Oil selection methods..?

[lawrence]

That is today definetly an old wives tale 

Stick with an oil designed for old engines. Avoid synthetic oil.

So quoting me, and implying that my opinion has no merit, is your contribution to this thread? No facts or real world experiences?

[John Maher]

Find more up to date info re fully synthetic oil in this article:
http://johnmaherracing.com/tech-talk/flat-cams-and-pitted-lifters-part-1/

In the early days of synthetic oil, heat retention was an issue I.e. the oil wouldn't absorb heat to the same degree as mineral oil, allowing the heads to reach extremely high temperatures. There were also problems with oil leaks. All of those issues have been dealt with as oil technology has improved. Can't think of a single reason not to run the right fully synthetic oil in an aircooled VW engine today.

[fish]

John is absolutely correct.

The heat retention of old Synthetic oils was a major problem especially with air/oil cooled engines not to mention degradability of base molecular structure and release of harmful particulates.

Bang for buck it's hard to beat Valvoline  VR1.

[Peter]

Great information!
thanks for that John!
When are you releasing part 2?

[Martin S.]

My builder hasn't had a cam go flat and says it's not the lifters or cam, it's the build that can cause problems. I'm hoping for the best for my engine that he built which has several thousand miles on it (webcam cam and lifters) running Liquimoly full synthetic. Another customer of his has had a couple cams go in his big engine, but he built the motor himself.