Brad Penn Oil under new ownership

umm, 10w40 BP is all over Ebay..

I added a survey for oil. There are a ton of threads on this, but let's quantify it.

Take the Oil Survey.

But Gordon, is Brad Penn PCCA approved? 

Let's not clown around here.

He’s here all week folks. 🤣

@barncobob  I know BP is all over ebay.  What I couldn't find is Valvoline VR-1 10W-40 (which I was willing to try).  That particular mix (which I prefer) is not offered anywhere so I'll stick with Brad Penn.

I also did a price check of BP 10W-40 (on Amazon and eBay) and found that I could buy it as cheap or cheaper locally ($80 bucks/case) than I could from either of those sites (once shipping is included on eBay).  

That's it.

Oh, and given that we've argued the merits of lots of oils on here, I am SURE that Brad Penn is "PCCA Approved"   

Good one, Mr. Carley!

Bob: IM S6 posted:

But Gordon, is Brad Penn PCCA approved? 

Let's not clown around here.

But, but we now have clown stickers to support our affiliation ....

I think it's in the charter and bylaws that the PCCA doesn't approve or disapprove anything.

You wanna run turnip juice in your sump, that's OK by me.

In fact, that's what @MusbJim runs when it's on sale.

Sacto Mitch posted:

 I think it's in the charter and bylaws that the PCCA doesn't approve or disapprove anything.

But everyone is entitled to my opinion, Mitch.

My oil is way better than your oil.

Stan, I've never understood why what oil I use should matter to anyone. Or why anyone would lead a crusade to make me change to their kind of oil.

God made 10W-40. God made 20W-50. God made zinc.

And lo, didst God cause to bring forth, yea, even Marvel Mystery Oil.

And God looked at what he had wrought and said, "This is good, I'm done here, choose whatsoever oil thou wouldst."

And on the seventh day, He rested, filled to just a little below the top mark, and went for a drive.

im sure BP is approved here in CA as its green.

AOC loves BP "Green" !!

" choose whatsoever oil thou wouldst." Well...if the PO of my speedster project had ran the right oil w/ high zinc content   I wouldn't be a replacing a cam with a couple of flat lobes,  dished lifters, main and rod bearing and a host of other internal engine parts.

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Stan, I've never understood why what oil I use should matter to anyone. Or why anyone would lead a crusade to make me change to their kind of oil.

God made 10W-40. God made 20W-50. God made zinc.

And lo, didst God cause to bring forth, yea, even Marvel Mystery Oil.

And God looked at what he had wrought and said, "This is good, I'm done here, choose whatsoever oil thou wouldst."

And on the seventh day, He rested, filled to just a little below the top mark, and went for a drive.

Me neither, but it's a holy war to a lot of guys, Mitch (but you already know that).

I'm not convinced that flat cams, etc. aren't the result of everybody in this hobby mix-matching cams and lifters, and assemblers not being careful about the surface finish of either, but what do I know? Running big honkin' dual springs and not worrying about seat pressure isn't helping anybody either.

A few years ago, there was some action to convert cases to roller cams. I've always wondered why that petered out. There's a guy over on TheSamba selling beehive spring set-ups that looks super interesting to me.

El Guapo is able to run extra virgin olive oil (purchased when it's on sale), because his engine doesn't need a crazy double valve-spring set-up. If a guy keeps it mild, he doesn't need dual springs, and spring pressure is sane, and cams don't go flat. It's just the rest of us who "need" a little more who end up with round camshafts.

Yeah, it's the holy war part I don't get.

I listened to the various opposing arguments. And, having had a rather sheltered upbringing, I had to look up some of the dirty words people were using to explain why they would or would not use certain types of oil.

Then I listened to a guy who's been fixing broken VW engines all his life. Other people pay him money to correct their mistakes.

He said use the green stuff, so that's what I do.

But I wouldn't beat someone over the head for not doing what I do. Green works for me. Maybe something else will work for them. Maybe something that's on sale. Maybe something that's extracted from plants that only grow at high altitudes in Bolivia. You just never know.

After all, who am I?

I don't know tappets from shinola.

I visited Charles at LN Engineering 2 weeks ago and was told the exact opposite of what you were told Gordon.  I called Jake and he confirmed what Charles told me.  They both said that Brad Penn (now called Penn Grade) lost the contract for the base oil and additive pack and it is no longer approved for aircooled motors. 

chines1 posted:

I visited Charles at LN Engineering 2 weeks ago and was told the exact opposite of what you were told Gordon.  I called Jake and he confirmed what Charles told me.  They both said that Brad Penn (now called Penn Grade) lost the contract for the base oil and additive pack and it is no longer approved for aircooled motors. 

Did he say any thing about what's changed? What are they using now?

"I wonder if my engine oil should have more zinc?" said The Guamaniac, NEVER!! 

"Maybe I should be doing what everybody else is doing?" said El Guapo, NEVER!! 

"I shouldn't be putting so many miles on my Speedster?" said MusbJim, NEVER!! 

"SOC is a great group of gear-heads" says MusbJim, ALL THE TIME!! 

@ALB He said the base mix packet was no longer the same and it no longer had the high zinc, calcium or phosphorous content of the older oil, plus a changing he detergent used.  

I find mixed results online, some say the formula is the same, some say it's different, but most interestingly Ive found quite a few drag racers that had used Brad Penn religiously and with the bottle change came rampant engine failures...

