Denver Automotive Parts, Machine and Service Shop

How do racing oils differ from everyday motor oils? You might think all racing oils are synthetics, but they are not. Some use conventional mineral base oils, others use PAO and ester synthetics, and some are a blend of conventional and synthetic oils. Some racing oil suppliers refine their own oil while others are blenders who buy base stocks from other oil companies and mix in their own additive package. It doesn’t really matter which way a racing oil is created as long as it meets the criteria for which it was designed.
Racing oils are formulated for hard use, high temperature operation. This requires a high quality base stock with an additive package that provides superior wear resistance and oxidation resistance compared to an everyday motor oil. Base oils make up 70% to 90% of the liquid that’s in a bottle of oil. The rest is various additives. A high quality base oil usually requires fewer additives to achieve good performance, while less quality oils need a better additive package. The bottom line is that two different racing oils formulated using different base stocks and additive packages can often meet the same performance criteria.
When choosing a racing oil, therefore, comparing apples to apples can be difficult because of the different base stocks and additives that are used. Most oil companies will only hint at what’s in their product, preferring to keep their exact formula a proprietary secret. They may make certain claims as to how the oil performs or how much anti-wear additive it contains, but trying to compare one motor oil directly to another can be very confusing. Motor oils with the same viscosity rating can have very different additive packages and very different performance characteristics. So the best advice we can offer when it comes to choosing a particular brand of motor oil is to go with a brand that has a good reputation with the racing community. It doesn’t matter if the product is made by a big oil company with a big promotional ad budget or blended by a small supplier who relies on word-of-mouth advertising.
That said, let’s take a closer look at what goes into racing oil and how that may affect the way you choose to build an engine.

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Denver Full Service Machine Shop

All About That Base
Base oils are rated according to their “Viscosity Index” (VI) or pour point, how many “saturates” (paraffin and naphthenes) they contain, sulfur content, volatility, flash point, oxidation stability and other factors. Petroleum engineers have developed test procedures and a rating system for grading various base stocks.
• Group I oils are the easiest to refine and least expensive lubricants. They also contain lower levels of saturates (less than 90), higher levels of sulfur (over 500 ppm) and usually have a viscosity index rating of less than 100. Group I mineral oils have long been used in straight weight and multi-viscosity everyday motor oils, and are often blended with Group II or III oils in some multi-viscosity oils. But Group I base oils are generally not used in racing oils.
• Group II base oils are higher quality lubricants that are commonly used in today’s multi-viscosity oils. They contain a higher percentage of saturates (greater than 90), lower levels of sulfur (less than 500 ppm), and have a viscosity index rating over 100.
• Group III base oils have a viscosity index rating usually over 120, and include many synthetic oils.
• Group IV base oils are pure PAO synthetics and are the highest quality generally used in automotive applications.
Which group a base oil ends up in depends on how it was refined or made, and how it performs. Mineral base oils are refined from crude oil (paraffinic, naphthenic and aromatic) while synthetic oils undergo additional refining and may be made from crude oil or natural gas. Synthetic oils fall into several subcategories: PAOs (polyalphaoefin), diesters, polyol esters and PAGs (polyalkylene glycols).
This is a lot of chemistry you really don’t need to know to choose a racing oil. But it’s helpful to understand what some of these terms mean and how marketing people tend to misuse them in promoting various high performance lubricants.
The general consensus is that synthetic oil is better than conventional mineral oil. Most synthetic oils do have inherent advantages over conventional oils because synthetic oils undergo additional refining, distillation and purification that results in a very high quality and consistent base stock. Synthetic oils generally pour more easily at lower temperatures, resist oxidation better at higher temperatures, stay cleaner longer (extended drain intervals) and superior lubrication and wear protection. One oil supplier says the molecules in synthetic oils are more consistent in size. This allows a synthetic oil to provide a higher film strength. Translated, this means although a synthetic oil is often thinner than a conventional mineral oil, it clings better to bearing surfaces under load.
Synthetic oils also have lower volatility, which reduces evaporation losses when the oil is hot. Synthetic oil is also more sheer stable, which means its viscosity characteristics are more predictable and consistent, and undergo less change over time than a conventional mineral oil. Some synthetic oils also provide better air release, reducing the risk of aeration and bubbles being trapped in the oil when it is being whipped into foam by a spinning crankshaft.
High-quality conventional mineral oils can perform well in many racing applications with the right additive package, but for the most demanding applications many oil experts say a full synthetic will usually provide the best protection and performance.
Oil is relatively cheap, even the most expensive full synthetic racing oils when you compare the cost of the oil to all of the machine work and parts that have gone into a high performance engine. Why scrimp on oil quality and risk an engine failure if a premium quality racing oil can provide extra protection?

