Break in oil for new 440

[Ben Treinen]

Hello everyone, I recently bought a new (to me) 440 built by someone in the area. I went and heard it run on the stand for about 10 min and was told it had been broken in for 2 15min sessions using shell Rotella with zinc additive. Initial inspection of the motor looks good, oil is clean, the cam lobesI can see looks like they have begun to wear in normally. I am now in the process of putting the motor in my car and am wondering what oil i should run for the next few thousand miles to continue breaking it in. The motor is a .030 over 440 with ported rebuilt factory heads, an old stock .590 purple shaft cam, forged crank, stock rods, TRW pistons with Chrome moly rings, solid flat tappet setup with Crane ductile 1.5s and so on... I have heard good things about the Driven GP-1 break in oils (20w50 Driven Racing Oil GP-1 High Performance Break-In Motor Oil 19556) is what I'm considering but I'm out of my element when it comes to break in oil. Any guidance would be appreciated, thanks you all!

-Ben T.

 

[dadsbee]

 

[ruffcut]

I will second PENN GRADE! I've had nothing but excellent results in both the full on race motor and the stroker in my Roadrunner street driven car.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

3rd on Penn Grade

 

[Don Frelier]

Back to your original question.
I don't think you need break in oil at this point.
A good high zinc oil should be fine at this point.

 

[1967coronet]

Sounds like a nice engine.

 

[Geoff 2]

You will get LOTS of answers. ALL different. I run break in oil for 2000 miles; it is not just the cam that has to break in. After break in, pick your favourite oil that is designed for FT cams.

 

[steve340]

A while back I contacted the Penrite oil tech line.
The guy I spoke to seemed pretty knowledgeable so I guess the info will be good.
Penrite recommend a specific run in oil for 100 miles and to stay in for no more than 500 miles.
Some varying load must be used.
At this point change to a mineral oil.
Do not use synthetic until the engine has done 1000 miles and the rings are fully bedded in.
I have followed this procedure on several engines and I have had no problems so far.

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

I would just use a 30W Valvoline VR1 conventional oil.

I use Valvoline VR1 in all my engines and I've never had any issues. Plus, VR1 is easy to find and relatively inexpensive as oils go.

Tom

 

[451Mopar]

Driven oil recommends replacing the oil and filter after break-in, then change oil with new break-in oil and run for 300 miles Max:
Break-In Engine Oil
Really, after break-in, I just us a good high ZDDP "Hot Rod Oil". You don't want to put alot of miles on with a true extra high ZDDP "Break-in" oil because it can create extra wear.
One of Total Seals videos with extra links about break-in oils:

 

[Hilljack68]

One more vote for Penn Grade (10W40 for me). And, like Don said, after the initial break-in, just run a good ZDDP oil.

 

[rickseeman]

I think the FSM says to leave the break in oil in for 500 miles

 

[451Mopar]

I think the FSM says to leave the break in oil in for 500 miles

Back in the day, just used to be the regular high ZDDP oil 10W-40 (SE, SF spec) and a can of Engine Oil Supplement (EOS) and never had a problem.
I think the EOS was mainly Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)? Used to do the 500 mile break-in back then.
With all the new oil formulations, the break-in miles may be different depending on what your using.
When I search the Driven oil, the article above says 300 miles, the page for their GP1 oil says 400 miles, and some other places say 500 miles.
Driven says they don't use Moly in their break in oil.
Not sure what is in the Lucus break-in oil, but they advertise 3,600 PPM of zinc.
Lucus has a good chart on the zinc in their oils:
https://www.lucasoil.ca/pdf/Zinc_Values_MotorcycleOil.pdf
Lucus "Hot Rod" oil is 2,100 PPM Zinc, 1,900 Ppm Phosphorus. I think that is higher than the Driven "Hot Rod" oil.

 

[Ben Treinen]

Lot of great input thank you all, I hadn't even heard of using Penn Grade for hot rods looks like a good product

 

[4mulas]

View attachment 1955678

Where do you buy this Wayne? Is it Synthetic or crude?
I take it there is high zddp levels?

For the OP, I never really run the break-in oil long, maybe a 100 miles at most for me then I switch to an oil with high levels of zddp. A few here have already mentioned their favorites.