That's "El Toro Poo Poo." ZDDP was an additive in almost all oils for many years. It has just recently been reduced because some yahoo at the EPA got a promotion for claiming that higher levels of ZDDP will reduce the catalytic converter life and isn't necessary in today's vehicles, completely forgetting that older vehicles, mainly roller tappets, need this extra lubricant. It will not clog an oil filter.

I talked to a chemist I met who works for Exxon/Mobile in their research department for oils used in aircraft turbines. I had been running Mobil 1 but was concerned with their change of additives. I asked him about the reduction of zinc and other additives in regular automotive oil and how that would affect the engine in my race car. He said that the reduction of zinc was a major concern as it performed a number of functions including wear protection and cooling.

At the end of the conversation, he indicated that if I was changing my oil every 25 hours that a non-synthetic racing oil should be fine. He told me to stick with a major refiner as they had the best R&D testing and development. He said he had not tested any aftermarket additives as the FAA almost never approved their use in airplane engines.

I settled on Valvoline VR1 20/50 racing oil as it is readily available at a reasonable price in most major autoparts stores. I prefer a product that has been formulated and tested.

I believe the only issue with the Rotella T is the high amount of detergents used (for diesels). Dave Dirks says he uses the Rotella T Full synthetic.
There are a few oils out there still made with higher levels of ZDDP, Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs, Valvoline VR1.Valvoline Full Syn Racing oil. There are some hot rod oils out there as well. On the Joe Gibbs Oil site, they talk about unmatched additives causing issues.

ZDDP is important for the high pressure protection it gives in the flat tappet arena.

Also check out bobistheoilguy.com

Yeah, the mega oil thread somewhere on here talked about how important it is to have a properly formulated additive package, because when stuff breaks down from heat and age, including ZDDP among other things, it turns into bad stuff like acids and so on that can damage bearings and such. Properly formulated oils have additives to keep the chemical balance stable for longer service intervals as stuff breaks down. It also even mentioned how some certain additives that work together need to be in certain ratios or they do not work correctly, etc. The short story is that you're better off buying a properly formulated oil from the start, and there's a few reasonably priced options out there.

Basicly anything that's rated API SM ain't going to cut it for our cars if you are concerned with long valvetrain life, especially if you like to drive hard alot. The API SM limit for ZDDP is 800 ppm and at least 1200 ppm is recommended for flat tappet valvetrains IIRC. Modern 4 valve per cyl motors run smaller valves which use lighter spring pressures compared to the monster springs in our engines designed to control the fairly large valves plus the freaking huge hydraulic lifters (filled with oil on top of that...they are pretty heavy for what they're supposed to do!) at up to 6500 rpm. Plus, the newer roller valvetrain significantly reduces the heavy sliding movement that lots of ZDDP is needed for. Auto manufacturers are also mandated by the EPA to warrant the emissions equipment for 100K miles, so out with stuff like zinc and phosphorous that contaminates the catalysts in the cat over time.

New oil formulations will not kill a street motor overnight, or maybe not even for years, but the wear will add up after awhile and catch up with you. I ran SM rated Mobil 1 for a while in mine before I found out about the whole ZDDP issue and who knows what it ran with before I got it. That same cam continues to live on just fine in my new motor with 164K miles total put on it and only about 30-40K of those was with "good" oil (SL rated Rotella T synthetic until they went SM, then Brad Penn for me). Camshafts are usually case hardened, which means you'll seem to be fine for awhile until that hardened layer wears through. After that is catastrophic failure. It's probably not a huge deal for most normal cases, but if you regularly flog your motor, drive auto-x's, DE's, or other high performance driving, you better make sure you've got something good in your motor.

what weight vr1 are you using and are you buying it localy?

I know Advance sells it ;)

I use Mobil 1. Is that bad?

Autozone, kragen/o'rileys, napa, pepboys are the only autopsrts store around me. And a shop the next town over sells brad Penn for 5.60 a quart

I think autozone has vr1, too.

50wt 60wt and 20w-50 are the only weights in Valvoline on autozone's site.. i would think they are all to thick, no?

20w 50 is what our cars spec, unless I am mistaken. I do with 15w-50 from Mobil 1.

In My 924S that I DE and autocrossed it only got VR1 20-50, Stuff is expensive but it holds up real nice, I gotta change my 951 over to VR1, the PO had it changed at a quick lube :-(