I recently found this in my dad’s…third side shed. He’s got a few sheds. He’s been around a minute, and doesn’t throw things away. I asked him about it and he doesn’t really know where it came from. I do. I remember watching my grandfather pour it in the crankcase of his tractor. I asked, but I don’t remember his reasons. I do remember asking.
Too long ago, and my 8 year old attention span probably balked. So I took it home and stuck it on the shelf in my shop solely for nostalgic purposes. 195? Mcormick Farmall tractor. That tractor still runs to this day, and dad holds on to it. Solely on nostalgia. Did the STP help? I don’t know enough about the date, the oils of the day, and the condition of the tractor’s engine at the time to say. I’m definitely not a shill for stp oil treatment. I’m just remembering a time when tractors ran (seemingly) forever, oil treatments were (perceived) legit, wal mart stickers were green, and 15 oz. of stp’s finest was a buck 38. I wonder when this can was purchased? I’ll hang on to it anyway.
Interesting historical post, thanks. As a teenager it was common to see STP bumper stickers on other teenager’s cars in the high school parking lot. I always thought the “S” in STP stood for Studebaker. It was a Studebaker product at one time, but later I learned the “S” stands for “scientifically” as “scientifically treated petroleum”.
I always thought it was Standard Texas Petroleum. Not sure where I got that, and I may very well be misguided.
The stickers still adorned the helmets I wore on my dirt bikes, though. Then I got more advanced and adopted the “Klotz Racing Fuel” stickers. Even though my bikes had dad’s 87 test mower gas mixed with 2 stroke oil in the tank. “Klotz” just seemed sexy as hell at the time. Sounds more like a bad thing that could happen to your blood stream now.
George is correct about STP being Scientifically Treated Petroleum. Studebaker did acquire the product line. At one time ran a contest for three word phrases based on STP. STP was primarily a viscosity improver, Before specialty lubes came along was often used as an engine assembly lube.
Who can forget Andy Granatelli? Had it not been for the rain delay that car may have won’t the Indy 500, turbines were banned the following year.
I remember I bought a can of that about 1968 for my 59 Pontiac. I don’t know why exactly. It must have been winter though because when I poured it in it was very very thick and would hardly pour out of the can. I don’t remember it making any difference. Guess I didn’t know any better.
I may be wrong and it would not be the first time but that car looks like it should be on a drag strip as it don’t look like it has enough steering radius for a circle track.
I remember that Indy, and I used STP, I cant’ say it made my car run better, smoother, or faster, but the decal/stickers were cool… I do not understand the “rain delay” note, he tranny failed near the end of the race. Wasn’t Andy like a 4-time Indy winner then and was hoping for a 5th win?
I was wrong about the ban on gas turbines, it was after 1968, along with banning four wheel drive.
What I was getting at about the rain delay, the car did 500 miles before the bearing failure, but a number of laps were not counted since they were part of the restart.
Parnelli Jones qualified the car at Indianapolis in sixth place at 166.075 mph. At the start of the race, he quickly took the lead and rarely relinquished it. However, with just eight miles left to go, he coasted into the pits with a transmission bearing failure.[4] The car was refurbished and entered by STP in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Driven by Joe Leonard, the car crashed into the turn four wall during practice and never raced again.
The race was scheduled for Tuesday May 30. The race started on time at 11:00 a.m. EST, but after only 18 laps, rain began to fall. The race was red-flagged, and the resumption was held at 10:00 a.m. the following day. Though temperatures on Wednesday were cool, skies were sunny, and the race was run to completion.
As far as STP, a few year before 1964(?) my father was having a brake job done on our Studebaker at the dealership. They let us watch in the shop. They used STP on areas requiring lubrication. My dad asked about STP. The mechanic did the screwdriver demonstration. Held a flat blade screwdriver by the tip using oil, no problem. Used STP, could not hold the screwdriver.
I would never use STP or any similar products such as motor honey in a modern engine.
Every few months, I’ll buy a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil and split it between my various gas engines at home. My dad used to be a big fan of it, when I was growing up.
Does it actually do any good? I don’t know. But it’s cheap, and makes me remember my dad and smile.
The gas station I worked at back in the late 60s recommended STP for “oil burner” cars. Sometimes it took more than one can, but it did reduce oil consumption.
It was a bandaid, and I’m sure the thick oil caused some lubrication issues, but I recall customers were happy with it.
