This is Why I Don't Change My Oil

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by eschaider

This is the world's largest open air sanitarium, Brian. What else would you expect.

And the inmates are in charge.

[eschaider]

Yes, they are, Tony!

[hauss]

save your money just change our oil often, with good quality, clean oil .No need to get it anal- ized like some people.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by hauss

save your money just change our oil often, with good quality, clean oil .No need to get it anal- ized like some people.

Well I'm curious, if you had a small internal coolant leak in to your oil would you want to know that? Or if bearing material, or maybe a cam lobe, was starting to appear?

[eschaider]

This is clearly a charter member of the 'don't worry, be happy' crowd, Patrick.

The level of knowledge, detail, scrutiny, and proactivity you are suggesting is simply not relevant or wanted until post-failure. Then, of course, it is Katy bar the doors because all manner of foolish, obscure testing and procedure is embraced like a long-lost family member in order to explain the now "unexpected" massive mechanical failure the individual is confronted with.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by eschaider

This is clearly a charter member of the 'don't worry, be happy' crowd, Patrick.

The level of knowledge, detail, scrutiny, and proactivity you are suggesting is simply not relevant or wanted until post-failure. Then, of course, it is Katy bar the doors because all manner of foolish, obscure testing and procedure is embraced like a long-lost family member in order to explain the now "unexpected" massive mechanical failure the individual is confronted with.

Well, that said, I'll just STFU on the subject.

[eschaider]

I'm not so sure it is a STFU juncture as much as it is an ignore the commentary from the cheap seats sort of event.

[twobjshelbys]

The results are the same: Engine (maybe) needs to be rebuilt, some time. The only thing that changes is whether you do it proactively or reactively. Catching some of them early may avoid collateral damage and that can be worthwhile. I'd say if you had an original period correct FE with all time correct pieces maybe I'd worry. But if I had a new built modern block with modern internals I'd treat it more like a new engine in a daily driver.

[sunman]

Antifreeze is fluorescent.
Check oil with black light for coolant leak.
I’ve got a magnetic plug and hard drive magnets on the bottom of my pans.
Chief engineer of Nissan GT-R program recommends 4000 miles.

[undy]

Originally Posted by sunman

Antifreeze is fluorescent.
Check oil with black light for coolant leak.
I’ve got a magnetic plug and hard drive magnets on the bottom of my pans.
Chief engineer of Nissan GT-R program recommends 4000 miles.

Or... look for the "milk shake" in the valve covers.

[1985 CCX]

These cars are so low, how does one get under it to change the oil??

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

These cars are so low, how does one get under it to change the oil??

lift or jack stands.

[sgianino]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

lift or jack stands.

I usually stop eating for 3 months to flatten out a bit so i can sneak under enough to reach the pan drain screw......My BMI gets to about 12

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by patrickt

My last oil change was four years ago. I like to get yearly UOAs by Blackstone Labs and the one below came today. I look, of course, for wear particles, but I also look for anything that's in the oil that shouldn't be in the oil, like water, antifreeze and gas. That, along with the flash point, viscosity and TBN tell you whether or not you have a problem and whether you need to change your oil or not. The "I change my oil yearly for peace of mind" mindset is for idiots. Not to mention that SAE has papers supporting the theory that changing your oil too often actually increases engine wear. Zinc/Phos numbers can be misleading though because you don't know if that is "used" or not. But unless you have a solid flat tappet you don't really care about that as much as I do.

Not trying to hijack you Patrick.

I'm trying to work out some pattern why some threads are wider than my screen.
Clearly a Club Cobra website issue, since I don't get this anywhere else.

Gary

[PDUB]

some posted photos are wider than the normal format for the site software and the software expands the width to accommodate them... and makes it difficult/frustrating to view.

[twobjshelbys]

This site does not scale images to the window but displays them at their full resolution and makes thexwindow bigger (with scroll bars). One image in a page causes the whole page to go wide. Some images are made thumbnails and don't cause this. Some get fully embedded and do. I try to post images less than or equal to 1024 on the long side. Helps for both display and upload time. I dont think 50mp images of an engine bay add much value

[patrickt]

I resize my pics to 800 width 600 height before posting them here. Other sites do that on the fly for you, but not here. Participation on this has dropped off by 90% from what it was, mainly because the site uses software from the stone age that is limping along with a crutch and cane.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I resize my pics to 800 width 600 height before posting them here. Other sites do that on the fly for you, but not here. Participation on this has dropped off by 90% from what it was, mainly because the site uses software from the stone age that is limping along with a crutch and cane.

I wonder where everyone has gone for “Cobra” companionship? I belong to another, small Cobra forum but it’s kind of a small group who for the most part are politically aligned and gives us collectively a place to vent and rage and talk pretty much about anything including Cobras. So it’s not necessarily a place for everyone although everyone is welcome. But it doesn’t tend to get too deep into Cobra-ism, and Cobra build projects. Just curious.

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by DanEC

I wonder where everyone has gone for “Cobra” companionship?

I don't know where they go now. But I think the shift began about the time Superformance and Backdraft became the favored cars for people who wanted to own a Cobra without having to know how to build or maintain it. In the early days of this forum there was a lot of discussion about technical matters by people building or modifying cars in their own garages. Now days its seems more likely for people to discuss which brand has better resale value. I don't hear much about people taking their cars to the track either. I think the profile of the typical Cobra owner has changed and that is reflected in how and if they participate in this forum. . . . and of course the regular site outages don't help either.

FWIW: When I submitted this comment the system gave me an error message (seeming to invite me to submit it again). Knowing that's why we get so many duplicate posts, I simply closed out the page and reentered the site to see my post where it belonged. This has been going on for years and likely discouraged some less determined people from coming back.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

mainly because the site uses software from the stone age that is limping along with a crutch and cane.

And baling wire and bubble gum. And occasionally duct tape.

And it's building up to another failure. Lots of extremely long events - e.g., opening a topic, next page, etc. Posts are almost always ended with an error (the post happens, but people retry without looking which is why we see duplicates). Soon it will freeze up, go off the air for a few days, be on life support and get a cardio shock and come back again. Happens about every 3 or 4 months.