How many of you do synthetic when putting in a new engine ? Should i or should i not ? I am still at 360 miles and trying to get those 500 before changing the oil for the first time. I was told i could go synthetic but need to ask you pros out here if that is a smart thing to do ? 10-30 on a V8 400 small block or Synthetic from 500 miles and up after break in.
If it is synthetic should i do quaker state ? or Penzoil for 10-30 ? Whats the better oil also ?

I'm also interested in this as I will be installing my rebuilt engine this weekend.

depending on the cam, I was told regular 10w 30 for roller cam

flat tappet, i would use a break in oil, racing oil, or an oil with high zinc addictive, such as vavloline vr1.. with the new oilers, they most zinc, and just kills the cadillac convertors.. so its important for the valves lobes and lifters to get proper oil splash

at least for the first 1000 miles


also, i dont use synthetics, and dont plan too

correct me if im wrong guys :p

I built a 383 about 15 years ago, after 200 miles I went to Mobil 1. Drag raced the car on a regular basis for 10 years, never had an oil issue. I've been driving cars for 35 years & I will only use Valvoline or Mobil 1 synthetic. I did a test on motor oil in my dad's garage years ago & he is a chemist, he told me to go get the best motor oil I could find & put it up against the oil he sold to large companies that ran equipment that could not afford to be down or it cost them big $$$. So I said I'll just use the Valvoline I currently run in my car. The big test was Pennzoil, Valvoline & his high dollar oil. After the test was complete the Pennzoil was the worst. The Valvoline was very close in comparison to his high $$ oil. He couldn't believe Valvoline was that good. That is why they use Pennzoil for comparison when they run the test in front of a potential customer. In my opinion when it comes to oil it's not the brand, it's the maintenance you do on your car. Change the oil as needed & you will be fine. Anyway just my 2 cents.

Mobil 1 in everything I have after break in, except the motorcycle. 20/50 in the 68 302, specified grade for the others.

I've never used synthetic and don't plan to. I just use the cheapest conventional motor oil I can find. I never go more than 3,000 miles between oil changes on my daily drivers. My Camaro only gets driven about 500 miles a year, so I change the oil and filter every spring. I've never had engine troubles with any of my vehicles.

I've never drag raced though. Maybe that's a different story.

Whatever you use, I would recommend changing the oil and filter 2 or 3 times in the first few hundred miles. Cheap insurance.

You aren't going to get the answer your looking for with an oil thread. There are more opinions on oil than there are on politics. If it's old school technology then I'd run dino with plenty of zinc like a vr1 valvoline. As far as the previous poster saying buy the cheapest crap out there. That doesn't make much since to me since I intend to push my stuff as hard as possible. I'm going to run a quality oil in my high dollar motor.

I built a 383 about 15 years ago, after 200 miles I went to Mobil 1. Drag raced the car on a regular basis for 10 years, never had an oil issue. I've been driving cars for 35 years & I will only use Valvoline or Mobil 1 synthetic. I did a test on motor oil in my dad's garage years ago & he is a chemist, he told me to go get the best motor oil I could find & put it up against the oil he sold to large companies that ran equipment that could not afford to be down or it cost them big $$$. So I said I'll just use the Valvoline I currently run in my car. The big test was Pennzoil, Valvoline & his high dollar oil. After the test was complete the Pennzoil was the worst. The Valvoline was very close in comparison to his high $$ oil. He couldn't believe Valvoline was that good. That is why they use Pennzoil for comparison when they run the test in front of a potential customer. In my opinion when it comes to oil it's not the brand, it's the maintenance you do on your car. Change the oil as needed & you will be fine. Anyway just my 2 cents.

Yea, BUT what was the test?

in the last few years i have built daily driver performance engines for my sons..since day 1 have used amsoil synthetic oil...absolutely no problems..still drive them and have driven them to their college in arkansas and home several trips...inside of motor clean...no tapping or any other issues...

