing used in it except Mobiloil #30 for the first 99,000 miles of its life. When I started driving it (1959)it was burning a quart of oil every 500 miles. The shop foreman at the GM dealership where I worked said to use lighter weight oil as it would scrape off the cylinder walls easier. I switched to 20 wt and after three oil changes the consumption was down to a quart in one thaousand miles. When I overhauled my engine at 200,00 odd miles I started out with the best rated "DG" oil # 5 weight. I used this weight oil for over 100,000 miles and then went to #10 wt that I still use. I have 18 lbs pressure at an idle and 30 lbs when driving. The pressure stays like this all day driving at 40 to 55 mph. I had the pan off around 450,000 miles because one of my new pistons developed slap. Everything was clean and the bearings showed no wear ( I plastiguaged all nine of them). I would use nothing but the best detergent oil at the lightest weight possible."

Doesn't say what his daily driver is/was?
1 qt / 1000 miles is still not even acceptable oil consumption? So what's his point - half of zero is still zero, he shot his own foot.
Either leaked oil like the Exxon Valdez or smoked worse than the brisket smoker. What's known as "hearsay" evidence in the courts or anecdotal commonly.

Not that much difference between 10 and 20 wt in terms of viscosity. One of the other common fallacies of motor oil lore. I doubt this "story" has any real merit and certainly no connection to zinc addtives.