MTFCA Forum

Just kidding. The discussion of various polishes got me to thinking about questions that always draw lots of opinions. Before you click on them you know what you're going to see. What kind of water pump should I use on my 1915?

What oil should you use?.... Avocado oil is best for your system for cooking and to add to your salads and food. ...

I always recommend Ford motor oil. It’s tough to find these days, but with a bit of luck and a Time Machine, you should have no problem finding some.

Wow !!.. cool can Ed. I’m glad to see those graphics.

The cheapest. Pennzoil 10W-30 conventional, 5 gal jug for $22.48 at homedepot. Can't beat that!

I think you mean 5 quart versus 5 gallon.

Since you are knew to Model T I would recommend extra virgin olive oil.

Experts warn that oils in plastic containers may contain high levels of toxic microplastics. Oils in metal containers may contain high levels of toxic lead.

Cousin Eddy's dog, schnops, preferred Pennzoil. Apparently Eddy used it as well in his motor home.
It must be good to keep that "tenement on wheels" on the road.

Art Mirtes

The cheapest 10W20 at Walmart. Use light weight oil even though it might burn more and leak more, it will run into all the places needed for lubrication in engine and transmission. Remember it is a gravity flow system and splash system so needs to be thin enough to flow easily. Don't pay any attention to the silly posts above. It also needs to be changed frequently because no oil filter.
Norm

By the way, Steve, you are not new! I just noticed your name after I posted my suggestions! I see your humor has healed better than a

your car. Norm

I've got 5 Ts and I'm cheap! I use the cheapest oil I can find. I recycle the synthetic oil from my moderns after 10K miles and feed my Ts. I figure if it's rated to 15,000 miles it should be good for another 500 in a T. It's been filtered for 10,000 miles and is just a little black. "It's probably better than what was available in the 1920's."

When my father started in the hobby 77 years ago, he put the used motor oil from his father's Cadillac in his Model T.

An acquaintence of mine in the antique auto hobby who was born in 1925 told me that when he was a teenager, he drove Model A Fords and the service station in his neighborhood used to let him take for free as much used motor oil as he wanted to run in his cars.

Erik Johnson wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:25 pm

When my father started in the hobby 77 years ago, he put the used motor oil from his father's Cadillac in his Model T.

An acquaintence of mine in the antique auto hobby who was born in 1925 told me that when he was a teenager, he drove Model A Fords and the service station in his neighborhood used to let him take for free as much used motor oil as he wanted to run in his cars.

My father used only re-refined oil that he got from the John L. Ray oil refinery in Braintree, MA. (Yup, Massachusetts had an oil refinery). I would love to tell you that it worked out just fine, but it didn't. The problem was not the refinery or re-refined oil, it was my father. He had the belief that HD oil was a tool of the devil, and refused to use it. That may have been OK in the flathead era, but trust me - in a hydraulic lifter OHV it was not. He always drove high-end FOMOCO products, and I think he put a set of new lifters in all but one of his OHV cars. The one that survived him without engine damage was his '58 Thunderbird. He had significant back trouble and couldn't get comfortable in the Bird's buckets. I don't think he had it six months before he traded it on a new '58 Lincoln.

RE: Re-refined oil

In the mid 1980s, I worked for a short time at the neighborhood gas station/convenience store. We stocked and sold a lot of re-refined, non-detergent SAE 30 oil. If I recall correctly, the price was less than a buck for a quart can.

The folks that bought it were mainly poor people who drove high mileage heaps that leaked and/or burned oil.

Cook's re-run oil was sold for 19 cents a quart in this area for years. It looked good, but smelled a little off, and seem to be about 20W. I used it in cars that burned or leaked oil with no problems.

10W30 detergent oil works well in Model Ts under all but the most severe conditions. In very cold weather 5W20 would be a good choice. I use full synthetic 10W30 in my T and it works very well. My engine is in good condition and very clean inside, transmission has Kevlar bands and a screen and magnet and I use an air filter. I change the oil at 1200 to 1500 miles, and it is in very good condition at that point, and probably does not need changed.
I've run this car well over 16,000 miles, and it runs as well today as the day I got it. I've run the car a lot on the open road in very hot weather, and a fair amount in cool weather. I usually run it from 40 to 45 MPH on paved 2 lane roads. Leakage is very minimal.