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Denver Automotive Machine Shop/Service And Parts

The Antidote to Wear
One of the key components in any racing oil is anti-wear additive.  Typically this includes ZDDP (zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate) as well as other ingredients such as moly. ZDDP is a mixture of zinc and phosphorus, although many people simply refer to it as “zinc”. The exact proportions of zinc and phosphorus in ZDDP can vary somewhat but generally there is slightly more phosphorus than zinc. Under extreme pressure, these compounds provide a protective barrier that prevents metal-to-metal contact and wear.
Everyday motor oils for passenger car and light truck applications that meet current API (American Petroleum Institute) “SN” specifications and/or ILSAC GF-5 specifications contain reduced levels of ZDDP (less than 800 PPM). Phosphorus is great stuff for preventing wear, but it can also contaminate catalytic converters and oxygen sensors, reducing service life ­– especially if the engine is burning oil due to worn valve guide seals or piston rings. The amount of ZDDP in current motor oils was reduced from earlier levels of 1200 PPM because most late model engines have roller cams or overhead cams. Reduced friction in the valvetrain means these engines don’t need as much ZDDP for wear protection. But that’s NOT the case with performance engines or older engines with flat tappet cams. They need higher levels of anti-wear protection.
Most people assume that one of the hallmarks of a racing oil is that it contains at least 1500 PPM of ZDDP, or even more (some contain as much as 2000 PPM of ZDDP). That’s generally true, but there are performance lubricants on the market that contain as little as 1100 PPM of ZDDP thanks to the higher quality base oils in the product and other additives (such as moly).
The exact amount of ZDDP in a racing oil doesn’t matter, nor does more always mean better as long as there is enough to protect the valvetrain components against wear. Some engines need more, some can get by with less. Extremely high RPMs and extremely stiff valve springs can place tremendous loads on the cam and lifters, so foe these applications a racing oil that contains extra ZDDP or other anti-wear additives is usually a must to prevent cam or valvetrain failure.

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Automotive Machine Shop

Taking it to the Streets
Part 4 of 4
Street performance oils are a subcategory within racing oils that are formulated for the typical vintage muscle car or street/strip machine. Some of these oils are not API-rated, although they usually meet all of the other performance criteria for a modern motor oil. The main difference is that they contain 1200 PPM or more ZDDP to protect flat tappet cams and lifters against premature wear. Since most of these vehicles are not equipped with oxygen sensors or catalytic converters, phosphorus contamination is not an issue. Such products are usually NOT recommended for late model vehicles that have electronic engine controls (O2 sensors) and catalytic converters.
For more demanding racing applications, specially formulated racing oils with the highest quality synthetic base stocks may be required to provide the utmost protection and lubrication. Some racing oils are formulated for engines that are running alcohol, or for blown, turbocharged or nitrous applications. The best advice here is to follow the application recommendations of the oil supplier. They know their individual additive packages and formulations and can help you choose a product that is right for the application.

