Too Much Time On My Hands

A lot of cars back then didn't have oil filters either. Filters were used on some higher priced cars or were available as options.
 
Herman Munster said:
A lot of cars back then didn't have oil filters either. Filters were used on some higher priced cars or were available as options.
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Oh, yes. I had a 1950 Plymouth P19 several years ago, and as far as I can tell, '50 Plymouths came with two different engine options:

-a 97 hp flathead inline six WITH an oil filter
-a 97 hp flathead inline six WITHOUT an oil filter


Mine was without the oil filter.

I have a little bit of Winchester gun oil from the '50's in a cool old can, and some WW2 machine gun oil in an even cooler old can. I guess I won't be using that stuff on my pistols anytime soon.
 
There's no doubt that todays oil is refined much better than the near-crude of the '50's. In 1973, I took the rocker arm covers off my 272 and the oil was caked in there so bad you couldn't really see anything in there, just a big blob of gook. And that car sat in a barn all through the '60's.
 
Daves55Sedan said:
There's no doubt that todays oil is refined much better than the near-crude of the '50's. In 1973, I took the rocker arm covers off my 272 and the oil was caked in there so bad you couldn't really see anything in there, just a big blob of gook. And that car sat in a barn all through the '60's.
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Interesting test here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zHlxeu_yuM&t=617s what may be surprising is the chemical analysis the ZDDP we want for older engines with flat tappet cams iusn't as good as we thought.
 
Just guessing here, but maybe higher ZDDP content oils weren't needed back in the Fitties. Probably was a development to accommodate 60s muscle cars with their more radical cams and stiffer valve springs.

Check this out. Bacon grease performed almost as well as the 70 year motor oil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHRYxRiboc
 
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