Motor Oil For Older Engines

["Bruce Hevner" <scramblr@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting thread so far. One point that has not been addressed,,, CHANGING
THE OIL!!

I think you might be able to use kerosene for oil if you changed it enough!!
The debate over oil has gone on for years,, every body has a favorite,, and
that's fine. If what you are using works,,, GOOD!
 As an engine rebuilder for over 30 years I have seen just about every oil
out there used successfully,,, and have problems. The bigger problem than
the brand of oil is,,,, THE OPERATOR!!!
 A vast majority of failed engines I have seen were caused by ONE SINGLE
PROBLEM. FAILURE TO CHANGE THE OIL at proper intervals!!! Oh sure there are
design failures here and there, but in no way do they come close in numbers
to the engines I saw that were SLUDGED BEYOND BELIEF !!!.  Deep enough that
the valve spring retainers were all that was visible in the head. Two inches
deep in the block valley?? Sure, all the time. COMPLETELY solid from the
block to the bottom of the intake?? Yup. Completely covering the oil pickup
in the pan?? More common than you might think.
  All these ARE oil related,, in a way,, but NOT the oils fault. So the
moral of the story is,,, KEEP UP WITH OIL CHANGES!! And while my personal
opinion is the 3500 mile oil changes are a waste ( I change mine every
5-6000 and use Mobil-1). Changing it TOO often is FAR less damaging than not
often enough. 
PS,,, The motors I have taken apart that were using Synthetic lube had
virtually NO sludge and were usually apart for a mechanical failure. 
But HEY,,, that's just ME!
Bruce Hevner