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Hi all

I wrote last week that it has been a while.   wow how things esclate quickly.  I ended up being able to buy my old Vintage Speedster back...the one i had built about 6 years ago.  Still has only 2000 miles.  I am excited.  Not sure what my plans are...but there was another buyer who I guess couldnt get there with the seller and i said i would take it off his hands.  

I wish i could remember sizes of everything.  I had an external filter and oil cooler put on when it was built and bought a wix filter for it before but i can not find any of my paperwork.  Want to get plugs, oil, etc.  What is everyone using these days for oil.  1915cc.  I am not sure over the last few years if there have been any new advancements, but just wondering what everyone is using.  AND if you have an external filter, what size?

Thanks everyone.  Car wont get here until end of Feb.  

Todd

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1915 Engle W110 cam, A1 Sidewinder (1 1/2" primary tubes?), Empi IDF's, probably stock dual port heads- any where from 85- 100 or 105? hp depending on the intake port volume, how well they line up with the intake manifolds and compression. Lots of fun in a Speedster!

Some porting work, slight raise in compression and 1.25 rockers- anywhere from 20-35 more hp!

51515 Wix or comparable Napa Gold filter (they're made by Wix), 10w-30 Brad Penn (called Penn Grade now?), Valvoline VR1 are all I can think of at the moment.

My work here is done. Al

PS- Don't do the 'R' racing filter- read your previous thread Theron linked to

Last edited by ALB
Theron posted:

Welcome back to the madness. Can't believe I got to be the first one to get it out.
Your old posts contain some of your questions.
You can search by your username and a specific term. In this one you said the filter was a PH8A but the Wix number is Wix 51515.  All I did was search with your username and WIX as the term.
https://www.speedsterowners.co...xternal-oil-filter-1
-=theron

BOOM!  Thanks for the tip.  I'm on it!

Welcome back, Todd's Car! (and you, too, Todd).  

You can also do a search on here for "oil" but beware, that usually starts an "Oily War" about who makes the best for our needs.

You can't go wrong with Brad Penn Green 10W-40 (Some Auto Parts Stores) or Valvoline VR-1 10W-40 (Walmart) 

The filter is a Napa Gold 1515 (Built by WIX and same as WIX 51515)  --  Same as a FRAM PH8, too, but the FRAM filter is of much lesser quality.

Gordon Nichols posted:

Welcome back, Todd's Car! (and you, too, Todd).  

You can also do a search on here for "oil" but beware, that usually starts an "Oily War" about who makes the best for our needs.

You can't go wrong with Brad Penn Green 10W-40 (Some Auto Parts Stores) or Valvoline VR-1 10W-40 (Walmart) 

The filter is a Napa Gold 1515 (Built by WIX and same as WIX 51515)  --  Same as a FRAM PH8, too, but the FRAM filter is of much lesser quality.

I remember all the oil wars!  I am looking at Brad penn green and it says partial synthetic.  I am sure I didn't use any synthetic before. Anyone have heartburn over this or keep searching for zero synthetic

@Todd - Don't sweat over the conventional/synthetic debate. People here (and in the rest of the performance VW world) use partial and full synthetic oils with great success. The important thing is to be sure the oil will protect your engine's lifters from the valve springs- engines with mild single springs seem to live with any SM or SN name brand (the only criteria for purchase that it must be on sale- great ongoing research El Guapo!), while more performance oriented engines (with higher valve lifts, dual valve springs and higher powerbands and rpm limits) tend to do best on older style zinc fortified oils, which are available in both conventional and various synthetic blends. The conventional wisdom these days in the automotive world (and not just with VW's) is to run the same weight oil through all seasons, as (if you really think about it) the engine's operating parameters don't change as it gets hotter or colder out.

I think aircooled VW engines were designed around 30w oil- it's the right weight for the pump and bearing clearances used, doesn't create so much pressure at highway speeds (3-4,000 rpm) that it over rides the oil cooler pressure spring (and cause the engine to overheat- remember the system is pressure and not temperature based) and fit's the automotive world's present mantra of '10 psi for every 1,000 rpm'. I'm taking a serious stab at 20w-50 (and any heavier tar) here- I have seen and heard enough that I'm convinced that it has no place in any type 1 street engine.

I hope this helps. Al

Last edited by ALB

That's true, Ray....    Back in '69 VW was recommending Castrol 20W-50 in "Moderate" climates; roughly -8C (15F) to 28C (78F).  

