Anyone use Brad Penn oil?

I remember seeing engines that used Quaker State. When you removed the valve covers. There was this waxy residue. I was told Quaker State adds//has a high content of wax/parafin. I always used Valvoline in the 60s and 70s. I don't know if parafin is good or bad. I use synthetic.
Charles

 

Quality based on what measure?

 

Any more info? The threads on www.bobistheoilguy.com in the forums show a couple oil tests. They were pretty unremarkable...meaning they were good, but nothing special. One even posted the zinc as no higher than what other oils "regular" oils have.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=11&Number=1025144&Searchpage=6&Main=79501&Words=brad+penn&topic=0&Search=true#Post1025144

This one shows the zinc up higher
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=11&Number=1046996&Searchpage=4&Main=81105&Words=brad+penn&topic=0&Search=true#Post1046996

I know you have been searching for the "holy grail" of oil for your older car, do you think this may be it?

 

A lot of good "in the field" comments from vintage/historic racing folks, Frank. When I started working on cars, that Kendall GT-1 was the ONLY oil I used, upon pain of death from my mentor. Paul Spruell was another strong proponent. You don't win four National Chamiponships on "bob the oil guy" reports...

 

I have tried Brad Pitt Oil to lube up my wife. Real smooth.

 

LOL and about to die ...

And, very appropriate for these what always seem like useless oil discussions.

 

Sure, oil analysis and testing is way over rated. Better to just ask guys who win multiple national championships.

I would suspect that anyone who wins consistently is doing plenty of research and testing on their own, using similar testing laboratories.

 

Don't forget "BIG DADDY - DON GARLITS," and the "SWAMP RATS," series of Top Eliminator Dragsters.

Don Garlits, swore by this oil, KENDALL GT-1. It was my favorite too, back in those days.

Today, I use MOBIL 1 DELVAC 5W40 Synthetic, for my more modern cars, with the higher viscosity needs, and MOBIL DELVAC Super 1300 15W40 Conventional or Dino, for my older cars, that are operated more gently and driven on the road vs. track. It is changed more for time, than miles.
These are Diesel engine oils, or HDEO's, but are also rated for gas engines too. They work very well and protect against corrosion etc., from sitting and storage too. Castrol, makes some fine Specialty oils too. And don't forget SHELL, if they don't have it, you don't need it.

I don't know which oil is better, for the conditions we use them for. Brad Penn, I'm sure is also updated in other areas too. MOBIL, is always leading the pack and more current. I can walk into Walmart or Mobil Stations, and buy Delvac, right off the shelf, anywhere.

Go to Bob is the Oil guy, bitog.com, and do some reading on both oils. You really can't go wrong using the old GT-1, in an older design engine. But I think modern oils like Delvac, are OK, may be better for our purposes.

Ciao...Paolo

 

Re-reading this thread, I forgot to say this. I would use Brad Penn's GT-1, in any of my older cars that needed a 20/50W oil, without any hesitation. It was the best of it's era, and will do the job today. There are some auto parts stores locally, that have it or can get it, but it's still a hassle, as I am almost in BFE. Today, the HDEO's do the job for me.

Also, on the Brad Penn Site, they make a break-in oil for rebuilt engines, for that use only. Very interesting...has anyone used it? I usually make up a witches brew, with additives, and those aren't available to us anymore, so this is great!!!

http://www.bradpennracing.com/Products/BIO30.html

Ciao...Paolo

 

I am reading the History of Mobil 1 oil. Wax in oil.

By contrast, synthetics are “designer” fluids, composed of
a very few of the best lubricant molecules.
They stay together at high temperatures, keeping the
metal surfaces clean and maintaining the lubricant film.
They are virtually wax-free, so the oil keeps flowing at very
low temperatures. And they can be tailored to meet any
viscosity requirement.
Charles

 

Ok, I need to ask:

When is the last time you read about an engine failure DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED to 'OIL' failure ?

I don't mean an oil system or pump failure, but oil itself causing the blowup ?

If someone pays me enough money, I'd run baby oil through my engines.
Some folks say they are paid endorsers of products (oil) - 'but I would be using this oil anyway';

While that may be a true statement, a majority of folks 'grow up' on a certain brand of oil, and they don't deviate. For whatever reason.
Again, I didn't say ALL folks, I said the majority. Kinda like how your dad or grandpa has always been a 'ford guy' or 'chevy guy',
same applies to certain products. Like oil.

