Update E-F/SA Bird Build...

[oldskool]

This mention of oil reminded me of the HPP mag article about Scott Burton's B/SA RA4 Bird. He said that he runs 0-10W oil. I didn't even know they made oil that thin. He claims that the thin oil and a crank scraper, instead of a windage tray, is good for as much as a tenth.

I was wondering if most class racers are using restricted pushrods to keep too much oil from accumulating in the top end. Back in the old days, we just put pipe cleaners in the pushrods and went racing. I reckin if you can get just the right combo of oil thickness and pushrod hole size, you can get enuff oil to the top, but also keep more in the pan, so that you could actually get by with a bit less oil. But hey, I'm no expert. It just sounds reasonable.

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...tiac-firebird/

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by oldskool

This mention of oil reminded me of the HPP mag article about Scott Burton's B/SA RA4 Bird. He said that he runs 0-10W oil. I didn't even know they made oil that thin. He claims that the thin oil and a crank scraper, instead of a windage tray, is good for as much as a tenth.

I was wondering if most class racers are using restricted pushrods to keep too much oil from accumulating in the top end. Back in the old days, we just put pipe cleaners in the pushrods and went racing. I reckin if you can get just the right combo of oil thickness and pushrod hole size, you can get enuff oil to the top, but also keep more in the pan, so that you could actually get by with a bit less oil. But hey, I'm no expert. It just sounds reasonable.

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...tiac-firebird/

Ok.... I have way too much cash under my hood to try to squeeze a bit of ET out of...oil... I'll leave this to others. Frankly, I'd rather load up than blow up.

Dale

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by FireSale

Ok.... I have way too much cash under my hood to try to squeeze a bit of ET out of...oil... I'll leave this to others. Frankly, I'd rather load up than blow up.

Dale

Yeah, I always ran 50W Valvoline and 70-80psi pressure in my 455 bracket engines--never lost one.

But Scott seems to be doing OK with his thin oil. He's won some big races and has qualified well at most of the events he's entered.

http://www.knfilters.com/News/print.aspx?id=3432

http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=53555

http://www.nhra.com/story/2014/10/1/...ortsnationals/

He went .977 under at Indy.

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...r2014#indextop

There is a time and place for running thin oil. I tend to run 30W Brad Penn oil for most runs. When I was at Indy this I went to the thin oil to get in to the show. The thinner oil and less of it is worth power. If you get a heads up or trying to make a show this is when you will try it. If you are a competitive racer, you will take chances at times. For me Indy was an awful long ride home not to to pull out all the stops

When you make all of your runs in the same day, running 50W is ok. To heavy if you ask me, If your trying to dial day to day, it is hard to keep the oil temp consistent. Everybody has their limits.

Originally Posted by oldskool

Yeah, I always ran 50W Valvoline and 70-80psi pressure in my 455 bracket engines--never lost one.

But Scott seems to be doing OK with his thin oil. He's won some big races and has qualified well at most of the events he's entered.

http://www.knfilters.com/News/print.aspx?id=3432

http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=53555

http://www.nhra.com/story/2014/10/1/...ortsnationals/

He went .977 under at Indy.

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...r2014#indextop

[HandOverFist]

There has to be some validity to the thinner oil weights overall. Nascar engine builders put way more time and effort into research and actual use of products as well as methods than most ever will. I believe in real world results and won't discount anything without concrete evidence contrary.

[Dave Noll]

Originally Posted by HandOverFist

There has to be some validity to the thinner oil weights overall. Nascar engine builders put way more time and effort into research and actual use of products as well as methods than most ever will. I believe in real world results and won't discount anything without concrete evidence contrary.

Rich,
When you have some time to read, give this a look see. It completely changed my thinking on the subject.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

[Dave Noll]

But given your progress on that Mustang I doubt you have ANY reading time. Nice work.