Bad advice in the Restorer....

K

Kevin in NJ

Well-known member
Reading through the Tech Q&A and bad advice prevails. Who is this Dave Bockman and is he on this board?

The question was about synthetic oil and is it good for the A.

Dave spends several paragraphs talking about the A needing the 1200ppm of ZDDP.

The ZDDP at 1200ppm is only needed in the high performance engines. Oil currently has ZDDP at the 1950's levels.

He does not talk about the need for additives to prevent bad chemicals which is critical to our cars which are not driven much.

Then the guy asking about straigtening wheels. He does not tell the guy factory specs for a straight wheel nor about using heat shrinking to correct the problems.

Both these items are covered in good detail on this forum.

Please do not get me wrong, I know the guy is stepping up to the plate here to help. But where is the editorial process that catches these errors?
 
so what is the best oil? I was sure torn for the first fire up of an engine that had been sitting a long time. in the end I elected to use synthetic 15-40 diesel oil I figured there is gona be varnish in there, this will help it and clean it the best. no additives. ive now got about 40-50 miles on my lil speedster with that oil and its just starting to turn color. I think ill drop it, but prity sure I'm going to continue with this weight and syn oil
 
Editing is a thankless, neverending task and is very humbling. I know, i wrote a book and thought it looked good, got a proof copy and found about 200 errors. Also we do not always all agree on what is the proper this or that, or ever procedure. So in reality, hasn't kevin just done some editing? Yet someone isn't sold 100% on his comments. We have what we have and will need to do what we believe best at the end of the day. I think what is written is usually pretty good in both national mags. We wont always blindly agree with every article.
 
Kevin in NJ said:
Reading through the Tech Q&A and bad advice prevails. Who is this Dave Bockman and is he on this board?

The question was about synthetic oil and is it good for the A.

Dave spends several paragraphs talking about the A needing the 1200ppm of ZDDP.

The ZDDP at 1200ppm is only needed in the high performance engines. Oil currently has ZDDP at the 1950's levels.

He does not talk about the need for additives to prevent bad chemicals which is critical to our cars which are not driven much.

Then the guy asking about straigtening wheels. He does not tell the guy factory specs for a straight wheel nor about using heat shrinking to correct the problems.

Both these items are covered in good detail on this forum.

Please do not get me wrong, I know the guy is stepping up to the plate here to help. But where is the editorial process that catches these errors?
Click to expand...

Kevin,

My advice to you is to step up to the plate yourself and contact David yourself and discuss this issue with him personally. Do you think that would be a good idea?

Pluck
 
I don't know if you can call it bad advice. Does it harm the car in any way? Incomplete, poor reasoning, maybe but I don't feel it is bad advice.

For the record ZDDP was first added to oil in the 50's when high-lift camshafts were used, When the engines changed again in the 70's high-load engines needed more anti-wear so the ZDDP levels went up. Engine technology changed again and the EPA did not the like exhaust levels so the amount of ZDDP was lowered to the levels when they first appeared in the 60's. Remember there was a long time where there was none and the A engine still survived. My information comes from, Bob Olree – GM Powertrain Fuels and Lubricants Group.

Once again, if it does not harm the car/engine and you feel better using/doing it and ypu will drive your car more, go right ahead.
 
I never use ZDDP in either the Model A or our Flathead and they are/have been just fine.

Now a '69 Boss 429 that's a different story.

Dave is doing a good job in my opinion as did Jim before him, I learn from both of these fellows.
 
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Lincoln probably had similar days when some folk thought he just was not Lincoln enough in his wisdom, thoughts, writings, expertise and speeches.

All this angst posted here over essentially an oil thread or omission of factory specs for wheel spoke straightening? Just wait until poor Ol' Dave has the nerve to discusses his personal opinion on which paint color for a Model A is the fastest. Then ya' can nail him for sure. :-)
 
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I read that last night and was thinking about commenting myself, but I knew others would bring it up. I was a little surprised, but many of these topics are complicated and subject to much debate. These include what kind of oil to use, ethanol in gas and MMO, to name a few. :-)
 
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