If winter temps dropped down to -15C (10F) they recommended 15W-40/50  and 10W-40 for -18C (0F).  (all taken from my 1969 VW service manual.  

BTW, VW recommended 5W-20 for "Artic" conditions (temps never get above -10C/+15F), like that Beetle shuttling around McMurdo Sound at the South Pole in their commercials or you guys in Canada a few weeks back.)

Since that hey-day of Automotive history, Castrol has (sorta) kept up with evolving engine metallurgical technology and tweeked their oil formulas more for modern cars, leaving us air-cooled folks a bit in the dust, so to speak.

Those recommendations above were for the VW 1,600cc 65HP engine that, quite honestly, never really worked very hard or got hot unless you were hanging it all out there and interstate cruising at 80+mph for a long time (probably heading to the beach or back and forth to school or military obligations).  It just wasn't that potent, compared to our 1915 - 2300cc engines putting out 2X - 3X+ that power.  

But that's only part of the story.  Later, the VW Type-4 oil system designer added (Bless his heart!) a spin-on oil filter right into the case, so he knew how important it was compared to that earlier, ridiculous sump strainer, but he put it in-line AFTER the oil pressure regulator.  That means that the filter canister never sees oil pressure greater than about 80psi or so, even in cold weather.  The thicker oil, causing oil pressure higher than that, gets re-routed directly back to the sump and the internal cooler/filter are protected until things warm up, the oil thins and the regulator directs more and more to the cooler/filter.  I know....Wicked Cool, Right???

Al mentioned how the oil pressure determines how much oil gets to the internal cooler based on pressure, but what happens when we "Full Flow" a case to add an external cooler and filter?   First, we block the normal outlet of the oil pump into the engine's oil gallery, then we take the oil right out of the pump at the cover and route it directly to the external filter, from there to the external cooler, then back to the engine and into the pressure regulator and THEN to the oiling system.

That means that with thicker oil (like 20W-50 ) and really cold temps (anything under 0C/32F), when you first start it up the pump is pumping something like honey that can be well over 150psi (more like well over 200psi in some cases) which can over-pressurize the filter canister and cause a rupture, if you're lucky.  If you're NOT lucky and have one of those "HD Racing" filters the canister will distort (balloon) but not rupture and the pressure causes the external cooler to rupture, instead.  

Or, let's say you have a racing filter with the "over-pressure protection".  That is a pressure relief valve inside of the filter that bypasses the filter when the incoming pressure gets too high.  That protects the filter (and the engine, somewhat), but since the oil has no other place to go it sends the excess pressure right into the external cooler causing a rupture and THAT gets expensive pretty quickly.

So what are the possible solutions??  

1.  Migrate from Canada and join all your fellow Canadian ex-pats down where Wolfgang and Panhandle Bob live to drive year-round (except during those pesky Hurricanes) in tropical temps while singing, "We're havin' a heat wave..."  This also requires that you always wear flip-flops and some hideous faux-Hawaiian shirt or shorts, year-round.

2.  If you remain in a cold climate, don't start your engine below 5C/40F.  If you do, don't rev it for a couple of minutes and ignore #1.

3.  Get a pressure regulating oil pump cover to limit system pressure to 125 psi or less and ignore #1 - 2.

4.  Run an overall thinner oil, like a straight 30 or 40 weight or just use a 10W-40 and go have a "Bahama Mama" in the back yard while ignoring #1 - 2  (but get the pressure regulating pump cover anyway).

"Now a days it seems that thinner is in and not just around the midriff. "

My Irish grandmother used to say, of people challenged by their midriffs; 

"They're very tall around." 

See?  Wasn't it worth that long read to get to the punchline at the end?

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
Todd - posted:
Theron posted:

Welcome back to the madness. Can't believe I got to be the first one to get it out.
Your old posts contain some of your questions.
You can search by your username and a specific term. In this one you said the filter was a PH8A but the Wix number is Wix 51515.  All I did was search with your username and WIX as the term.
https://www.speedsterowners.co...xternal-oil-filter-1
-=theron

BOOM!  Thanks for the tip.  I'm on it!

Oil Filter K&N 3001 is a great oil filter. Rated for high pressure which is good for thick cold oil starts and it filters out smaller particles than the WIX.

 

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