How many of you do synthetic when putting in a new engine ? Should i or should i not ? I am still at 360 miles and trying to get those 500 before changing the oil for the first time. I was told i could go synthetic but need to ask you pros out here if that is a smart thing to do ? 10-30 on a V8 400 small block or Synthetic from 500 miles and up after break in.
If it is synthetic should i do quaker state ? or Penzoil for 10-30 ? Whats the better oil also ?

well i just bought a 383 stroker from blue print engines almost 4k for the first 500 miles i have to use what the enginee was dynod with which is rotella oil after that ic an use what ever... its up to you, i think however it would be kind of pricey considering you are suppose to be driving under 50 mph for 500 miles.. id wait but thats my opinion.

After break in, with the cost of engines today, I would use 100% syn like Amsoil or Mobile 1. Ive used the Amsoil since 1975 and never a problem. Never.
3000 mile drain intervals are a thing of the past and are so outdated and only meant to sell alot of oil. Even new car engines today have 7500 mile or longer drain intervals in them. Corvette's come from the factor with Mobile 1.
Your engine is worth having the best oil in it. I find Syns have proven to be the best.

.....dynod with which is rotella oil .....

I second the motion on the use of Shell Rotella oils. For a flat tappet engine during break-in , use it and also use a can of EOS (engine oil supplement) available from any GM dealer. You will greatly reduce the risk of cam damage and get a quality break in.

My 2 cents - synthetics aren't worth the money , except in the rear axle!!

The Shell Rotella oils are also great for long term use - From the web:

Base oils made with the Iso-DeWaxing process are called Group II, and are significantly more pure and have higher performance than Group I base oils. Chevron Delo 400, Mobil Delvac 1300, and Shell Rotella are made from pure Group II oils. Motor oils made with Group-II base oils leave far fewer wax and tar deposits in your engine, and have much better low and high temperature performance than Group I oils. The resulting oils are roughly 97% good stuff (oil) and 3% bad stuff (paraffin and wax).

I built a 383 about 15 years ago, after 200 miles I went to Mobil 1. Drag raced the car on a regular basis for 10 years, never had an oil issue. I've been driving cars for 35 years & I will only use Valvoline or Mobil 1 synthetic. I did a test on motor oil in my dad's garage years ago & he is a chemist, he told me to go get the best motor oil I could find & put it up against the oil he sold to large companies that ran equipment that could not afford to be down or it cost them big $$$. So I said I'll just use the Valvoline I currently run in my car. The big test was Pennzoil, Valvoline & his high dollar oil. After the test was complete the Pennzoil was the worst. The Valvoline was very close in comparison to his high $$ oil. He couldn't believe Valvoline was that good. That is why they use Pennzoil for comparison when they run the test in front of a potential customer. In my opinion when it comes to oil it's not the brand, it's the maintenance you do on your car. Change the oil as needed & you will be fine. Anyway just my 2 cents.

+++1

I did this Pennzoil test as a teen (no kidding). We (my buddies and me) we BIG drag racers. One was so sold on Pennzoil, I was a valvoline guy, and I don't remember the others, but one guy worked at a Chevron station (so probably whatever Chevron had). Bottom line: Pennzoil was Slug City! None of the others were. So, we concluded = no Pennzoil!

Dino oil during break-in and synthetic thereafter is my M.O.

Oh, and I do use Rotella in dirt bikes and older street bikes. It works get with wet clutches!

Yea, BUT what was the test?
That was back in 1976 & I'm not a chemist, so I don't know what he used in his lab experiment. I was about 16 years old then.

You aren't going to get the answer your looking for with an oil thread. There are more opinions on oil than there are on politics. If it's old school technology then I'd run dino with plenty of zinc like a vr1 valvoline. As far as the previous poster saying buy the cheapest crap out there. That doesn't make much since to me since I intend to push my stuff as hard as possible. I'm going to run a quality oil in my high dollar motor.
There are allot of opinions but it's great to read them all, well worth opinions. I will go synthetic but i'm shocked no one mentioned Quaker State ? That was my choice but not sure now. Thanks guys for your comments, keep em coming. I am still undecided which synthetic brand. Oh and should it be 10-30 or 10-40 ? I am running a 400 small block VEGE engine with no headers and 4 barrell Edelbrock, not sure about pistons and other stuff sorry.

