1959 Dodge

It would have had straight 30 or 40 back in the day but no doubt it has had new oil put in it in recent years. 20W40 would be a safe bet.

You are not talking Ferrari engines so almost any oil would do for a top up to get the vehicle rolling before you do your oil and filter change prior to running it for real.

Lang

Hi Lang,
Thanks for the advice, i have been driving it a fair bit as is, i have read a bit about full oil change and trouble it can cause with thinning and then picking up material that has settled in the sump and causing engine damage. I will in time remove the sump and give all a good clean out

These motors only have a bypass oil filter,so any crud in the oil will go thru the bearings...I would drain the oil,pour a bit of petrol thru,and let it all drain for at least a few days...Ive seen old motors pick up enough sludge on first start to block the screen on the oil pickup,starving the bearings.A fill of cheap Woolies recycled oil wont break the bank.,and at least it will be clean.

John

I think I would be wary of pouring petrol into the sump.

This is a currently running vehicle, not something that has sat for years so it has "fresh" oil running through the system.

The settled crud in there is a mix of oil sludge and any heavier stuff such as filings and grit. I think what petrol will do is melt the toffee oil sludge and leave freshly washed sand in the sump. Any new oil will just pick this right up and circulate it through the bearings. Just letting it drain won't get this out.

I think he is much better off just using fresh oil - the cheap Woollies stuff is OK as you said - and not disturbing the sediment layer until he is ready to remove and physically clean the pan.

Lang

I'm with Lang on this.

Don't disturb the crap in the pan until ready to remove and clean properly.

Yes thanks at this stage I will keep topping up the oil without a full change. I'm just worried that If I start mucking around with it I will end up with a big headache

Hi All,
After driving my truck around for the last 12 months with no trouble it has now developed a bad miss when accelerating. It idles fine and while stationary it revs up fine it only starts chugging under load. I have checked carby and all seems clean and now want to do a tune up.
Question - does anybody have the tune up specs for flathead 6, motor is 25" long
Spark Plug Gap ?
Point Gap ?
Dwell Angle ?
Ignition Timing ?
(BTDC or Mark)

I have all the manuals. give me the engine number and i should come up with something.

lang

Missing under load is likely a dud capacitor.........the spark leads,plugs etc on old engines should never be supressed/high impedance type,or the distributor cap will break down and carbon track.

Hi Lang,
Thanks, the details i have are
Model 10858A
Variant 108Cd
Chassis no, 10021700
Engine number KEW2B15440,
Hope this is all you need