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I just returned from buying a case of Brad Penn (Green) 10W-40 oil at my local distributor.  (Radio Oil in Worcester, for you local readers)

The owner (a car and power boat guy) told me that three years ago, when I bought my last case, Brad Penn was bought by A&D Lubricants (or something like that) out in Indiana.  The good news is that A&D has continued the same formulation as before AND maintained the same levels of slippery additives (like ZDDP) that we all need (except for you Suby misfits     ) 

Brad Penn continues to be approved by the PCA for use in our cars, too.

The packaging has a new look - it now says "Penn Grade" on it and the case box looks quite different - but it's the same stuff.  Just make sure you ask for Brad Penn Green, "with the added slippery stuff".

Just wanted to let everyone know.  gn

BTW:  I was surprised to find that Valvoline VR-1 doesn't appear as a 10W-40 in my searches.  10W-30 or 20W-50 was all I found (at about the same price near me as Brad Penn at $80.90 per case for pickup).  The three main non-Harley go-to Motorcycle shops near me only use Brad Penn, too (The Harley place uses Harley Davidson or Amzoil only).

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
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@barncobob  I know BP is all over ebay.  What I couldn't find is Valvoline VR-1 10W-40 (which I was willing to try).  That particular mix (which I prefer) is not offered anywhere so I'll stick with Brad Penn.

I also did a price check of BP 10W-40 (on Amazon and eBay) and found that I could buy it as cheap or cheaper locally ($80 bucks/case) than I could from either of those sites (once shipping is included on eBay).  

That's it.

Oh, and given that we've argued the merits of lots of oils on here, I am SURE that Brad Penn is "PCCA Approved"   

Good one, Mr. Carley!

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

 

Stan, I've never understood why what oil I use should matter to anyone. Or why anyone would lead a crusade to make me change to their kind of oil.

God made 10W-40. God made 20W-50. God made zinc.

And lo, didst God cause to bring forth, yea, even Marvel Mystery Oil.

And God looked at what he had wrought and said, "This is good, I'm done here, choose whatsoever oil thou wouldst."

And on the seventh day, He rested, filled to just a little below the top mark, and went for a drive.

 

 

Last edited by Sacto Mitch
Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Stan, I've never understood why what oil I use should matter to anyone. Or why anyone would lead a crusade to make me change to their kind of oil.

God made 10W-40. God made 20W-50. God made zinc.

And lo, didst God cause to bring forth, yea, even Marvel Mystery Oil.

And God looked at what he had wrought and said, "This is good, I'm done here, choose whatsoever oil thou wouldst."

And on the seventh day, He rested, filled to just a little below the top mark, and went for a drive.

Me neither, but it's a holy war to a lot of guys, Mitch (but you already know that).

I'm not convinced that flat cams, etc. aren't the result of everybody in this hobby mix-matching cams and lifters, and assemblers not being careful about the surface finish of either, but what do I know? Running big honkin' dual springs and not worrying about seat pressure isn't helping anybody either.

A few years ago, there was some action to convert cases to roller cams. I've always wondered why that petered out. There's a guy over on TheSamba selling beehive spring set-ups that looks super interesting to me.

El Guapo is able to run extra virgin olive oil (purchased when it's on sale), because his engine doesn't need a crazy double valve-spring set-up. If a guy keeps it mild, he doesn't need dual springs, and spring pressure is sane, and cams don't go flat. It's just the rest of us who "need" a little more who end up with round camshafts.

 

Yeah, it's the holy war part I don't get.

I listened to the various opposing arguments. And, having had a rather sheltered upbringing, I had to look up some of the dirty words people were using to explain why they would or would not use certain types of oil.

Then I listened to a guy who's been fixing broken VW engines all his life. Other people pay him money to correct their mistakes.

He said use the green stuff, so that's what I do.

But I wouldn't beat someone over the head for not doing what I do. Green works for me. Maybe something else will work for them. Maybe something that's on sale. Maybe something that's extracted from plants that only grow at high altitudes in Bolivia. You just never know.