The Corvair Flat Tappet Engine Oil Article (http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Corvair_oil.pdf)recommends against using synthetic oil in a newly rebuilt engine until oil consumption stops. See Article p19, Bottom Line Recommendation #26. The author recommends the use of heavy duty engine oils (http://www.acccc.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:hdeo&catid=47:maintenance&Itemid=37) with a CI-4 rating in flat tappet engines. The API rating is more important than the brand. The hot viscosity (2nd part of a multi-grade number) should be whatever was recommended by the OEM for your climate and use. As for a specific product, I like Esso XD-3 Extra 0W-30 (http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENCVLESEsso_Xd-3_Extra.pdf).

I just decided to go with 1 brand from break in to daily use.

Joe Gibbs Break In OIL for 2 hours
Joe Gibbs Hot Rod OIL @ 1st oil change and from there on out.

Since you don't know what is inside the motor I'm going to ***-u-me it's a standard hydraulic flat tappet cam. As such once the rings are seated you could run conventional oil or synthetic. I like to use Chevron Delo 400 for break in oil. Run 500 miles, change, run another 500, and then change to Mobil 1 till I kill the motor or sell the car. Always use good quality filters and change them EVERY time you change the oil. I like NAPA Gold's (#FIL1069) which are made by WIX. For my part of Kahh-lee-fore-knee-ya I use 15W-50 as summers are always in the 100+ mark and winters are rarely below 40..... well the winter days I'd drive the Camaro with the top down.

Since you don't know what is inside the motor I'm going to ***-u-me it's a standard hydraulic flat tappet cam. As such once the rings are seated you could run conventional oil or synthetic. I like to use Chevron Delo 400 for break in oil. Run 500 miles, change, run another 500, and then change to Mobil 1 till I kill the motor or sell the car. Always use good quality filters and change them EVERY time you change the oil. I like NAPA Gold's (#FIL1069) which are made by WIX. For my part of Kahh-lee-fore-knee-ya I use 15W-50 as summers are always in the 100+ mark and winters are rarely below 40..... well the winter days I'd drive the Camaro with the top down.
Are you saying since it's always in the 90 to 100 in heat at my location i should use 15w-50 for summer ?

Whatever you put in I would change the oil now and not wait for 500 mi.
In fact I changed mine after 50 miles, if there was was going to be anything like shavings or the like in my oil I don't want it circulating or in my pan for 500 miles.
Cheap insurance.

I like 15W-50 all year round. With the multi-viscosity 15 is light enough for winter start ups and 50 is great for long runs in the heat. I'm sure some folks in colder climates run different oils for summer vs. winter but out here we really don't need to unless you are in the mountains say above 3000 feet.

The Corvair Flat Tappet Engine Oil Article (http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Corvair_oil.pdf)recommends against using synthetic oil in a newly rebuilt engine until oil consumption stops. See Article p19, Bottom Line Recommendation #26. The author recommends the use of heavy duty engine oils (http://www.acccc.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:hdeo&catid=47:maintenance&Itemid=37) with a CI-4 rating in flat tappet engines. The API rating is more important than the brand. The hot viscosity (2nd part of a multi-grade number) should be whatever was recommended by the OEM for your climate and use. As for a specific product, I like Esso XD-3 Extra 0W-30 (http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/Products_Lubes/IOCAENCVLESEsso_Xd-3_Extra.pdf).

Thats what Marshall engines also stated to me which sold me the blue print engine new..

Whatever you put in I would change the oil now and not wait for 500 mi.
In fact I changed mine after 50 miles, if there was was going to be anything like shavings or the like in my oil I don't want it circulating or in my pan for 500 miles.
Cheap insurance.

after just 50 miles would it be broken in that quickly though as my installation guide shows 500 miles? they say the shavings are ok im not trying to hijack a trend here but we are both in the same boat with break in concerns lol.

some say for higher perormance engines you want to use thick oil 5o weight? like if you have 9to1, 10 to 1, and higher compression?

after just 50 miles would it be broken in that quickly though as my installation guide shows 500 miles? they say the shavings are ok im not trying to hijack a trend here but we are both in the same boat with break in concerns lol.
Well i've put in 400 miles all ready and it's been like a month and one week or so since i had the engine put in. I don't really have that much time to drive it so maybe it's a good i dea to change it all ready to synthetic ?

