We just noticed Amazon has Valvoline VR1 20W-50 oil on sale. 15qts (3x5qts) @$52.20
 

$52.20 for (3) 5-quart bottles. Fifteen quarts total for $52.20.

That's only $3.48 per quart........

Here's a link:
https://www.amazon.com/Valvoline-Rac...0654348&sr=8-5

:usflag::usflag::usflag:

Thanks. Just ordered.

Why would you want to run this heavy oil in your Pontiac? Unless you're making your own atmosphere, I don't see the point.

Filled block with .006 piston to wall. I think is a good idea to run 20-50 in my engine.
Besides, ran it for years and have never hurt a engine, so why change.

20w-50 is fine running an engine at 260°F-270°F.
I prefer 10W-30 or 10w-40 for around 200°F temperatures.

I run a solid flat tappet cam and this oil has extra zinc. I dont see any reason NOT to run it, esp at that price!

it is probably not the right oil for 90 of us. but at the same time, guys have been running 20w50 in their hot rods ever since i started driving. might want to avoid cold starts, use a block heater or something along those lines.

As typical from me a tid bit for interest, and a repeat comment I've made before related to the conversation here....

When I was dealing with Mark at Luhn Performance regarding his custom built oil pumps he told me that he had conversations with both Mahle and Dura-Bond engineers and he mentioned they tend to shy away from 20W-50 oil in street cars. They would prefer 10W30 or 10W40. At the time I did not ask Mark and he did not offer a specific reason why, and I don't remember if it was related to bearing clearances or piston rings, or both. I was going to tear down my engine and replace both bearings and rings and I mentioned that to Mark in the conversation, thus the that comment and those specific companies he mentioned. It was just a passing comment when he asked me what weight oil I was using.

For the most part I've always used 10W30 oil, including with Valvoline VR1 when I used it for a short time.


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Awesome deal! Too bad its not on Mobil 1

Most of our local Walmarts have had VR1 20w50 on clearance at $3.00 CDN.

Just ordered some. Thanks, I'm hoping it will keep my oil pressure needle a touch higher at low RPM's, once I'm up to temp. Probably mix in 1 qt. of 10-30. That's what I'm running now.

what he said...

There are plenty of oils that have the extra ZDDP needed for a flat tappet cam. You don't need to run 20W50 to get it.

Regardless of the argument for or against thick oil, the price is a great price.
 

That's why we posted it.

And, by the way, we've been running Valvoline 20W-50 in various engines since 1975.....never EVER had an oil-related issue.

Still have a couple of cardboard 'cans' of the old stuff from before 1980 here somewhere.......

Good luck!

#1 you are in hot las vegas... running a conventional 20/50 in colder climates, anything below about 50f & the engine will let you know the oil is too thick at start up...

#2, nobody is suggesting an engine will blow up from using 20/50, the point is why use that thick of an oil in a "street" built engine with tighter bearing clearances? GM nor any other engine calls for 20/50 in an engine built mainly for street use... yes some guys have cars on the street that are built closer to race engine tolerances & some builders suggest using it, but in the majority of real street engines, there is no advantage to using that thick of oil. thicker oil doesnt flow in & out of tight bearing clearances as well as a 10/40 or 10/30 & that means it doesnt cool as well as a thinner oil. & during start up there is no question that it doesnt flow as well & can contribute to more wear.

i should state that some synthetics do cold pour as good as some thinner conventional oils, but when comparing apples to apples of the same type of oil, a 20/50 conventional to a 10/30 conv, there is a big difference. & when warmed up you simply dont need a 50 weight oil on a cruise to a car show or even some occasional runs down the track.

as we all know you will get all kinds of opinions on oils, the points i mentioned are not opinion they are facts... use what oil you want, but do some research before following myths or thinking you need huge levels of zddp or molasses thick oil for your street engine.

Before everyone goes off on a tangent about thicker oil (oops too late, lol)

You really need to know the cold pour ratings before making a blanket statement that 20-50 is too thick or doesn't flow cold etc.... They are not all created equal.

Funny, I don't seem to remember any vehicle manufacturer recommending 20/50 oil in any manual. In any normal rebuild, the clearances never seem to venture too far from stock....hmmm.

Full race engine? All bets are off...

i mentioned that, (specifically for you since you have brung up the cold pour thing before, lol) & i agree that needs to be considered.

""i should state that some synthetics do cold pour as good as some thinner conventional oils, but when comparing apples to apples of the same type of oil, a 20/50 conventional to a 10/30 conv, there is a big difference. & when warmed up you simply dont need a 50 weight oil on a cruise to a car show or even some occasional runs down the track.""

the majority of conventional 20/50's cold pour very close to each other, its only when you look at synthetic 20/50's that there is an obvious improvement in cold pour. in this case, being vr1 is conventional & comparing to other conventional 20/50's in general, for an engine built to common "street" specs, 20/50 doesnt have any real advantage over a thinner weight conventional.

especially in colder parts of the country than vegas or arizona where some of you guys are lucky enough to live. i drive my cars almost until it snows or in the spring start them in the 40's & i use conventional 10/30 or 10/40 oil, ain't no way im using 20/50 in my pump gas street engines. i do use synthetic in the 72 with a roller cam but still stick with 10/30 based on what my builder suggested as well as comp & dave at SD for the lifters... still has almost 90psi on cold start in summer. ;)

Final post, unless they lower the price even more..... :)
 

We posted this in STREET and RACE so EVERYONE would see the sale price, not as a recommendation for use in 'street' cars.

I'd agree that 20W-50 is probably too thick for Alaska in the winter (or Iowa, for that matter), there are plenty of engines that will happily tolerate the difference and will have better oil pressure at idle when hot. Is that pressure necessary? Who cares - it's the owner's preference.

We run 20W-50 in our race engines (.003-.0035+ bearing clearances) and older 'well-worn' engines (150k miles plus). I have a 350k mile 1970 C10 that likes the thicker stuff, too, although I'd never start it up in really cold weather.

Not because of the oil, but because the heater is fairly weak. :rolleyes:

We use 10W-30 or 40 for tighter or fresher engines - they have much smaller clearances, so it makes sense. When Amazon puts 10W-30 on sale , we'll post it here, too. Then you oil 'thinnies' can stock up, too.

And on our older stuff that's still got pretty tight tolerances, we use a hybrid mix, as HotRodDan mentions. Somewhere between 1:4 and 50/50 depending on the season.

The extra ZDDP in VR1 won't hurt anything and can only help with cam/lifter longevity. And (to start another discussion) we still use STP Oil Treatment in certain circumstances. Again - our preference.

If you use thinner oil and like it, great. If you use thick stuff and like it, save some money.

Good luck to all!

Yeah I saw that after I posted. You're one of the few that understand the importance of following the cold pour ratings. :thumbup: