PennGrade1 20-50 oil

[croc7]

Anyone using it?  What's the general opinion on using a semi-synthetic oil?  Back in the 70's, I used Kendall which was a green oil brand that morphed into Brad Penn which morphed into PennGrade1. Really liked Kendall oil in the Tii but am not sure about the effect of a semi-syn on the gearbox of the mini.

[MiniDave]

I run Brad Penn (soon to be Penn Grade) 20W50 in my car and I think it does just fine. I buy it by the case from my local oil distributor and it runs me just over $6 a quart - $73 inc tax for a 12 qt case. It's supposed to have a bit more ZDDP in it than say VR1 (1500 vs 1200 PPM) and I haven't noticed any adverse effects. Cheapest I've found VR-1 locally is a little over $7 qt. Those two are the only ones I know of that work well in our engine/transmichigans....

However....

A local race engine builder says I don't need to do that, any cheap modern 20W50 is actually better, just add the appropriate amount of Cam Shield and you're good to go.

I haven't decided which way to jump yet, but I just used my last qt of Brad Penn doing an oil change, so I'll need to make a decision soon.

[Scargo]

Dave,

What reason did the engine builder give you for recommending against Penn?

[MiniDave]

He said it didn't have the same levels of detergent as most modern oils - the only thing they're missing is of course the zinc, which you can buy and add to it.

However, Bruce did a little investigating and found that the Penn Grade does have large levels of detergents in it. I use the Penn Grade in my Jag and my Mini and have not had any issues, so I'm still using the Penn Grade in my cars.

[BruceK]

He said it didn't have the same levels of detergent as most modern oils - the only thing they're missing is of course the zinc, which you can buy and add to it.

However, Bruce did a little investigating and found that the Penn Grade does have large levels of detergents in it. I use the Penn Grade in my Jag and my Mini and have not had any issues, so I'm still using the Penn Grade in my cars.

Here's that thread:   http://www.restorationmini.com/forum/index.php?topic=1498.msg24971#msg24971

[Scargo]

I asked the question because I use Penn 20/50 in my Mini's and Sprite, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something..

[MiniDave]

I'm still using it and recommending it to folks with old English engines.....