Oil for 4 Cam Motors

Discussion of 4-Cam Type 547 engines (and all the Fuhrmann racing variants) and cars that powered them.
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Chuck House
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#16 Post by Chuck House »

I've been using Valvoline 20W50 VR-1 Racing non-synthetic in my 547/1 roller bearing engine but only have ~2K miles since going through it. I use the same oil in my pushrod cars and early 911. I used to use Brad Penn but the Valvoline VR-1 is more readily available.
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Bob Slayden
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#17 Post by Bob Slayden »

A tablespoon per day will keep you regular so you should have a lifetime supply. WWI pilots got over doses of castor oil from huge oil loss while flying.

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Peter Bartelli
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#18 Post by Peter Bartelli »

What about DRIVEN DT 50?
Jeff Adams just put that oil in my fresh rebuild 2 liter.

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Michael Branning
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#19 Post by Michael Branning »

IMG_4939.jpeg
From the Supplement for 356A with 1600 Carrera engines, FWIW. Look for the full document and more Aug 1 with an update to the Literature Zentrum.
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Harlan Halsey
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#20 Post by Harlan Halsey »

No manufacturer wants to make a small change and have it come back to bite him years hence. Porsche was very slow to adopt disk brakes, electric tachometers, and multi viscosity engine oil among other things. I wouldn't put much stock in their 1950s engine oil specification. I didn't back in the 1960s when I went to 10W 40 QS despite what the manual says. Today I use 20W 50 Mobil 1 in that same engine. I wouldn't hesitate to use the same oil in a plain bearing Carrera. However, I am wondering what oil to use in the roller bearing Carrera when my Kendall/Brad Penn runs out.

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Jeff Adams
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#21 Post by Jeff Adams »

We are using Driven brand (previously Joe Gibbs) DT50 in both roller crank and plain bearing crank engines. A racing four cam I rebuilt many years ago was run exclusively on this oil and looked excellent inside on a subsequent build after the engine was timed out.

Although still being made today by Blendzall we are no longer using castor bean oil. The pros castor bean oil has over conventional oil with film strength and heat resistance is more than offset by the cons.

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Harlan Halsey
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#22 Post by Harlan Halsey »

I think Castrol oil was a one use oil: it was drained hot after every race in England pre war or so I believe. Chuck Forges Carrera had the bean oil in it when he got it. He continued the bean oil. When he disassembled the engine at 40,000 miles (due to a holed piston, due to cam drive distributers) He found everything worn out. The Castrol was impossible to clean from the engine parts without using expensive toluene. From then on he used Kendall 40 wt. I took his advice and never used anything else but the Kendall, but unfortunately the Carrera out lives the Kendall company. Kendall became Brad Penn for a while, but that's gone now too.
I am not a fan of boutique engine oils such as Joe Gibbs or whatever. SWEPCO is as far in that direction as I go.
We know from work Michael May did at Porsche that roller bearings do not like much oil. (In 2-stroke engines they are often lubricated only by oil carried by gasoline.) Today I wonder if a modern 20W 50 oil might not be a better choice? But maybe hot Kendall 40 is thinner than hot 20W50. In that case maybe one of the modern OW or 10W oIIs with added ZDDP for the cams might be optimum.

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Oil for 4 Cam Motors

#23 Post by Brian R Adams »

Harlan Halsey wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:08 am Today I wonder if a modern 20W 50 oil might not be a better choice? But maybe hot Kendall 40 is thinner than hot 20W50. In that case maybe one of the modern OW or 10W oIIs with added ZDDP for the cams might be optimum.
Mobil 1 15W-50 Advanced Full Synthetic could have been specified by a consortium of 356 owners. It's got all the ZDDP (ppm: 1300 zinc / 1200 phosphorous) and is very slippery.
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