Oil type Fiat 124 Spider with 132c3 2000cc Carb

[gspider78]

What is the best viscosity and oil brand to run in this car?

[Ragno124]

Valvoline VR1 20w50 as it has some zinc in it. I only drive my car in the summer so it may be a little heavy for colder temps.

[baltobernie]

There are quite a few Oil Threads on this and other websites. You can spend a lot of time researching the "best" oil for your car, but using the correct viscosity and changing every 3,000 miles (or at least once a year before wintering) in normal use will be just fine for your car.

[Odoyle]

As Bernie said, the right type of oil depends on where you live and what season it is. Out here in southern California I use Castrol 30weight flat with zinc ddp additive during summer and 10/30 Castrol during colder months with same zinc additive. The zinc helps to decrease the wear on flat tappet motors.

[Shadoobie]

To be honest, you're likely to get as many different responses as there are brands of oil. Everyone seems to have their own ideas that they've formed over time, and I've noticed that car guys tend to be fiercely loyal to oil viscosities for some reason. The fact is that any modern brand is bound to be far more efficient an oil than the oil that was used in the 70s due to technological advancement and the '79 has hardened valve seats designed specifically for unleaded gas, negating the need for a zinc additive. The factory recommended viscosity for temperatures above 5 degrees Fahrenheit is 15w40 so I'd trust the engineers who built the engine on that.

[AJFiat]

Even in the 79 though I thought we wanted some zinc to prevent wear on the flat tappet cam?

[RRoller123]

Correct, the zinc is not about the valve seats, that is the unleaded issue. The zinc is about the cams.

[Shadoobie]

Also, if you look at the cams on the late model spiders compared to the early ones you will find that the late model cam lobes are far wider. Fiat did this to compensate for the lack of Zinc due to the addition of a catalytic converter. Zinc would probably prevent wear to an even greater extent, but I believe you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who has used regular oil on a late model spider who has worn their cams out, regardless of mileage. It just doesn't happen.