Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

A break-in oil should have a low anti-wear additive package to allow controlled wear. You might have a hard time getting folks who have wiped flat tappet lobes during break-in, to buy into that idea. All they usually want is wear PROTECTION. The Break-in oils I've performed wear testing on, which w...

Diesel oils may work OK, but they are never the best choice for high performance gasoline engines. I've tested 133 oils for their wear protection capability, which is based on their film strength's load carrying capacity. That is all that matters, because an oil's film strength is the last line of d...

I think another important factor is the maximum engine RPM. I suspect that some failures (excessive wear) can be attributed to impact loading of the bronze tip against the cam lobe when it experiences something similar to "valve float", due to the pump spring load and related component we...

From time to time, over the past couple of years or so, folks have been posting threads on some of the Forums about failed bronze tip fuel pump pushrods. There has of course been some discussion about all that, but no real wind-up as to what is actually going on here. Since there has not been a solu...

High Volume oil pumps/thinner oil combo's are the best way to go. Consider the following: THE BENEFITS OF USING THINNER OIL: • Thinner oil flows quicker at cold start-up to begin lubricating critical engine components much more quickly than thicker oil can. Most engine wear takes place during cold s...

Coatings on combustion chamber/piston top surfaces can have some value. But, coatings on surfaces that are lubricated with oil have little to no real value. Someone on this Forum said it best, "If oil is there, coatings don't matter. If oil is not there, coatings don't matter". Spend your ...

I just lost a lobe on my CC roller cam,and the side of the lifter snaped off...I am looking at the new Elite's for my Blown SBC-400 road car..Anyone using them?? Oldhead From what I've seen, those lifters only come with needles and are not available with bushings instead. If that is in fact the cas...

Here's a long answer to a short question. Rod bolt strength, what do we REALLY NEED? This write-up is not intended to be a chapter out of an Engineering Design Book. That would be way too long, way too involved, and way too boring for most folks here to have any interest in. Instead, this is just a...

justahoby wrote:Well before 540rat posts 5 pages here's my 2 cents.

I haven't tested Z-Max, but I have tested Prolong. You can see those results along with other tech info by clicking "Opinion Columns" at the very top of this page.

Here's a long answer to a short question. Rod bolt strength, what do we REALLY NEED? This write-up is not intended to be a chapter out of an Engineering Design Book. That would be way too long, way too involved, and way too boring for most folks here to have any interest in. Instead, this is just a ...

Do aftermarket zinc additives actually work? To find out, I tested ZDDPlus zinc additive in 3 low zinc oils, and I also tested Edelbrock Zinc additive in 3 different low zinc oils. In each case, the recommended amount of additive was used. And in all 6 cases, these high zinc additives ruined the oil...

Can you always count on high zinc motor oil to provide the most desirable wear protection? To find out, I performed Engineering “Wear Protection Capability” testing on a group 40 different high zinc oils to see how high zinc oils compare among themselves. And the fact is, not all high zinc oils prov...

I see a number of opinions and a lot of anecdotal evidence above, but no factual hard data. So, consider the following facts: An oval track dirt racer (his class is extremely competitive, so he asked that his name be left out) on the SpeedTalk Forum runs a 7200 rpm, solid flat tappet, 358ci Small Bl...

Hello Speedtalkers I'm feeling happy now because I'm able to buy here in Brazil one of these additives (at not a fair price, as aways #-o ) to be used in a Street/strip SBC , SFT cammed on cam break-in and on all engine life; I'd like to hear your good or bad experience with both additives so I can...

ProPower is right, do yourself a favor and skip the PM rods. PM rods were designed to be cheap for production vehicles, not to be the rod of choice for racing.