10W30 detergent oil will far outperform the best oil available in the 1920s, and there is no downside to using it. Either "Regular" oil or synthetic work fine. Lately, the price difference in regular and synthetic oil has shrunk.

Since a T is flat tappet. I use VR1-30w. It has high zddp levels.

Go figure that Olive Oil is actually similar to SAE 10w-30. Butter is about SAE 50.

DHort wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 10, 2025 3:10 am

Since you are knew to Model T I would recommend extra virgin olive oil.
olive.jpg

Is extra virgin olive oil of higher moral quality?

For sluggish engines use Castor Oil. Loosens up the piston rings & exhaust valves.
--

I think that at one time castor oil was the best lube available for racing engines.

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:00 pm

I think that at one time castor oil was the best lube available for racing engines.

Yup https://rockoil.co.uk/products/racing-castor-oil/
Racing Castor Oil is a traditional straight vegetable oil of SAE 40 viscosity for use either in two-stroke or four-stroke lubrication. It meets the continuing demand for a traditional castor lubricant, preferred in speedway, grass tracks and vintage machines.

I use Shell Rotella T4. You use about anything you want. Possible exception is synthetic. I have never used synthetic but i understand it may be a bad choice based on other's comments. I live in a very warm climate. The 15/40 viscosity is good for me. Not the cheapest oil but frequently on sale around here.

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 10, 2025 9:56 am

Experts warn that oils in plastic containers may contain high levels of toxic microplastics. Oils in metal containers may contain high levels of toxic lead.

Oil containers may also contain toxic oils.

Steve Jelf wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 5:08 pm

Just kidding. The discussion of various polishes got me to thinking about questions that always draw lots of opinions. Before you click on them you know what you're going to see. What kind of water pump should I use on my 1915?

I was wondering how long it would take for people to begin making serious replies to your humorous posting. It didn't take long...

I will offer advice that might have given by a long ago contributor "HughJass". For complete lubrication, the old timers liked to use modified bituminous roofing tar.

I also use Rotella T4 because it has the JASCO rating. JASCO is the Japanese rating for wet motorcycle clutches, which is also present in a Model T.

As always you will receive lots of different options on this subject.

Rod

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 10, 2025 3:29 pm

Cook's re-run oil . . . I used it in cars that burned or leaked oil with no problems.

I, too, have had cars that had no problem burning and leaking oil !!

Cook’s sounds like “Eagle” brand recycled oil, 30wt only, used it in my first T back in nineteen-ought-62. Four bits a quart. I miss it !!

I don't think a stock or near stock Model T engine stresses the tappets enough to require zddp. The transmission gears might benefit.
The T clutch is steel to steel, and the band linings are not like modern composition linings, so the wet clutch caveat may not apply.

It's worth noting that Ts were designed to operate with straight, non additive oil motor oil of about 20W. You do NOT want to put any oil containing teflon or graphite in a T, or any thick, straight grade oil. As for synthetic oil, I've used it with great results over many thousands of miles in my T, and the car ran and placed well in the Montana 500 under previous ownership, posting an average speed over 53 MPH using a 0 W 20 full synthetic oil. I use 10W30 full synthetic which works very well here, with easy starting on cool days and excellent performance in 100 to 108 F temperatures.

Should I use "Extra Virgin" olive oil if my T has been "around the block" a few times?

If she parks at the corner for a while she is no longer allowed to use virgin oil.

I have a metric buttload of Napa's version of t4 rotella.

I use it in all my old cars.

it's 15/40 with zinc

I pulled the oil pan off of my '18 Maxwell. I believe the PO was using unrefined oil sands from Canada in it.

I'm staying with Avocado Oil.... Has 500°F smoke point

I just love the smell of castor oil they used in speedcars at the local raceway. Those racing castor oils really did add atmosphere to the events.
Beautiful!

Allan from down under.