Was just at O'reilly and saw they have Shell Rotella on sale for for 10.99 a gallon. Do our solid mechanical cams need the high ZDDP that the solid cam V8 guys need?

I heard a taxi driver tell me he put 1 gallon of diesel in his 20 gallon gas tank on fill up and that kept his system clean

Back to the topic of nasty oil, does anyone run a low pressure bypass "toilet paper roll" oil filter? My dad remembered them and said 5000 mile oil would still come out golden, BS? Then the question: Charmin or Northern?

ZDDP is an extreme pressure lubricant (EP) good for sliding contact such as flat lifters (any flat not just mechanical). ZDDP is being taken out as it poisons catalytic converters if the engine starts burning oil. Other EP additives are replacing the ZDDP. Since our engines in stock form have pretty lightly loaded lifters they don't need the same level of EP additives as engines with heavy valve springs and aggressive cam profiles. In a stock /6 that isn't breaking in a new cam and lifters just about anything you can buy the doesn't say non-detergent is vastly superior to what our engines have lived on for decades. If the Rotella is available in 10W-30 then it's a fine choice.

A gallon of diesel is going to lower the octane rating of the tank of gas significantly.

If you want to read a lot about oil and filtration go to bobistheoilguy.com Bypass filters do work to remove fine particles from the oil. Some diesels have them standard. It was all my Studebaker had!

Thing is, what's really wearing out engines? If it's not dirty oil then a bypass filter doesn't help. A proper functioning carburetor and choke will do a lot more for the rings and cylinders than clean looking oil. Fuel washing oil off the cylinder walls kills the rings and cylinders. A cold engine makes this worse. I have more bore wear in my 45k mile Valiant because of fuel wash than my 216k mile Dakota.

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Joshua

What oil do you use in your other cars? What ever it is use the same thing in your dart. What oil filter brand do you use on your other cars (hope it is not fram) use the same filter brand. Transmission use dextron 3 it is easy to find and it replaces dex2.


I personally use 20w50 supertech in the Dodge. and 10w30 supertech in everything else. And motorcraft filters.

Cliff

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This is my hooptie, there are many like it but this one is mine. With out my hooptie I am walking and without me my hooptie is broken down.
1980 dodge d150, sl6, 4sp od, air

Great story ted! I kind of wish I did that to my dart. Instead, I tried to get it running as is with old gas, an oil change and some timing work. It did for about a month, and then one day decided to bend the hell out of most of the intake pushrods due to sticky valves from old gas varnish and bad oil. Take your time with the old girls, they're kinda shy.

Our projects might take a little longer than you think, but it'll be worth the money and knowledge. I am a little further ahead than you (72 Dart Custom) in my restoral, but I share the same concerns with the project "mushrooming".

Its a good thing I have time and a job. Keep working and be patient.

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The only way you can ever really break something beyond repair is to give up trying to fix it.

I'll flush with ½ - 1 qt of ATF about a week before I change oil. The amount of ATF used is just enough to fill the crankcase. Over the course of the week, I drive the car sedately with no WOT. My preferred oil is Texaco Havoline and I use a WIX filter when I change. OCI for me is 5000 miles (2-3 x per year).

I've been doing this for a little less than 30 years with no issues. It has been gratifying to take apart an engine subjected to this regime and find no gunk in the top end of the engine.

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You can't fix stupid. - Ron White