I'm curious as to what people are using for oil these days. Conventional oil seems to be getting increasingly hard to find - not impossible by any means, but it occupies less and less shelf space. Most of what's available is a blend of conventional and synthetic, and there is more and more pure synthetic oil being used. What do you use in your Hudson product and why?
I use 30 weight, non-detergent in my splashers. Always Available at the Farm stores like Tractor Supply, etc
I use Rotella (Shell) T4 in all my old cars at this point, which is a conventional oil (running 10w30 in my recently-rebuilt 232, 15w40 in my other 70 year old motors). My understanding is that the current generation of Rotella did not reduce its zinc levels from the previous generation, whereas the other (common) diesel oils did, and street car oils did some time ago (as I understand it, this was done to help meet modern emissions standards, not a concern for our cars). This might be overkill on my part, but Rotella is cheap, readily available and seems to stack up fairly well against much more expensive oils in terms of composition. I might be putting more emphasis on zinc than I need to, but better safe than sorry. If you want to stay up at nights worrying about this stuff and still look like an amateur, I'd recommend bobistheoilguy.com (improbably, this is a real site, and the people on it are absolutely obsessed with this stuff.)
Here's a somewhat relevant thread: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/need-a-high-zinc-oil.309709/
Remember that we aren't running super heavy valve springs so, again, this might be more worry than is needed, but what's the downside?
Oil is one of those discussions like politics and religion—lots of vehement opinions but not a
lot of data. Nevertheless, I agree with the previous advice to use a conventional diesel rated oil. Almost none of us drive Hudsons enough miles per year to make the extended change intervals of synthetic oil worth the cost.
You can look up zinc and phosphorus levels in oils at most of the major companies’ web sites, although you have to dig for them. If I’m really concerned about getting the best oil for an older car, I use the Joe Gibbs Racing “Driven” brand. I’m sure other specialty oils are just as good, but I use that in my 1973 Porsche 911 on the recommendation of a respected 911 engine builder, so I will continue to do so.
I have been using Penrite HPR30 for all my old cars for years. A great high quality oil.
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