Congratulations! I have always liked LeBaron convertibles, and the 3.0L carries this car well.
I personally do not care for Pennzoil. Seems like every time I use it the oil "darkens" faster and the lifters "tick" more (or longer) on cold starts than with any other oil. I prefer Valvoline, but other oils like Castrol or Mobil 1 work good too.
This depends on how many miles are on the engine. 5W30 may be too thin if the motor has a lot of miles, and if you live in a hot climate (Arizona). 10W30 would be a good choice, especially in the Summer.
I really wish you'd gotten one with a Mopar engine, you'd get a better first impression than you will with this car.
Which is a Mitsubishi engine. Its got a very reliable bottom end (crank, rods block) and a TERRIBLE top end (rings, valves, valve guides). No matter what oil you run, it will probably become a blue-smoking oil burner before it hits 150,000 miles. Using a top quality synthetic if it doesn't ALREADY burn a lot of oil may delay the inevitable with that engine.
Pennzoil used to be awful, but in the past 3-5 years they've really stepped up their product. If I were going with a non-synthetic oil, though, I'd go with Castrol GTX. In synthetics, I prefer Mobil 1.
Use whatever the owners manual recommends as far as oil weight. Probably
My first impression of Mopar, which lead me to leave the Ford arena, was a Dodge Dart project car I'm helping a buddy with...
It soon will have a 528 Hemi in it... I still think it should be a split rear window Cuda, but no one listens to me until there are a few hundred hours of work done already...
I've never seen 15W30. If you have an owner's manual, use what it recommends. I'm guessing it is either 5W-30 or 10W-30. I'd use 5W in the winter and 10W in the summer, unless you are in a warm climate and then I'd use 10W-30 all year around. I'm partial to synthetics and use Mobil 1, but almost any quality oil will do. Just don't buy the no-name brands at Wal-Mart.
In your location I would recommend 10W-30 not 5W-30. Avoid 10W-40 (too much viscosity index improver). Your name-brand oil has good reputation. A change to a pure synthetic or away from pure synthetic is not always a great idea in a high mileage motor, since I have seen changes either way causing gasket leaks.
My opinion too. IIRC, it was actually a Keith Black aluminum Hemi. Plus ANY street rod at a show that is NOT powered by a mouse motor gets an extra thumbs up from me. I've been known to vote for a T-bucket in slightly poorer overall condition JUST because it had a nail-head Buick powerplant instead of a Chevy mouse.
And a thousand Charger owners just gritted their teeth and cursed.. :-/
Steve wrote in news:Taqdnca snipped-for-privacy@texas.net:
I prefer customs and street rods with the same brands of engines they came from the factory with, But any Chevy with a non-chevy always gets a grin from me due to the 99.99% of Ford rods suffering the embarrasment of GM power under their hoods.
One of the neatest doubletake inducing setups I've seen in a rod was a 302 Ford motor with custom adapters holding on CHEVY embossed chrome valve covers. I've also seen a Ford rod with a Chevy engine and phonied up FORD valve covers. (Boooo! Hisss!)
Even better was a 30-something Chevy custom with a complete Dodge drivetrain and suspension transplant. :)
But I've never, ever seen a Chevy custom or rod with Ford power, but a large number of all makes will have a Ford 9" rearend, or clone thereof.
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