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Denver Auto Machine Shop

Dual-Quad HEMI intake manifolds are intended for use with Mopar Gen II (1964-71) 426-572 HEMI engines operating in the 2,500 to 6,500+ range. These new intake manifolds are a single-plane Air-Gap design with a dual square-bore 4150 style carburetor pad. Carburetor spacing and height are the same as Mopar Performance dual-quad #P5153737, making it a direct bolt-on to all vehicles with a shaker hood. They also retain the same carburetor linkage location from the factory.
The Dual-Quad HEMI is compatible with factory style cylinder heads, but optimized for use with Edelbrock Victor Jr. HEMI cylinder heads. Requires Edelbrock Coil Bracket #8079 for use with OE style coils.
CARB RECOMMENDATIONS: Edelbrock Thunder Series AVS or Performer Series (600-800 cfm) Carburetor.
THROTTLE BODY RECOMMENDATIONS: Edelbrock #38783 with progressive linkage #7094.
FUEL RAIL RECOMMENDATIONS: Use Edelbrock fuel rail kit #3660 with Edelbrock injectors #3686.
INSTALLATION NOTE: Recommended intake gasket: Edelbrock #7278. Manifold height: A-4.68″, B-5.51″; Carb pad height: 5.10″. Port exit dimensions: 1.80″ x 1.98″.

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Auto Machine Shop

Dodge Brothers Facts
The Dodge brothers, John Francis (1864-1920) and Horace Elgin (1868-1920), were among the earliest and most successful automotive pioneers of the twentieth century.
John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge worked together around the turn of the twentieth century in the field of transportation-specifically in the newly formed auto industry. Originally working from a small machine shop in Detroit, Michigan, the pair contributed to the success of several famous automakers, including Ransom Olds and Henry Ford, before designing and beginning to manufacture their own Dodge Brothers automobile. They were also famous for the fortunes they built from their automotive empire, which they used to make Detroit into a world-renowned center of art, music, and architecture.
John and Horace Dodge were both born and grew up in the western Michigan town of Niles in the years following the Civil War. John was born October 25, 1864, and Horace was born May 17, 1868. Their father, Daniel Rugg Dodge, ran a foundry and machine shop, where he built and maintained engines for the river boat traffic. "The boys spent much of their free time puttering around their father's foundry, learning the skills of the forge and machine shops," explain Jean Maddern Pitrone and Joan Potter Elwart in The Dodges: The Auto Family Fortune and Misfortune. "Since the boats that navigated the St. Joseph River provided the Dodge shop with most of its business, the boys soon became familiar with the intricacies of the marine engines their father and uncles repaired." The family business provided a living but very few conveniences for the family. The boys and their older sister Della "had no shoes even in early winter when Maria [their mother] sent them to the brick schoolhouse down the road from their home," explain Pitrone and Elwart. Despite these handicaps, both Della and John graduated from high school in Niles, while Horace completed his education in his father's shop.

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Automotive Machine Shop

Dodge Brothers Facts
The Dodge brothers, John Francis (1864-1920) and Horace Elgin (1868-1920), were among the earliest and most successful automotive pioneers of the twentieth century.
Failures and Successes
The Dominion Typography Company was not suited to the manufacture of bicycles and soon collapsed. The Dodges saw the failure of their employer as a chance for them to go into business for themselves. "In 1896, when the failing Canadian typography company was listed for sale," writes Pitrone in Tangled Web: Legacy of Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge, "the Dodges took every dollar they could drain from their family budgets to lease the company's building and fixtures." "Obtaining the lease, the brothers started operating their own business, but it survived only a short time," the critic continues. Instead of trying to maintain the company through a failure, John and Horace sold the business to another Canadian firm, which manufactured bicycles using the Dodge patent. "The brothers," say Pitrone and Elwart, "… had expected to receive substantial royalty payments from the buyer for their ball-bearing bicycle invention. But the company, beginning to fail, had reneged on royalty payments. As soon as the Canadian company made plans to dispose of its assets, the Dodge brothers canceled their claims against the firm in exchange for their pick of the machinery in the Windsor plant."
This second-hand Canadian machinery formed the nucleus of the Dodge Brothers Machine Shop which John and Horace founded in the Boydell Building in Detroit in 1902. Their earliest contracts came from stove manufacturers, but soon they contracted with Ransom Olds, producer of the single-cylinder Oldsmobile, to build transmissions. The Dodges' success in creating high-quality parts that Olds used to assemble his cars brought the brothers both profits-which they invested in their business-and fame. Soon they were approached by budding auto designer Henry Ford. "Near the end of 1902," write Pitrone and Elwart, "the Dodge brothers produced in their machine shop the automobile that was to be the basis for Ford's successful business." Early in 1903, John and Horace abandoned their contract with Olds in favor of investing in the Ford prototype Model A automobile, a car that was produced almost entirely in their own shop.
Although the Dodges delivered the nearly completed cars they had contracted for on schedule, Ford and his two partners, the coal dealers Alexander Malcomson and James Couzens, found themselves unable to pay. Instead, the partners offered the brothers fifty shares of stock in the newly formed Ford Motor Company apiece. "By October of that first year," state Pitrone and Elwart, "Ford expanded the assembly plant, and the Dodges, who contracted to deliver 755 more chassis in the first five months of 1904, made a personal profit of more than $75,000." "By June 1904, less than one year from the date the company had begun selling its first cars," the writers explain, "dividends of 98 percent were paid to its stockholders. The Dodges received $9,800 in dividends on their original $10,000 investment in stock." "In June 1905, the Dodges received another $10,000 in dividends, plus an additional $10,000 the following month-dividends which were only a faint indication of the millions of dollars they would receive within the next several years," they conclude. More to come with next blog:

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Denver Automotive Machine Shop

More Facts on the Dodge Brothers History
Ironically the transportation revolution that swept the United States during the nineteenth century-and, which culminated in the development of the automobile-contributed to the Dodge family's poverty. By 1882, when John graduated from high school, "the railroad had developed into a booming new transportation medium in the past few years, and as Niles was emerging as a railroad link of its new industry between Chicago and Detroit," explain Pitrone and Elwart, "the Dodge business, dependent in great part on the obsolescent river traffic, continually worsened." Soon after John's graduation the family moved to Port Huron in search of better opportunities.
Within four years, however, they had moved again. "In 1886 when the Dodge family moved to Detroit," say Pitrone and Elwart, "the Detroit River was rivaling the Suez Canal in the amount of tonnage passing through its channels." The brothers went to work at first in marine engineer Tom Murphy's Boiler Shop, then in 1892 moved to the Dominion Typography Company across the river in Windsor, Canada, where they not only produced machines that nearly perfectly cut type for printing, but also contributed to the company's Maple Leaf bicycle, which was successful largely because of Horace's patented ball-bearing device. They also married-John in September 1892 to Ivy Hawkins, Horace in 1896 to Christina Anna Thomson.

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Denver Automotive Machine Shop

Dodge Brothers Facts
The Dodge brothers, John Francis (1864-1920) and Horace Elgin (1868-1920), were among the earliest and most successful automotive pioneers of the twentieth century.
The Dodge Reputation
John and Horace quickly began investing their new wealth in their business and in their families. They expanded their shop in order to keep pace with the demands of the Ford contract-in 1910, they moved to a new and larger facility in the enclave of Hamtramck-and they started construction on palatial estates: John on Boston Boulevard in Detroit, Horace in Grosse Pointe. John, whose wife Ivy had died in 1901 from tuberculosis, also remarried, choosing as his next wife his former secretary Matilda Rausch. The two brothers also indulged themselves in trying to recapture some of their earliest interests. John bought the first of the farms that eventually made up the Meadow Brook estate near Rochester, Michigan, while Horace began construction of the first of what would become a fleet of yachts on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. Horace also became the primary sponsor of the new Detroit Symphony Orchestra, contributing heavily to the construction of its permanent home at Orchestra Hall.
John attracted less favorable attention in 1911, when newspaper headlines announced that he and his friend Robert Oakman had insulted and beaten handicapped attorney Thomas J. Mahon in a brawl at Schneider's Bar in Detroit. Both brothers were heavy drinkers, prone to belligerence when under the influence of alcohol, and they had a reputation in the city saloons for aggressive behavior. After the Mahon incident, however, "the escapades of the Dodges, which had been looked on by some with an admiring tolerance," state Pitrone and Elwart, "were suddenly viewed differently." The suit Mahon filed against Dodge and Oakman was eventually dropped, but the damage to John's reputation could not be undone.
