suitable gas & oil, etc.?

[TbirdIntender]

Hello folks, newbie here still finding my way around the board and also shopping for a car. It's likely it's going to be a '66, and I'm starting to think about fluids.

What keeps the old 390s and 428s happy? Do you need to put lead substitute in the gas? Is one of those old-car oil formulations advisable? Any other fluid tips and tricks I ought to know?

Many thanks, everybody!

[georgemii]

FWIW - I use 5w30 oil with zinc additive.

Unleaded fuel seems OK in my 390 showing 135k miles.

(Disclaimer) Your results may vary.

[sseebart]

What keeps the old 390s and 428s happy? Do you need to put lead substitute in the gas? Is one of those old-car oil formulations advisable? Any other fluid tips and tricks I ought to know?

Some of this will be specific to the motor in your car--if the motor was recently rebuilt, for example, there would be no need for a high-mileage motor oil.

In my experience, most older cars have been retrofitted to take unleaded gas, either during a rebuild or while getting a valve job done. It's possible, I suppose, to still find a low-mileage example with a completely unmolested engine (and whose owner has been using lead additives for the last few decades). If you can't get a documented history on the engine, a lead substitute can't hurt, I suppose.

I don't know where you live, but if you have access to pure gas (no ethanol), your car will thank you for it.

~Steve

[64ZCODE]

Hi there TBirdIntender. My recommendation is to use a full synthetic oil. my '64 has 48K on the original stock motor and I run Mobil 1 15W/50 full synthetic which has ZDDP additive.

Re: gas, I use regular and add lead substitute. I don't know when they started putting hardened valve seats on the 390 engines so I just look at it as cheap insurance to add the lead substitute, but have no idea if it will make a difference in the long run. I've tried higher octane gas and adding octane booster and it doesn't seem to make any difference in engine power or how smooth the engine runs.

A '66 sounds like a good choice, all things being equal. '65 and '66 came with front disc brakes which are a definite plus.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

64ZCODE