 

I'm on a Top Fuel Dragster pit crew (I'm the data geek). We run a solid-block 426 Hemi with a top-hat blower, etc. We only run Brad Penn (70 weight) - 17 Quarts, changed after each run (contaminated with NitroMethane). All I know is that stuff is STICKY. On one run last year the catch tank belched out of the overflow and drenched my data logging computer. What a mess! The nitro in the oil attacked all the plastic cable connectors and fused them. It took me days to clean it all off and replace the connectors.

Not really on the topic, but I thought I'd chime in.

 

Very good point.

Quaker State paid for 5 engines I had to build back in 77 or 78, havent heard of anything since then. When changing the oil on ? back in the early 70's I remember having to stick a screwdriver through a layer of that white scum that collected in the bottom of an oil pan just to get it to drain. The owner told me he used Penzoil.

I changed to Redline only after Mobil started fooling around with their formula's. I have to say using the Redline 5w-40 gives better hot idle oil pressure than we were seeing with the 15w-50 Mobil 1.

Dave

 

That's funny, In the 70's, I pulled the valve cover from my Father's old Buick Riviera, he used Pensoil too and I found the same white thick sludge. I used Valvoline back then in my old Vette and mine was immaculate. I've heard that Valvoline is a high detergent oil, it sure looked like it. I use mobil1 now and it doesn't leave any residue either.

 

Hello everyone.

When I first purchased my 512 TR, I asked the previous owner what oil he had been using. I was actually surprised with the answer that I got. Namely that he was running a non synthetic dino oil called valvoline VR1 racing 20w50. His thoughts where that if I started using a synthetic that the my engine would start leaking like a sieve and that it was the only safe oil for cars with flat tappets. He was basing this recommendations from people he knew that where moding late model Lambos and Porsche's and started seeing strange wear on cams and bearings in the last few years.

So this peaked my interest and I started to search around on VR1 oil. I soon learned that there where two types of VR-1 oil the new versions and the "Old" that was not for street use. This has lead me down the rabbit whole of SM vs SJ type oils!

As for Brad Penn Oil do a goggle search for: "Ultimate Motor Oil Thread or Why we hate CJ4/SM oils" it will lead you to a 911 technical forum on pelican parts forums web site. It's quite a tome of a post it's around 500 posts long and very in depth. I did manage to wade through the information that is presented there. I suggest it to any one as a good primer on the topic of oils.

As I know that Oil like timing belts are a religious topic around here I will leave the conclusions to the reader.

As a side note I have started to steep learning curve in to oil analysis. Since I am definitely a gear head and one can never get enough data it seems the way to go on this topic.

Cheers
Charles

 

Back in the day, many people would trash Castrol because of the sludge build up in the valve covers. But when I started, multigrades were a new thing and oil changes/greasing was every 1200 miles! Modern engines have much improved breathing characteristics and do not show that so much anymore. But for me, first choice is the manufacturers recommended grade with a slight adjustment to suit prevailing conditions/temperatures. The manufacturer plays little in the choice, Elf/LubroMoly/Mobil etc., not much to choose imo. Although when I was a chief mechanic, it was known to repackage oil so that our sponsors would be happy and so would our engine builders (in F1 and Indianapolis).

B.

 

I hear that, been there. Happened often.

 

Also looking to buy more brad penn, any good deals in the northeast or on the web?

 

I went to their web site & asked via email & they gave me both mail order & local retailers. Lucky for me there is a retailer less than a mile from my work place.
Bill

 

ruff creek general store in ruff creek,pa. stocks it.
you'll probably have to pick up. ray doesn't ship.
he does sell for $49.95+ tax.

 

I did quite a bit of reading selecting oil, and this was the thread that convinced me to go with Brad Penn. I tried to buy it from the person that provided much of the info in that thread (Charles) because I really valued those comments, but he didn't have the 15w40, so ended up ordering 2 cases on Amazon. I'm running it now in the 330GT -- it seems fine but pretty difficult to tell a difference in oils.

I think oil-related failures are unlikely to occur with any brand of oil, but I do think brands can make a difference in wear over a long period of time. It takes the oil companies a ton of research to figure out the right combination of additives, so it seems better to buy a well formulated oil than to try to use additives on your own. I was thinking of adding ZDDP Plus to oil given flat tappet motor, but after reading many articles I don't think that's a good idea.