MG Guru's oil Advice

[79sunrunner]

I just found this gentleman's website yesterday, and I just can't stop exploring it. In fact I read some more and he only lives 20 miles away from me! However, I quite liked his article on how (any 10w/40) is good, and that synthetics are a waste for these cars. His MGA has over 200,000 miles, unheard of! If this guys claims the mileage of his car (I believe him) I guess his oil advice would work out very well for my MG.
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/of104.htm

also, I'm a slut for oil lubrication posters and advert literature. He's got a collection of those too.
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/literature/lt1.htm

http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/care/cf105a.htm

 

[Jim Allen]

I don't disagree with 10W40 in an old MG, though I would use a high zinc 10W30 (or an HDEO), but he sure took the long way 'round the barn to get there. Doesn't you MG have the TR 1500 in it, not the old A-Series 1275?. THe TR is more a tractor engine than anything ( : < ) so it's very forgiving of a lot. The A-Series was a little more picky with regards to oil due to having a fragile oil pump (have seen split oil pumps due to excessive viscosity in cold weather). To me the most important aspect is to deal with the ZDDP (zinc) issue. From there 10W40, 10W30... meh. I wouldn't be afraid of using a 15W40 HDEO if my car was a sunny weather only toy. The dual rated HDEOs (e.g. API CJ4/SM) have plenty of zinc and have the advantage of being readily available.

 

[fdcg27]

As a longtime MGB owner and enthusiast for all things MG, I recommended a 10W-40 in your original what oil to use thread.
This engine does not need a 20W-50, although other than sapping some of the meager power output, a 20W-50 won't hurt it in warm weather.
Like the guy with his 340K MGA, I used 10W-40 in everything at one time.
Our three Civics, our Vanagon, four old Benzes (two diesel, two gas), my B, a Spit as well as a host of other vehicles over the years.
10W-40 would flow better at all temperatures than a 20W-50.
Incidentally, are you aware that '79 was the last year for the Midget, while the B remained for the '80 model year?
Brand new vintage machines were available from your Austin/MG dealer, usually alongside Fiats and maybe Volvos or Saabs.

 

[79sunrunner]

Yes '79 was the final year for the midget, even though a few hundred were made in 1980 to be sold to Canada. The true full flowing Midget assembly line closed on December 17th 1979. I have heard that even the 1500 engine's oil pump had issues in cold weather. I believe they were fitted with a vain pump. I really dont know the advantages to having one. My engine is currently getting a rebuild, and upon inspection of the pistons, we found cylinder 2 and 3 rings were completly missing?! I feel this was the reason the engine had no vacuum and the Zenith Stromberg was over richening. This also had an adverse effect on horsepower, when I ran 20/50 oil, the car had no power at all, on 10/30 it was a little better, but the car is only driven on hot sunny days, and I too ran 10/40.

 

[Jim Allen]

Had a Spridget (parts of a '64 Midget and a '63 Sprite combined), first with a 1098, then a 1275. Also, a '61 MGA, '58 MGA, '70 MGB (my fave) and a '68 MGC (which I wish I had back when I saw how much money they bring now).

Worked on a lot of 1500 powered Midgets when they were new or nearly so. Lotta quality control issues, and odd, basic stuff ... like missing rings on pistons ( : < ).

I remember one 1500, and how it got out of warranty I will never ken, that the owner was complaining of water getting in the oil. Another shop had replaced the head gasket and the head with no luck. When I got it, the water went into the crankcase about as fast as you poured it into the radiator. Block porosity! There was a really thin section between the lower part of the water jacket at the cylinders and the crankcase. Probably didn't leak much, or at all, when new. By the time I saw it and got the engine apart, it was so thin it looked like lace and you could poke a screwdriver thru. We found a used engine with head problems and pieced one good engine together out of the two. The car was only three or four years old at that point.

 

[SteveSRT8]

My British Leyland experiences were a 65 TR-4 and a 70 MGB-GT.

Not the world's best cars, but easily sorted out with some patience. Excellent chick magnets!

Bought all my rebuild parts for the TR-4 at Massey Ferguson, as the engine was based on a tractor.

One thing the TR-4 did that the MGB-GT would never do was accelerate! That GT was too heavy for its little bitty motor...