Classic Cars and Modern Fluids

As you can tell, we're almost done with our 57 DeSoto project here, and we're getting to that point where we need to actually put fluids in it. And there's some things you should consider when you're selecting the right oils and antifreezes, and brake fluids for your car. One of the changes that you really need to consider is your oil. And the reason for that is in about 2010, in there, they decided to actually remove the zinc out of oil. What this means to you is the zinc was mainly there for sort of a low speed lubricant that would actually cushion the hydraulic lifters on your camshaft. The reason they removed it is they found that the zinc was clogging up catalytic converters. It's not an issue on our classic cars, because we don't have catalytic converters. But by removing that, instantly car enthusiasts started finding that they were tearing up their camshafts, especially on initial startups where they had a brand new camshaft, brand new lifters they'd fired up. And in a few minutes, the car wouldn't run anymore. How do you know if your car has zinc in the oil? That's pretty easy to find out. If you look at the back of your oil bottle, there's an API symbol on the back of your oil bottle. This API symbol will say API service, SN. SN is the current oil designation. SN oil does not have zinc in it. The last grade that had zinc was classified as an SL. Because these modern oils won't do your engine any good, you've got to find a way around that. Some manufacturers, like Royal Purple, have introduced engine break-in oil. Well, your engine breaking in is the time it needs that zinc the most. So they formulated a really high level zinc oil. They purport is good for 500 to 1,000 miles, but it gets that lifter and those cam, the camshaft broke in, so they'll actually function together. But what do you do down the road? Let's say you want to continue to use a high-grade zinc oil. There are a lot of oils still on the market, but you have to look for them. And here it's a VR1 racing oil by Valvoline. And on the back, it'll say that it meets the API service SL. SL is the last year, or the last oil designation in which they used zinc. So we know that this oil, and it'll even say on the front, zinc rich. And this lets us know that we can run this oil safely in our engine without concerns of having excessive wear on our valve train. Also, if you have a particular grade of oil that you like to use, let's say if you're purely a Castrol or a Valvoline kind of guy, they do make zinc additives that you can put in the oil that you normally use. And those work good for break-in. And some guys will want to use those on a regular basis with their vintage engines as well. For our project back here, like a lot of the Mopars in the GM cars that used automatic transmissions used a Type A transmission fluid. I see a lot of guys worried about, hey, I can't get Type A transmission fluid anymore. The reason for that in the mid 60s, Type A transmission fluid was banned because it contained whale oil, because they no longer allow the hunting of whales and the using of whale oil. They had to reformulate all the oils. And what the replacement for Type A was, is a Dexron. But for these older cars, you'll want to use a Dexron Two or Three oil. Now they do have Dexron Five and Six. Those oils are more synthetic and designed for more modern transmissions. So what you'll want to look for on the label is one that clearly points out that it's Dexron Two or Three compatible. Gasoline, we haven't put gasoline in the car yet. We haven't even put fluid in yet, but we're going to. And the important things to consider, there's a couple of things that you need to concern yourself with. Back in the 70s when they eliminated lead from gasoline, a lot of people with vintage engines became concerned because now, what did the led do? Led was primarily put in gasoline to easily boost the octane levels. And during the 70s, that was a time of high-performance engines and high octane fuels. However, that lead served a double function. It also lubricated the valve slightly. And by that, I mean as the valve, the exhaust valves get hot in the engine, and they come down into the seat, the lead acts as a cushion between the actual head and the valve, and to help create that seal. When they eliminated the lead, the valves would come down and they would micro weld themselves into the seat. By that, microscopically on a very small level, they would weld, the little pin points would weld against the head surface itself. So as the valve would open again, it would just break those little welds and it would do this over and over and over again. And what would happen is the valve, the seat itself, would start to erode, and they get what they call valve seat erosion. And in time, that would cause a loss of combustion, because you're not getting a good seal anymore. The way to combat that was to either have a machine shop put in hardened seats for your valves in the heads, and it was a relatively fair amount of machining. Or what a lot of guys did is they just switched to stainless steel exhaust valves, which prevented that micro weld action and eliminated the valve seat recession. Although if your car is still stock and you still have the stock valves, and you don't have hardened seats in there, they do make additives that you can add to your gasoline that will actually take the place of that lead by eliminating that micro weld process going on and actually keep your engine running good. It's a good measure to use if you haven't rebuilt your engine, or if your engine's all stock, is to add those lead additives and just make sure that you won't have problems down the road. Brake fluid has changed quite a bit. And they went to the Dot Fives, which were synthetic, and we don't recommend those any time in classic cars. So for the most part, we want to look for either a Dot Three or a Dot Four brake fluid. For most classic cars, this is the grade of brake fluid that will work best. There are newer grades, but most classic cars really aren't designed for those. And finally, your gear lubes and antifreezes have only gotten better with time. Your antifreezes now contain a great deal of anti corrosion and rust inhibitors that make them ideal for classic cars, and a solid consideration for when you're ready to start. So regardless of what you do with your car, make sure you select the right fluids. You've spent that much time and money getting the car exactly the way you want it. Don't make a mistake and use the wrong fluids.