Haha I just looked under the car at the oil pan and realized I can change the oil without even lifting the car up. Awesome!

 

Yep, I loosen the bolt by going through the engine bay.

 

Ideally, as has been mentioned, you should be running Valvoline VR-1, or something else with a high ZDDP content. ALL diesel oils have now been switched to the new CJ-4 standard, which means they have a low zinc content. The only other oils I'm aware of that have a high ZDDP content are Mobil 1 20W50, some Royal Purple, Redline, and Kendall oils, and pure race oils. You shouldn't run a race oil (like Valvoline's race-only oils) in your street car, however, as they don't have adequate anti-corrosion additives or detergents. They're meant to be run hard and then drained out after every race.

For a filter, I'd recommend the stock replacement Ford FL-1 or a Wix filter. Napa Gold and Carquest's high end filters are made by Wix. High performance filters like K&N and Mobil 1 are also a good choice, but they're overkill unless you run synthetic and use extended oil change intervals. Avoid cheaper brand filters. They really are cheap pieces of crap. Filters like Fram and STP use cardboard end caps that disintegrate, rubber instead of silicone/nitrile backflow valves (if any), bent thin-gauge sheet metal bypass springs instead of a good coil spring, and cheap spot welded center supports rather than a coiled tube.

 

I'm going to go with the Mobil 1 10W30 Clean 5000. Is that good (in reference to the zinc)?

 

The ONLY Mobil 1 that has enough ZDDP is 15W-50. (not 20W-50, not 10W-30). Check Mobil1's website, they give it to you in ZN/PH. You want at least 1200ppm (or it may say .12). As you will see
all the rest of the oils (with API-SM standard) are now 800ppm (or .08).
Conventional oil is no better, if it has API-SM on it-it's bad. You want Valvoline VR-1, any weight is ok. (not regular Valvoline though).

BA Mustang
I invite you to do a search on ZDDP, it has been discussed alot in a few threads on this site. It's scary how many others don't know about this, especially since it affects our old car engines in a very bad way. Heck, I didn't know until about 6-8 months ago and the API- SM standard has been out for about 4 years. Your father's old trusty oil is not the same anymore! (unless it's been in the barn for about 5 years)

 

Ugh well I just bought Mobil 1 10W30 Clean 5000. Don't know what to do now.

Valvoline VR1 is like 6 bucks more a quart...

Edit: I think I'll just buy some ZDDPlus and save myself some money.

 

Alright, I'll look around.

 

Man I don't think my car has had an oil change in at least five years, so hopefully that means I have not put any API-SM s*** in there. I can tell you it is pretty damn sludgy though.

Is there anything I can dump in there to break loose the oil before I drain it with the car cold?

 

get your self some pure kerosine

drain about 1-2 quarts of the old oil and then put that much kerosine in, run the engine until it gets warm then shut it off and drain everything, the kerosine will act like a soap and get all the sludge and grime out by breaking it up

but remember...turn it off once it gets warm to running temp

 

ZDDPlus is an acceptable alternative to VR-1. If you're going to run that, I'd just use Castrol GTX in the future.