Oil after break-in
 

I have been looking at running Valvoline 822347 VR1 Racing Oil, 20W50 after break in. It is listed as conventional oil. I am used to oil listed as detergent and non detergent

Tim

Re: Oil after break-in
 

So maybe conventional means it is not synthetic

Tim

Re: Oil after break-in
 

That's correct. Also,I don't know what detergent level VR1 contains as racing designated oils sometimes differ in that regard.



Terry

Re: Oil after break-in
 

VR1 is recommended because it has a high Zinc content which is beneficial for flat tappet engines. There are some on here that say we don't need it on our engines because of the low valve spring pressure. I am no expert. but I am running VR! 20W50 in a rebuilt Flathead. My oil pressure is 80psi even after 20 miles at 180deg. I think 80 is way to high! So I'm thinking 10W40 or 15W40 may be better. If you are running an oil filter (any style) I don't think detergent level will matter.

Re: Oil after break-in
 

VR-1 is available in 10W30, and is the best weight for most modified street engines.

Re: Oil after break-in
 

It is my understanding that "detergent" and "non detergent" are references that are meaningless in today's world. All modern oils have a chemical substance to keep foreign things in suspension to be trapped by a filter, aka "detergent". If you don't run a filter, just change the oil more often. Those terms harken back to the days of paraffin-based oil which was crap compared to lubricants today. I guess if you like sludge or miss it, the old "non detergent" oil would be your choice if still available.
I do have 1 flathead car out of 5 without an oil filter, A multiple Dearborn recipient, that gets regular oil changes. Every flathead I have was rebuilt, and clean to start with.
If you have an old high mile engine already full of sludge, I would disassemble it and clean it out and put it back together if it had no issues.
My 2 cents.