Very good video interview about Oil and Piston Rings

[tony-muscle]

There was a lot of chat about oil going on in the past few weeks. I recently listened to this interview of Lake Speed by Drag Boss Garage. If you don't follow DBG, he has a lot of good information about Cleveland engines. The videos I like the most are when he has invited guests. These interviews are about 3 hours long but the amount of information is overwhelming and well worth it. Good to listen when you drive since the video is non-essential. Lake Speed is an expert in lubrication that used to work at Gibbs. He now works a Total Seal, hence the topic combination of oil and rings. I learned a lot about both topics. I highly recommend listening to it:


As a bonus here is a link to his interview of Darin Morgan, who is a cylinder head guru. For this one, the video is important since he shows some amazing work related to very high end head design. This was another amazing learning experience:

 

[Kilgon]

Thanks for posting these Tony. I just listen to the Lake Speed video and it has a lot of great info there. It's amazing how much we take for granted when it comes to oil and exactly how it protects our engines. This will also make you rethink on how you bore your cylinders and how that comes into play with the rings you use along with having the right oil. I like the line -pennies and nickels make dollars, a very valid point. It's the small things that can gain extra hp and also just produce a better running engine.

 

[tony-muscle]

Thanks for posting these Tony. I just listen to the Lake Speed video and it has a lot of great info there. It's amazing how much we take for granted when it comes to oil and exactly how it protects our engines. This will also make you rethink on how you bore your cylinders and how that comes into play with the rings you use along with having the right oil. I like the line -pennies and nickels make dollars, a very valid point. It's the small things that can gain extra hp and also just produce a better running engine.

It was very interesting his explanation about oil additives and their interactions with oil. Basically do not use them! I was using some of that Hot Shot additive so not anymore.

 

[Hemikiller]

Great interview with volumes of excellent, factual information. Learned a ton about ring types, design and especially, oils and the additive packages required for different engine types.

Lake's oil testing company has some analysis posted.

https://www.speediagnostix.com/new-oil-analysis/category/New+oil+analysis

 

[tony-muscle]

I wish I would have known all this stuff before building my engine. Gas ported rings would have been a good idea!

 

[droptop73]

There's a great video out there too of Greg Anderson Honing Lake Speed Sr's Ford block.

 

[mjlan]

The series on rebuilding Lake Speed Sr's Cup engine is great. The conversation they had about the changes in piston and rod technology with Lake Speed Jr. and the guy from CP pistons is really good too.

 

[tony-muscle]

The series on rebuilding Lake Speed Sr's Cup engine is great. The conversation they had about the changes in piston and rod technology with Lake Speed Jr. and the guy from CP pistons is really good too.

Any links to these videos?

 

[mjlan]

So this guy's channel is visiting old NASCAR shops and this story starts with interviewing Lake Speed Sr. In the process of that interview they decide to redo one of his old Cup engines.

This video is throwing that engine on the dyno for a baseline:

 

[Superbond]

Don’t have time to watch those long hour videos at this time. What was the best oil and or additives to use.

 

[Stanglover]

Don’t have time to watch those long hour videos at this time. What was the best oil and or additives to use.

Not to be negative, but this question has been posted on about 4 different threads as of now. Like the 'energizer bunny', it just keeps going and going.
Like me, you may be limited to what zinc oils are available in Ontario. My choice locally is Lucas Hot Rod & Classic Car in 10W30 or 10W40, AmsOil synthetic Z Rod, or Valvoline VR1. I'm leaning toward Lucas as I prefer not to use synthetic in my Mustang. The issue with Lucas is it is 2100 ppm zinc. Lucas tell me that this is the formula that their R&D team developed for older engines with flat tappets.
If you add an additive zinc, 4oz per 4-5 US quarts seems to be the typical amount recommended.
As the add says for RayMac, don't use avocado or olive oil and you'll be fine.
In the past 14 years I've owned my Mustang, I've always used Castrol GTX with 4 oz of zinc additive from NPD. That said, I'm leaning towards a change at least to 10W40 this year. I too am still researching and asking questions, but the myriad of opinions is getting confusing. Go with what you feel is a good blend.

 

[c9zx]

Total Seal Piston Rings have the whole Lakespeed video series. A lot of factual information. Chuck