My question/concern around any oils used on a non roller cam would be does it have enough zddp? With the changes in oil reducing zddp, those engines with non roller cams are not going to get the zddp needed unless they buy additive every oil change or a specialty brand with zddp in it.

What about the people that build drag race only cars, where do you think they break it in? That's right on the track, they can't drive 500 miles on city streets or highways. IMO I think break in is not an exact science. I did mine after 200 miles, never had a problem. Think about this how many gasoline engines are in something other than cars. I'll bet a lot of those engines aren't broke in.

Most purpose built race motors are broke in on the dyno right where they should be.

after just 50 miles would it be broken in that quickly though as my installation guide shows 500 miles? they say the shavings are ok im not trying to hijack a trend here but we are both in the same boat with break in concerns lol.

I'm not saying the motor was broken in at 50 mi. but I just figured there was a bunch of crap in it so I drained it and it looked nasty to me probably cam lube and or assembly lube or what ever. I just had it in my head that with a fresh rebuild there is a whole lot going on in that first hour or so of operation and like I said oil is cheap. I changed it again after 300.

I would say wait till about 1000 miles before switching to synthetic oil. It will slow down the ring seating process.

i raced for twenty five years on dirt and black top, with engine's that were any where from $ 5000.00 to $ 20,000 in cost with flat tappet and full roller cams running rpm's of 7000 to 8500 small block chevy right out of the box, and all engine builders would dyno on standard non-syn oils to seat the rings in. if you don't use regular non-syn oil you take a chance of glazing the rings or cyl.. time to seat the rings in on a street car would be more time. and it really would'nt hirt to run a little more than 500 mile's. i've alway's used mobile one full syn. either 0-20 or 10 -30, never straight weight. just what i learned from my engine builder in up-state n.y

I'm not saying the motor was broken in at 50 mi. but I just figured there was a bunch of crap in it so I drained it and it looked nasty to me probably cam lube and or assembly lube or what ever. I just had it in my head that with a fresh rebuild there is a whole lot going on in that first hour or so of operation and like I said oil is cheap. I changed it again after 300.

I concur with you trust me im nervous myself as to the miles of breaking in as every1 has a diffrent opinion as to when to switch etc if you feel the oil needs to be changed than it can only help keep the engine that more clean sooner. You can always change her again.. i was told by blueprintnegines that i could use what ever i wanted after the break in synthetic etc.. i think as long as your keep scheduled maintance on her she will be fine its really up to you and oil is cheap.

Maybe change it at close intervals for now than as more break in occurs you can start to expand those inetervals until you get up to 3k max per interval. Have you had a chance to open her up on the road yet or are you still driving her under 50mph ?

I concur with you trust me im nervous myself as to the miles of breaking in as every1 has a diffrent opinion as to when to switch etc if you feel the oil needs to be changed than it can only help keep the engine that more clean sooner. You can always change her again.. i was told by blueprintnegines that i could use what ever i wanted after the break in synthetic etc.. i think as long as your keep scheduled maintance on her she will be fine its really up to you and oil is cheap.

Maybe change it at close intervals for now than as more break in occurs you can start to expand those inetervals until you get up to 3k max per interval. Have you had a chance to open her up on the road yet or are you still driving her under 50mph ?
I actually did open her up to about 90 mph, she pured so sweet it sounded like a plane flying down a lonely road. I just could not resist wondering what would it be like to hit the gas a little. I never knew it could run so sweet. The car has stock exhaust so it sounds clean. All though from reading these threads i thought i had done something wrong but maybe not. I only did it once and now i stay under 50 till the 500 miles. I will wait to change the oil for now,maybe i will ask my local shop " The Tred Shed " in pittsburg CA. I will be taking it in next weekend for a small leak on the transmission plug.

You definitely ruined that motor by opening it up dude......... Kidding...don't baby that thing!

You definitely ruined that motor by opening it up dude......... Kidding...don't baby that thing! Dang that freakin scared me, lol. My heart just jumped out of my body for a second there. Ha ! Ok, it's all good then. :beers:

A street driven car should be run about 1,000 miles on fossil based oil for break in. Then go to synthetic. The engine is not run long enough at any one time to seat the rings.

Everyone has their own opinions on how long to wait before synthetic oil, /shrug
New engines/cars roll out daily without ever seeing dino oil.