440 Oil Weight

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Buckeye440

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Hello everyone, I have a '70 Dart with a 440 in it that I somewhat recently acquired. I however don't know what weight oil to put in it and am hoping I could get a few good tips with choosing the best weight and brand for my setup. Here's what I know about the 440 in regards to oil questions:
-10.5-1 compression but added 915 heads that brought it up to 11.5-1
-509 cam
-Dual quad high-rise intake with dual 750 Holleys
-7 quart Milodon oil pan
 
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Let's see how many different varieties we can get

I also use royal purple 10/40 with 4 oz of zinc additive
 
Wow thanks for such quick responses! Being that my knowledge of oil is somewhat basic, are there huge pluses/drawbacks in the different weights already mentioned?
 
You just need to use a oil with Zinc or use a zinc additive. This is important especially when you run a flat tappet hydraulic or solid cam.
A good 10-30 or 10-40 is what I would run.
 
Valvoline VR1 10w30, easy to
Find napa can order the 10/30 and cheap. Don't use. 20w50
 
I suggest going to the Ram truck forum, they have an oil discussion that's like 100 pages long. A huge wealth of information. Zinc is not the be all end all ingredient. There are other considerations, moly for (just)one. There is also a link to a list ranking oil brands, types, additives, etc., etc.
 
The weight of motor oil is approximately 7.0 lbs/gal. The "w" on the label means "winter" which describes cold environment viscosity (resistance to flow).
 
Just as important is the type and brand of oil filter, also included in the Ram forum oil discussion. There are certain brands of filters to avoid, and certain brands within brands to avoid. My own preference in filter is Wix 51515, and 51515XP. But there are others equal to or maybe 'better', but cost is a factor for me, also. For oil, I've used Quaker State ($13.97/5qts @ WalMart), or Castro GTX. Some people are really into synthetic oil, but they are more expensive. Some people are into what I call "designer" oils, like RedLine, which I have heard a lot of really favorable reviews, but they are very expensive and somewhat hard to get.
 
Sounds like plenty of presure you can probably run 10w30 still have more than enough oil psi and have faster oil flow on start up, better cooling of parts, more HP, and not be pumping oil back in the pan because the relief spring is open at anything off idle
 
Never liked Quaker State oils. I remember dad getting a lot of engine work at the shop back in the late 70s and 80s when quaker state had some major quality issues. My son's high mileage Ram is all the previous owner used and was proud to tell us at 150k miles he only burns 1.5 quarts between oil changes. At 155k Kake started running RotellaT 10w40 and only burns .75 of a quart between changes and now has 210k on it. The engine itself is a lot quieter now, as well.
As for his 408 in the 65, he runs 10w-40 Brad Penn.
 
Quaker state was very highly rated in the oil rankings, much higher than Brad Penn. QS was ranked higher than many synthetics. The rankings were determined by an independent petroleum engineer. He's a consultant on many top racing teams for NASCAR, F1, & INDY.
 
IIRC, he rated like 140 different oils, some with and without certain supplements. I printed it out, once, but I don't know where I put it. It's much too much info to remember. You need to read it yourself, maybe several times, because it's a lot to absorb. LOL
 
Brand: Royal Purple
Type: HPS
Weight 20w50

I run 20w50 per the service manual I downloaded at mymopar.com.

Go by what your engine builder recommends if yours was built. He knows the tolerances he built it to, and parts used... ie. rings, type of cam, oil pump and so on...
 
This debate always turns out the same as what came first, the chicken or the egg? It is a personal preference.
 
rustycowll69 said:
I suggest going to the Ram truck forum, they have an oil discussion that's like 100 pages long. A huge wealth of information. Zinc is not the be all end all ingredient. There are other considerations, moly for (just)one. There is also a link to a list ranking oil brands, types, additives, etc., etc.
Click to expand...


You can count the engine oils on one hand that have moly in them. In fact, at the moment, I can only think of 2.

Moly is not required to be an engine oil.
 
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