FBinNY 

Also STP thrived in an era before multi-grade oils, and one of it's main benefits was as a viscosity stabilizer, to improve hot performance. Today's synthetic blend multi-grade oils essentially incorporate STPs benefits.

ThermionicScott 

Yep, that's the VIIs (viscosity index improvers) I had in mind. I'm not quite old enough to remember those days , but it seemed like the early VIIs didn't last as long, so a shot of STP now and then helped restore the hot performance.

rekmeyata

The formula I gave earlier is the exact ingredients of STP, it did use natural straight 40 weight oil, but it wouldn't be a stretch for any chain lube to use synthetic 40 weight racing oil instead.

Actually in older cars, pre 1980's cars STP did work! It worked better then any other additive that came out since. And all they did was add a bit more zinc then what all the other oils back then contained, back then they contained about 1 or 2% zinc, and STP went to 10%.

There's only Valvoline and Castro oil that uses Zinc anymore, and zinc is only used in their high mileage non synthetic formulas, guess which oil I use in my cars? Lucas is junk, ask any auto racer. Some people argue not to use STP in cold weather, true, but not true if you use a thinner oil in the winter like you should be in older cars, newer cars use thin oil oil anyways so you don't need to worry about changing the oil to a thinner one in the winter.

WARNING, do not use STP or any other thicker additive like Lucas in modern engines that require the new 0w, 5w or 5w-30w oil, or have a turbo charger, the thicker oil could damage the engine and or turbo, and of course ruin your warranty not to mention your day.

I've been using STP for years in my classic cars, but these engines are older technology and work just fine with it. About once every 10 years my friend and I remove the valve covers on our cars (we do this on a rotational basis because he has 21 cars so we only do maybe two or three a year) and check for signs of varnish etc on the lifters and rocker arms. He never used STP, I have for over 30 years that I've owned the one I've had the longest, and he can see the difference, the STP treated engines look cleaner and no visible wear marks, his not so, yet he's still not sold on the stuff?!

There are, or were, some clones of STP that worked just as well like Alemite CD-2 which was used extensively in Europe back in the day.

ThermionicScott 

I can't imagine all that zinc would be good for today's catalytic converters, either.

rekmeyata

There is that, but usually by the time a modern engine would need the aid of zinc the cat is probably shot anyways, and most states don't even check to see if the cat is good.

gregjones

I don't even know if I should, but I use drops of chain lube on the derailleurs anywhere they move and on the sprockets of the rear one (derailleur). Is chain lube proper for this. If so,will Chain-L work on the derailleurs also.

If not, and I should be using something other than chain lube anyway could someone please steer me as to what to use???

Thanks.

3alarmer

I use, and would recommend to you, one of the dry, PTFE spray
lubes available at home depot or auto stores.

They work pretty well to slide these parts freely, with the advantage
of not attracting grit, dirt, dust, cat hair, and boogers.

richard_dupp

Totally off the subject but is FBinNY = Fine Business in New York? Reason I ask is I used to be very active in ham radio and Fine Business (FB in cw) was a very normal reply meaning all is good or OK.

FBinNY 

I guess it could be, but it's simpler. My initials are FB and I'm in New York.

catadromous

FB,

I don't see a dealer listed in Minnesota. Any plans?

Jack in Minneapolis

FBinNY 

I've been trying for 2 years. So far no dice. If you have any dealer you're friendly with tell him about it, and let him know he can have a free sample to test just by asking.

Until I have a dealer in town, I send all Minneapolis inquiries to Art Doyle's across the river in Hudson, WI.

I need dealers all over the US, but it's hard to get shops to even try Chain-L for themselves. However once a dealer in any city breaks the ice, I get more there fairly quickly. That's why if you look at the dealer map, you'll see that Chain-L dealers are in pockets.

BTW- to any other Chain-L fans. If you have a favorite dealer, please tell him about it, and tell them to email me c/o the site for a FREE sample.

ivan_yulaev

Wat. Pretty much all name-brand motor oils have ZDDP in them. Sure, SN spec limits it to 800ppm, but it's still there. If you need more for your application use a 15W-40 diesel oil (usually ~1500ppm) or racing oils (usually >2000ppm).

Kimmo

I've never found it necessary to lube derailleur pivots (unless you're talking about disassembling the upper and lower sprung pivots, which should be greased). As for the jockey wheels, disassemble them and grease the bushing and the sides of the pulleys' inserts where they rub on their dustcaps.

Oil will just make an unnecessary mess.

willbur

"There's only Valvoline and Castro oil that uses Zinc" What? They all use ZDDP but at much reduced levels- about 800-900 ppm. Reduced so as not to poison cat. converters. With roller tappets and other changes not as much ZDDP is required to protect cams, etc.