30w ,40w ,10w30 ,10w40 ,15w40 ,20w 50.

what is the consensus ? Single weight or multi-vis . Some days temps in low 90s, some days temps in the low 40s. No racing . Looking for fast warmup and max FLOW.

I would say 10w30 would give you max flow.

Tom,
Also consider what's in or Not in the oil you choose.
Take a look under the "Shops" button at the top of this page.
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choose:
AirCooled Technology/Raby Enterprises
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I'd use the advise you can find at the above shop.
I don't think anyone has done as much research for our aircooled application as Raby.

You won't go wrong using the viscosity or brand recommended by Raby.

Greg

I bought a case of Brad Penn 20w50 and after doing some research took it back and traded for 10w30.

i run 20/50.. tried 10/40 in the cooler weather and the oil pressure dropped 20 lbs. for whatever reason,,put 20/50 back in and oil press. fine.

From John at aircooled.net:

The oil temps will jump WAY UP with 20-50, due to the cooler bypass system. If the pressure drop ACROSS THE COOLER is too great (lots of flow, thick oil, big pump), the valve sees all that pressure drop and opens up, bypassing the cooler. Think of it this way; the oil system is designed so that if the oil is real thick it must be cold, so there is no point in cooling it. If you use a thinner oil, the pressure drop is less and the oil continues to run thru the cooler, actually cooling it.

what about zddp, mike and what ealse did you find out. bill

On the Samba this is a hot topic and most have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons the motors still work after all these years is because they used 10W30.

Bill, the Brad Penn oil has the good stuff in it. There is a place in Novi that sells it.

44 pages of leisure reading on this topic: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=220755

a lot of people have a lot of opinions on this. additives, detergents, viscosity, but if you use regular 10w30 and change it regularly, you'll be fine, so take it all with a grain of salt.

I was told by the shop that built my car to run Straight 40...

It seems somewhat important that VW recommended 10w30 in most cases.

I run Mobil One 20w50 good oil presure 2020cc engine with dual carbs 110 cam, runs 190-200 degrees F.

The VW manual says to run straight 40W in "tropical" temperatures and that's what I use, Shell Rotella and now since the spec change (the CJ which has lower zinc content) will start adding STP four cylinder oil treatment (which has added zinc, etc. for the flat tappet cams).

I would always run straight 30 weight then I did a lot of reading and now use Rotella .....

Brad Penn 10w/30.

Tom,

Opinions are like assholes and everybody has one.......;-)

Here is mine:

It totally depends on where you live and your driving style. I have always had good luck with Valvolene products. The new off the shelf Valvolene "Racing" oil either the single or multi-viscosity oils have the ZZDP additive needed for flat tappet engines like the VW and 356 Porsche motors. I prefer real dino oil over synthetic and if you change your oil as often as you should the regular oil will not have a chance to "breakdown" to any real extent. Breakdown is all about heat and mileage used. The other thing is having a external mounted full flow filter. If you don't then you should.

Just my $.02.......

I live 2 hrs north of New York City and have used Brad Penn 10/30w for my Speedster as well as my older cars with great success. I get it from GHBerlin oil company in East Hartford, Ct. Their prices are reasonable and service is very good. Their phone# is 800 426 7754.

Jake Raby recommends Brad Penn 20/50. Maybe he'll post as to why he prefers this to 20/30.

---Jack

Yeah, I'm very curious too. I run Brad Penn 20w/50, largely on his recommendation, but I wonder about 10w/30 sometimes.

Mete, I am very close to you. Drove through Po-town on my way to Rhinebeck today.

Thanks for the info, that is a somewhat local source. I've been looking for a local source for Brad Penn.

Mete, I checked their website and didn't see Brad-Penn listed, so i sent them an Email via their "contact us" on the site.
Doug

Check your local hot-rod speed shop- the guys that cater to American iron are just as concerned as we are about the loss of Zink in motor oil. My local (Peoria) shop doesn't seem to know or care that anybody ever produced anything with less (or more) than 8 cylinders in a V configuration- but they carry Brad Penn in 20W50 and 10W30.

I contacted GHBerlin this morning. They are still carrying Brad Penn oils. A case of 10/30W (quart bottles) is $28.08 plus shipping. The reason I use 10/30W is because of the climate. It is seldom that the temperature in the summer gets over 90F in my area. For warmer climates, especially in the summer time the manufacturer of my car recommends 20/50W.

Thanks, I just called them also, talked to Mike. I will be picking up a couple of cases on Friday, since I'll be near there anyway.

Whats the deal with Synthetics? Good, Bad?

not recommended on these motors unless you want oil leaks.

I think Charleston counts as a "warmer climate", so I'll stick with 20W-50.

http://www.lnengineering.com/oil.html

Too many different opinions, but plenty out there to read. Do your research and you will be sure to figure out what the best oil/weight/additives are, and its sure to be different from what someone else says. I have around 4 other articles book marked on this topic.


p

How many quarters of Oil do I need to get when I change the oil? Is there an external Oil filter that comes on the car? If so does anyone know what the part number is for a 1.9 vintage Speedster is?

Thanks !

Andres D.