After all, who am I?

I don't know tappets from shinola.

 

 

I visited Charles at LN Engineering 2 weeks ago and was told the exact opposite of what you were told Gordon.  I called Jake and he confirmed what Charles told me.  They both said that Brad Penn (now called Penn Grade) lost the contract for the base oil and additive pack and it is no longer approved for aircooled motors. 

chines1 posted:

I visited Charles at LN Engineering 2 weeks ago and was told the exact opposite of what you were told Gordon.  I called Jake and he confirmed what Charles told me.  They both said that Brad Penn (now called Penn Grade) lost the contract for the base oil and additive pack and it is no longer approved for aircooled motors. 

Did he say any thing about what's changed? What are they using now?

@ALB He said the base mix packet was no longer the same and it no longer had the high zinc, calcium or phosphorous content of the older oil, plus a changing he detergent used.  

I find mixed results online, some say the formula is the same, some say it's different, but most interestingly Ive found quite a few drag racers that had used Brad Penn religiously and with the bottle change came rampant engine failures...

The Penn name was acquired by D A Lubrications, and they are quote online as saying the formula did not change.  

LN's recommended oil was Gibbs DT series.

I just spoke with Jim Salmon of the tech department at D-A Lubricants, Lebanon, IN  (317/923-5321), which is the company that bought the Brad Penn brand from the American Refining Group American Refining Group.    The acquisition occurred over 3 years ago.  He told me that the formula for their "Penn Grade 1"  20 W 50 product, P/N 71196 is exactly identical to the Brad Penn Grade 1 20 W 50 P/N 009-7119 that I have always used for summer oil in my Speedster.   I repeatedly quizzed him about this to make certain I had it right including the "contains high levels of zinc/phosphorus'  noted on the old Brad Penn label and he assured me that it was indeed the identical formula including the base pack, detergent and all the rest,  plus it too notes "high levels of zinc and phosphorus" on the label--I confirmed this by looking at the label on ebay.   He further said that if I had a partial case of Brad Penn left over I could just mix it with the Penn Grade1 because they are the same.  He said that at first they received a ton of phone calls about this and even made up a flyer showing that the only change that has taken place  is the label change.  

The only mistake and it is a monumental one, that D-A Lubricants made is changing the package.  They bought the Brad Penn name and  presumably the trademarks that go with the business, then walked away from the name and package and in effect started a new business---but we're talking engineers, not marketing people.   

When I finish this post I'll order two cases of Penn Grade 1 Multi grade 20 W 50 partial synthetic oil.  This formula has performed great in my Raby Type IV for almost 57,000 miles.  I didn't want to change my motor oil brand and now I don't have to.

Last edited by Jack Crosby

" They bought the Brad Penn name and  presumably the trademarks that go with the business, then walked away from the name and package and in effect started a new business---but we're talking engineers, not marketing people."

Naaah....Engineers don't give a Rat's Pitutie about the packaging.  That's the job of you Mah-kit-ing guys!!     

If they just left the packaging alone they wouldn't have all this confusion, right??  I think D-A should get the "Dumb-Ass" award for that.

Thanks for taking the time to make that call, Jack.  I admire your forthrightness!

The mucho-less-cornfused Speedstah Guy in Massachusetts  (who's now keeping his brand new case of whatever-the-hell oil it is).  I'll let you know if/what I hear from my distributor guy, too.

At least D A's website is decent (probably set by Engineers.....   :>

https://www.dalube.com/whats-new.html

 

 

I just compared the labeling on an old Brad Penn bottle I still had in the garage with a case of the newer PennGrade.

The references to 'zinc'  on the front of the bottle, and to ZDDP and phosphorous on the back are the same.

I guess it's possible that they 'lost a contract' with their old supplier of the additives and are now sourcing that stuff elsewhere.

But no one has patents on zinc and phosphorous, do they?

At any rate, I'm not losing too much sleep over this.

 

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