What crankcase oil for a babbit bearing 1931 Dodge Brothers DH6?

[keiser31]

As stated in the title....what oil should be used in the crankcase of a babbit bearing engine?

[RickBrinker]

30wt NON DETERGENT

[keiser31]

Thanks Rick.

[nearchoclatetown]

John, I thought they had inserts by '31? Oil filter? My '29 has an addon filter. 

[keiser31]

John, I thought they had inserts by '31? Oil filter? My '29 has an addon filter. 

I think 1933 was the first year for DB to have insert bearings.

[nearchoclatetown]

OK, that's too new for me. I agree with Rick, BTW. 

[MIClassicGuy]

I hate to ask, probably an old, over discussed subject, but what is reason to avoid oil with detergent in these engines?

[ply33]

I think 1933 was the first year for DB to have insert bearings.

That was true for Plymouth and the '33 Dodge and Plymouth engines are very similar.

 

I hate to ask, probably an old, over discussed subject, but what is reason to avoid oil with detergent in these engines?

 

The fear is that detergent oil will loosen whatever crud is in there and cause bearing failures.

 

My personal feeling is that if you are worried about that you should clean out the inside of your engine as that crud is coming loose sometime anyway or it will clog the pickup screen and starve the engine for oil. The manual for the '33 Plymouth calls for dropping the pan once a year and cleaning it. So just think of it as doing long deferred scheduled maintenance.

 

The other bugaboo is getting enough zinc to prevent cam wear. Current oil has the same zinc content as oil in the 1950s, long after those 1930s engines were designed. And it has other anti-wear additives that did not exist in the 1950s or 60s.

 

I use what ever name brand modern multi-weight oil is on sale when I need it.

Edited June 11, 2015 by ply33 (see edit history)

[cahartley]

It doesn't matter whether the rods are babbitted or have inserts.

Either way the shells are still coated with babbitt including those in modern engines.

The only reason to not use detergent oil is if you want sludge to collect in the crankcase.

[lozrocks]

Detergent oils require a full flow oil filter. As in all of the oil passes through the filter prior to be circulated through the engine. Detergent oils keep the dirt, and whatever other particles it collects, in suspension while the oil is hot and the filter removes these particles so your engine is kept clean. 

With some effort the earlier chrysler/dodge engines can be modified with a full flow filter if you aren't too worried about originality.

Edited June 11, 2015 by lozrocks (see edit history)

[Guest DodgeKCL]

I personnaly think we over worry about our old engines. Don't forget this was the first time this steel was used. Have you ever noticed how our new vehicles rust just sitting there? Yet an 80 year old car that's been out in the bush for 50 or 60 years is still in one piece. (I've been told that GM vehicles use sintered gears in their transmissions now. This is a form of powder that's crushed in a form to make a gear. Lovely.) I believe these old cars have much better steel in their engines and trannies because they had to to stand up with the poor oils they had then. Have you ever seen the oil from then? It was a green blue syrup that looked more like a grease than oil. And they had no friction modifiers added,or anything else for that matter, like we have today. I think the oils of ANY grade or make today are 100 time better than what was used then and what auto makers expected their engines would have to live with. I've had antiques from the 20s and 30s now for 37 years and I've never had an engine "wear out" although I have put in NOS bearing inserts but only "0 Standard" size. The crank was OK I just put in the inserts. And I do not use non detergent as I don't even think I can buy non detergent anymore. I buy the cheapest oil I can get as it all has to made to the latest ANSI grade anyway. I do pay attention as to whether it is virgin or not but even the mixed ones still have to come up to the ANSI grade which I think is around SM right now. I also add a friction modifier called PROLONG and have for many years. I could go on but I have proven to myself that PROLONG loosens up the engine. (You can notice it by a higher RPM at idle without any adjustment.)

Edited June 11, 2015 by DodgeKCL (see edit history)

[keiser31]

I really appreciate all of the replies. Thanks very much.

John

[MikeC5]

DodgeKCL,

Off topic but I'm hoping you can help with this.  I saw your recent post in the General forum regarding the use of a high-reliability film cap instead of a conventional condenser for the points. I tried searching where I might buy one of these (B32231 022M630) but have not been able to find an exact match. If I understand correctly, the B32231 is the type of capacitor and the value is 0.22 uF, 630 V ? I'm not sure if I'm reading the values correctly. Also, if you do know of a vendor who has this I would much appreciate the link.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[cahartley]

Mike........take your pick....... >>> https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=0.22+uF&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=0.22+uf+1000v+orange+drop+capacitors

 

I'd go with a 1000V.......might be overkill but why not?

[MikeC5]

Thanks,  I did some searching and found KCL had answered this question but on the Dodge Trucks forum...  Here is a link to his answer.  http://forums.aaca.org/topic/255556-replacing-condenser-and-cutout-with-modern-equivalents/?hl=capacitor

 

I wasn't sure about the cap he recommended in a different thread and I wasn't positive about the value in uf.