The Dodges may have sought consolation in alcohol in part because of their frustration over their relationship with Ford and his associates. Although profits from the association were tremendous, the brothers disapproved of the way Ford treated his partners and his employees. In 1906, Ford squeezed his former partner Malcomson out of the Ford Motor Company. He also tried to reduce the payment of dividends to stockholders. "The squeeze play that had forced Malcomson-along with some other minor original stockholders-out of the company had demonstrated to the Dodges that Ford had no loyalty to those whose time and labor had brought him success," explain Pitrone and Elwart. The brothers' own sense of loyalty to their employees and friends was legendary. In addition, they had begun to make plans to build and manufacture their own car, realizing that to rely on Ford as their sole major source of income would prove to be a serious mistake. "In August of 1913," says Pitrone, "John Dodge resigned from the vice-presidency of the Ford Motor Company to avoid a conflict of interests as he and Horace began enlarging their Hamtramck factory for the production of their own car…. Newspapers across the country carried the announcement of John Dodge's resignation from Ford Motor Company's board of directors, and of the brothers' intention to manufacture a Dodge car in 1914. Since the automobile world recognized the Dodges' contributions to the success of Ford automobiles, the brothers' revelation that they would build a moderately priced, four-cylinder Dodge car received respectful attention in the nation's journals." More on Dodge Brothers in next blog.

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Automotive Machine Shop

Dodge Brothers Facts
The Dodge brothers, John Francis (1864-1920) and Horace Elgin (1868-1920), were among the earliest and most successful automotive pioneers of the twentieth century.
The Dodge Reputation
The car that emerged from the Hamtramck plant on November 10, 1914, represented a significant improvement on the Ford cars for which the brothers had been making parts only the previous year. The Dodge Brothers auto had a self-starter that only rarely relied on cranking, making it easier for women to drive. It also had a hand-controlled fuel pump that "made it possible for the Dodge car to climb a steep hill without forcing the driver to put his car into reverse gear and to ascend the hill backwards, as drivers of some Model T Fords had to do," says Pitrone. "By the end of 1914, John and Horace were planning for major production of Dodge cars in 1915, introducing a two-passenger roadster with rear luggage compartment, and a first closed car-a center-door sedan." The solid, dependable Dodge autos won recognition from General John J. Pershing in his mechanized-cavalry campaign in Mexico in 1916. "The Dodge cars swayed and lurched along in low gear," declare Pitrone and Elwart, "belching steam and grinding their way through the sand so successfully that, less than three months later, Pershing requested another 250 Dodges from the War Department, putting out an order that only Dodges would be used by his staff in Mexico's rugged territory." Dodge cars and trucks were also used extensively by the American forces during World War I.
By the war's end, the Dodge Brothers plant ranked fourth in production among American car producers. When Horace and John left Detroit for the 1920 National Automobile Show, their prospects were bright. "In the summer of 1919," say Pitrone and Elwart, "their factory had produced 500 cars each day and still ran behind the volume of orders received from dealers." However, within the week, Horace Dodge fell very ill. Rumors circulated that he had fallen victim to a bad batch of illegal liquor, but the doctor's diagnosis was "grippe"-the influenza that in 1918-19 had killed more than 500,000 Americans. John Dodge, who camped outside his brother's sickroom door, soon was taken sick as well. John had suffered from tuberculosis more than twenty years previously, and it had damaged his lungs. He died on January 14, 1920. Although Horace recovered from the flu, he was a broken man without his older brother and partner. He died of cirrhosis of the liver on December 10, 1920. The Dodge brothers left behind them two tremendous fortunes that caused much family squabbling, a legacy of contributions to the city of Detroit, and a reputation for making solid, dependable cars and trucks that survives to this day. More on Dodge Brothers in next blog.

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