Question
1949 Ford
I am confused about which type of oil I should use in an all original 1949 Ford F1 V8 pickup. The truck has not been driven (much) in decades. I've been told to use Delo 15-40, Valvoline Racing, Valvoline VR1, Castol 30w, etc... Supposedly this is important because of the recent(past year) decline in the protective Zinc additives. This truck was my grandpa's and is very special to me. What is my best bet? Thanks, Odin
AnswerIn my opinion, the controversy about reduction in zinc additives is way overblown - it is a repeat of all the noise that was made about eliminating the lead from gasoline. That turned out to be a non-problem, except for special cases involving very hard use of an engine, and I suspect the same will turn out to be true of the zinc story.
However, if you want to be super sure, the Valvoline racing oil is a good solution. The Chevron RPM-Delo 15W40 Diesel oil was a good idea also, but the EPA has now decreed that even Diesel oil will have to reduce the zinc content, so unless you can find some that was made before the change, it won't help much.
There are some specialty oil companies that are selling high zinc content oils - you'll see their ads in the hobby publications - for instance Skinned Knuckles, and probably Hemmings motor news and others. They charge a lot of money for that oil - cashing in on the scare stories, in my opinion.
When this all hit the news, I went out and bought enough of the older oil to keep my cars going for many years, but I wouldn't hesitate to use modern oil if I had to. I prefer straight SAE30W in my old cars (including my 1952 F2 truck), but I live in Southern California, where the weather is always mild.
Dick