The Penn name was acquired by D A Lubrications, and they are quote online as saying the formula did not change.  

LN's recommended oil was Gibbs DT series.

@ CHINES1  I've used Shell Rotella diesel 30 oil until I switched to Brad Penn...what would you use in air cooled?  Tnx

Alan, we've switched to Gibbs DT50, developed by Charles and Jake, in conjunction with Joe Gibbs racing, and specifically formulated for aircooled engines.   and no I don't get paid for promoting their oil.  Hell, I don't even get a damn discount.

Screw it.  I should just follow el Guapo's lead...

I've got the guy from Radio Oil calling both DA and Charles at LN Eng. to see what's going on.  He's willing to take the case lot back, but he doesn't carry Gibbs oils.

Good thing it's too cold out to change the oil.  This might take a few days.

"Hell, I don't even get a damn discount."

Now that's a damn shame!

@MusbJim @Stan Galat   he actually use this and has bragging rights to it.  

I just spoke with Jim Salmon of the tech department at D-A Lubricants, Lebanon, IN  (317/923-5321), which is the company that bought the Brad Penn brand from the American Refining Group American Refining Group.    The acquisition occurred over 3 years ago.  He told me that the formula for their "Penn Grade 1"  20 W 50 product, P/N 71196 is exactly identical to the Brad Penn Grade 1 20 W 50 P/N 009-7119 that I have always used for summer oil in my Speedster.   I repeatedly quizzed him about this to make certain I had it right including the "contains high levels of zinc/phosphorus'  noted on the old Brad Penn label and he assured me that it was indeed the identical formula including the base pack, detergent and all the rest,  plus it too notes "high levels of zinc and phosphorus" on the label--I confirmed this by looking at the label on ebay.   He further said that if I had a partial case of Brad Penn left over I could just mix it with the Penn Grade1 because they are the same.  He said that at first they received a ton of phone calls about this and even made up a flyer showing that the only change that has taken place  is the label change.  

The only mistake and it is a monumental one, that D-A Lubricants made is changing the package.  They bought the Brad Penn name and  presumably the trademarks that go with the business, then walked away from the name and package and in effect started a new business---but we're talking engineers, not marketing people.   

When I finish this post I'll order two cases of Penn Grade 1 Multi grade 20 W 50 partial synthetic oil.  This formula has performed great in my Raby Type IV for almost 57,000 miles.  I didn't want to change my motor oil brand and now I don't have to.

" They bought the Brad Penn name and  presumably the trademarks that go with the business, then walked away from the name and package and in effect started a new business---but we're talking engineers, not marketing people."

Naaah....Engineers don't give a Rat's Pitutie about the packaging.  That's the job of you Mah-kit-ing guys!!     

If they just left the packaging alone they wouldn't have all this confusion, right??  I think D-A should get the "Dumb-Ass" award for that.

Thanks for taking the time to make that call, Jack.  I admire your forthrightness!

The mucho-less-cornfused Speedstah Guy in Massachusetts  (who's now keeping his brand new case of whatever-the-hell oil it is).  I'll let you know if/what I hear from my distributor guy, too.

At least D A's website is decent (probably set by Engineers.....   :>

https://www.dalube.com/whats-new.html

You are so right about leaving the package alone.   Righto on the website--it's a good one and I see that D-A Petroleum is partnered with the PCA.  Those PCA  guys have a better handle on the oil scene than the PCCAers I'm thinkin'.

I just compared the labeling on an old Brad Penn bottle I still had in the garage with a case of the newer PennGrade.

The references to 'zinc'  on the front of the bottle, and to ZDDP and phosphorous on the back are the same.

I guess it's possible that they 'lost a contract' with their old supplier of the additives and are now sourcing that stuff elsewhere.

But no one has patents on zinc and phosphorous, do they?

At any rate, I'm not losing too much sleep over this.

I shot an e-mail off to Charles at LN and asked for further explanation and quantification of their findings re: Brad Penn oil changes.  I'll let you know what he says.

Oil formulas don't concern me very much.

What is concerning me is that I mistakenly put some of this hot sauce on the burrito I had for lunch. 

If all else fails, maybe we can follow the lead of el Guapo and use same Guamanian Palm Oil as used by Alfred E. Newman.  (What, me worry?)

Until it gets banned by the US Petroleum Lobby.

MusbJim posted:

Oil formulas don't concern me very much.

What is concerning me is that I mistakenly put some of this hot sauce on the burrito I had for lunch. 

 

Looks like that stuff gets you when it goes in and when it comes out

I normally trust Jim's product reviews, but I'm holding off on the hot sauce to hear what he says about it tomorrow morning.

 Are you saying he has an exit plan

Hey @MusbJim, I guess it "Depends" on how things look in the morning!

Love the name of the hot sauce. If that isn't fair warning then nothing is. BUTT, if it we're me, I'd add a couple of dashs of Lucas TB Zinc additive just to be on the safe side.

Me & Gerd were at a BBQ at Cuz'n Vinny's and he turned us on to it! 

MusbJim posted:

Me & Gerd were at a BBQ at Cuz'n Vinny's and he turned us on to it! 

Oh, can't stand it. I'm laughing so hard I think I'm going into heart failure

@Michael Pickett

in case of heart ❤️ failure 3 chest pumps plus two aspirin will fix it 😂 enjoy