Changing crankshaft bearings with the engine in the car.
The nearby dump has a recycling facility where people can take stuff that others “recycle”. Sometimes it is spray paint, bug killer or cleaners.
Sometimes it is oil still in unopened containers. There will be some that suggest that you don’t use old oil but my thought is… for a stock vintage engine not built for high performance, it will be fine. It is coming from a sealed container and it was made with less detergents and likely has some zinc in it.
Look at modern oil:
I don’t have the info right in front of me but I read an article that laid out a timeline for when the detergent packages were ramped up and zinc was phased out. See where the blue bottle has an API rating of SN plus? That is the highest rating so this oil is great for newer cars but not so much for the classics. That article stated something about the SJ series still having some zinc but less detergent. Lower alphabet letters indicate older oil with less detergents and more zinc.
I got 10 bottles of classic Castrol.
See the API rating?
This stuff is much better for classic engines. Get ready for one better!
Remember that stuff? I remember the TV ads for it back in the 80s. Someone had 6 unopened bottles at their place for years before it was brought to the dump. Check out the API.
Backing up a bit, here are two bottles of Castrol. Old on left, new on right.
Remember, the old stuff was API SF.
Again, fine for newer engines but no zinc for us classic car guys.
4 1/2 quarts of vintage ARCO Graphite and….
55 PSI at cold fast idle. 20 at hot idle in gear. That is plenty good enough to forego a bearing swap. The old oil looked clean but drained out like water even with the engine still sort of cold. I only ran it long enough to move it to the other room.
Score!
The nearby dump has a recycling facility where people can take stuff that others “recycle”. Sometimes it is spray paint, bug killer or cleaners.
Sometimes it is oil still in unopened containers. There will be some that suggest that you don’t use old oil but my thought is… for a stock vintage engine not built for high performance, it will be fine. It is coming from a sealed container and it was made with less detergents and likely has some zinc in it.
Look at modern oil:
I don’t have the info right in front of me but I read an article that laid out a timeline for when the detergent packages were ramped up and zinc was phased out. See where the blue bottle has an API rating of SN plus? That is the highest rating so this oil is great for newer cars but not so much for the classics. That article stated something about the SJ series still having some zinc but less detergent. Lower alphabet letters indicate older oil with less detergents and more zinc.
I got 10 bottles of classic Castrol.
See the API rating?
This stuff is much better for classic engines. Get ready for one better!
Remember that stuff? I remember the TV ads for it back in the 80s. Someone had 6 unopened bottles at their place for years before it was brought to the dump. Check out the API.
Backing up a bit, here are two bottles of Castrol. Old on left, new on right.
Remember, the old stuff was API SF.
Again, fine for newer engines but no zinc for us classic car guys.
4 1/2 quarts of vintage ARCO Graphite and….
55 PSI at cold fast idle. 20 at hot idle in gear. That is plenty good enough to forego a bearing swap. The old oil looked clean but drained out like water even with the engine still sort of cold. I only ran it long enough to move it to the other room.
Score!