No question that Castrol is a quality oil. Its seen service in many of my vehicles. But, with all the changing requirements for automotive oil I wonder if it is still the oil it once was. Honestly I don't know. I do know that oil that was acceptable only a few years ago is now becoming questionable for some applications. I have no doubt that you have found some study somewhere that backs up you opinions, be that oil filters, oil or air filters. That is one thing your very consistent about and I can't fault anyone for that.
Why did I try this oil? The 360 has always been a good starting vehicle, I mean hit the starter and "bam" its running. A month or so ago I, after the jeep sat for a little while, I hit the starter and there was a lifter tick. The tick went away, but it was back again for a couple more starts of the engine. While it hasn't done it since I started worrying about the why's of a ticking lifter. This oil came HIGHLY recommended and the price was right. I think I'll stick with it for a while and see.
Frankly, there is no way in hell that I'm going to seriously consider sending anybody a sample of this oil for testing. While it actually might be cool to know how it turns out, I am not going to spend my money to find out. There are thousands, maybe even millions of vehicles running this oil, I'm sure there is someone willing to spend the money, but it just ain't me.
This is a synthetic blend. That surprised me some. The seller, Don's Hot Rod Shop, said that they add Just enough of what ever it is that makes it s synthetic to be able to make that claim. I guess it helps improve sales.
Ran the jeep for 60 or so miles last night. The 360 has always shown great oil pressure 62 lbs on the road, +25 at idle with hot oil. With Brad Penn oil the pressure was 65 lbs and +30 at idle. But I will say, it was a cool night so I can't say as it was truly hot, so at this point little can be said of the oil pressure and this oil. The engine did seem smoother, but that could be nothing other than the desire to see some difference with the new oil.
So what did I di with my air filter? Drat. y camera just took a dump, I guess there's a serious Lens issue. Lets see if I can explain. First here's a link to the product I used:
66-0901 - K&N Custom Assemblies, X-Stream Top Filter
The stock air filter has about a 9 3/4" OD and a 8 3/4" ID, the center of the 9" K&N XStream® Air Flow Top fits beautifully inside the stock filter. The stock cover is designed with a drop down right where the center of the stock filter is. After some measuring it was clear that cutting out the center of the stock cover at the existing drop would allow the XStream filter to almost drop right in. The XStream filter has a 1/4" lip that needed to be removed, but once the lip was gone the XStream filter dropped right on, perfectly. After test fitting the filter was masked and painted the Ford Blue I use on everything I've touched on the AMC engine. So now I've got filtered air from the sides AND the top. The engine will never be starved for air. Besides, it looks really cool, very custom.
Granted, I know that the K&N filter is a horrible product and it is sure to bring an early death to the 360, but honestly, this is a risk I'm willing to take.