Thread:

what type of oil to use

hey guys im getting ready to start the motor up in the next week or so and i need to fill her up with oil first. need some insight as to what weight oil to use though. its BBC, high rise manifold with dual edelbrock carbs. any thoughts?

Originally Posted by jetboatperformance

What do you know about the engine clearances etc?

i wish i did but i dont even know that that means.

Originally Posted by monstertahiti78

i wish i did but i dont even know that that means.

i dont know much about this motor unfortunately

Originally Posted by monstertahiti78

hey guys im getting ready to start the motor up in the next week or so and i need to fill her up with oil first. need some insight as to what weight oil to use though. its BBC, high rise manifold with dual edelbrock carbs. any thoughts?

Is the cam a flat tappet or roller? That may be the most critical detail, particularly if you have a flat tappet cam that needs to break in. Wrong oil will be a very expensive mistake.

i work at a tow yard and got the motor out of a boat we impounded. havent torn it down yet to really see what im working with. I have a block number and from what i can tell it is a 72 454 with a 2 bolt main but i dont know if anything has been modified. i do know that it was on the water for at least one run....since we impounded it from the dock

Originally Posted by jetboatperformance

Rock a good brand of sombodys 20/50 to start , best you can do with now knowledge of the internals good luck

sounds good to me. thats what i was thinking originally. hopefully ill know more about the motor soon. and hopefully my anxiousness to get this thing on the water doesnt get me into too much trouble. thanks for the input as always

Originally Posted by monstertahiti78

i work at a tow yard and got the motor out of a boat we impounded. havent torn it down yet to really see what im working with. I have a block number and from what i can tell it is a 72 454 with a 2 bolt main but i dont know if anything has been modified. i do know that it was on the water for at least one run....since we impounded it from the dock

If it has a flat tappet cam, you need to run an oil with additives, or buy some additive separately. One of the easier ones to find is Valvoline VR 1 racing oil, available at parts stores. Some guys like Rotella, I have not researched to see how much zinc and phosphorus in in that, whereas I have spend time talking to people on the phone from Valvoline, Torco and Brad Penn. I like to use the Brad Penn based on what my own personal race engine looked like after 6 years of use.

Brad Penn is the Shit :-)
I toar a motor down part way on the dunno due to loosing power and WOW that "green oil" was stuck everywhere very nicely.
Note: found torque plate bolts loosened causing power loss LOL
No engine failure :-)

Thanks for all the info guys.

Originally Posted by SNiC

Take a look at this thread...it may help
Bbc oil

I dont know how i didnt see this thread earlier. I couldnt find anything when i did a search but that was exactly what i was looking for.

Sounds like the motor is already broken in. Get a high quality 15-40 and fire her up if that's the case. Couldn't hurt to pull the distributor and prime the system.