Castrol R

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

In the old days, Castrol R (bean oil) was the best high performace
lubricant available - the out-of-the-ground product just had the larger
dinosaur bones strained out . . .

Castrol R is still a pretty good lubricant, but modern oils work much
better and are much less expensive (but the castrol has a very distinctive
odor - all the old time racers will recognize it).

Castor based oils were also used as lubricants in WW one fighters, which
among the many other problems inherent in brand new technologies driven by
war-time needs, were not noted for their oil-tightness. What they DON'T
tell you when they are romancing about the Red Baron et. al, is that
breathing the copious fumes from these engines for a couple of hours has
exactly the same effect of drinking a cup of medicinal castor oil - and as
I recall, the usual dosage is measured in teaspoons, one each.

Warning - you CANNOT mix R with mineral oils - instant non-lubricating
globs of sludge! It is almost impossible to remove Castrol R residue from
an engine that has been run on it - take apart and bead blast everything,
then reassemble. Also, the carbon deposits are resistant to almost
everything except maybe nuclear fission.

This was a good product, but its time is past.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman