Angstrom42
Thread starter
If you do buy a new one, do some research on parts quality...a lot of what's available for old British vehicles, engines in your case, is astoundingly craptastic.
Oh, absolutely. I appreciate the warning, and its a solid reminder for others who may be following along as well.
I've spent quite a bit of time in the air cooled VW world so I'm very familiar with criminally negligent parts quality and shady vendors. It's phenomenal how quickly ACVW parts were able to "race to the bottom" but that community kinda did it to themselves... its a big reason why I don't have my 1965 Baja anymore. At least in brit car land there appears to be some old school vendors who seem to have their heads screwed on correctly.
Yep! The ubiquitous "Smiths Safety Gauge" is high on my list of things to acquire. Installation for the water temp bulb might get a little weird as they did something odd with the sender hole in the head below the thermostat for the Nash motors compared to the MGBs, but I'm sure an adapter exists. And if not, I'll make one on the lathe.Oh, and for oil pressure gauges, there are many options and new Smiths are available. I prefer mechanical, but whatever you do, don't use the late MGB setup w/ the excessively dampened senders....
A very good point, and I like the logic here.I have an alternate view. I would recommend a Motorcraft semi-synthetic 5W20 to start with. It is a mixture and will have the attributes of a mineral based oil and the better cleaning capabilities of a synthetic oil. All modern rated oils are "backwards" compatible to all previous API ratings so no worries about using a newer oil in an older engine. Just do not run at high engine loads at first and after all it is cooler now. Let the oil pressure guide you as it says in the owners manual. There is no better way to determine the appropriate oil grade to use.
This thinner oil will get to more areas in the engine and help clean them out. Also, if the oil ways are partly clogged you would have a false high oil pressure even though the flow may be very limited. When the car was new even a straight 30 grade oil sheared down to a 20 grade so it should not be too thin. Many "engine cleaning" oil treatments are thin.
Ali
For my initial flush after reassembly, I picked up a 5q jug of the cheapest oil on the shelf at the FLAPS, which happened to be 5Q of a private labeled 5W20. I wanted to make sure it was thin enough to pump up and flow immediately, then grab anything else that might be floating around in the motor. Again, this was purchased with the intent to flush stuff out and then immediately change it, so the $13 jug of house brand seemed appropriate. I'll also keep an eye on oil pressures while doing this, of course.