Attention folks with flat tappet cams

[ROWDYRENAULT]

Hi guys: Just read a very intresting article about modern oils and flat tappet cams. I will try to get a copy and post it here when I can. Long story short it seems that Zinc and phosporous levels in oils have been steadly droping over the last 5 years. These two elements evidently were included in the past specificaly to protect engines in high shear areas cam lifter interface being a priority. But Zinc and Phosporous also attack catalitic converters. So the OEMS have lobbied for them to be eliminated. The article ran a whole series of graphs showing the content of these chemicals in the past and present. The three oils that still contain these are Quaker State racing, Pennzoil racing and Shell rotella T. Sorry the article was written for an American audience so it did not include brands that you might see more of in England or Europe. The one quote that got me was Comp Cams said that every part of their manufacturing process is several times better than 10 years ago and yet they are seeing 3 times more cam/lifter failures. The article suggested that roller rocker set ups are not effected. A lot to consider on just an article that I can't even directly quote, but I will try to get a copy and post. Lee

[GTWayne]

I use Joe Gibbs racing oil (American oil designed for Nascar ) fully synthetic in my Ali flat tappet cam motor for this very reason but it is not legal to use on the road in the states due to it containing a large amount of Zinc which is also a primary ingrediant added for longevity in these such engine configurations.

[DHGTR]

My engine builder in the states e-mailed me a few weeks ago to advise me to run on Rotella because of the reduced zinc in the oil. Looks like we should all be aware of the change in oil constituants.

[GTWayne]

Ehrmm : I am going to check that I have that the correct way arounnd now!