Which Oil would you suggest?

[864 BYX]

Sorry to much bickering here on this site from so called Morris Minor Owners! Bye Bye

[bmcecosse]

In what sense will it be ' high performance' ? Which camshaft? Is the intention for high revs? High compression? It's really NOT worthwhile doing anything with a standard 948 cylinder head..... Far better to start with at least a 202 head (from a 1098) or for best results a 12G940 from a 1275..... Overall power expected? Oil cooler to be fitted? All will have an impact on the oil grade required. It certainly won't be 5W30......

[philthehill]

I have always used Castrol GTX in my Minor and you cannot get any more modified than my 12G940 headed 1380cc 'A' Series (135bhp plus). It works well for me. Even when it was fitted with the 1400cc 'A' Series (MG Midget block) it was still Castrol GTX.
The best tip I can give is to change the oil and filter regularly.
Fit a screw on canister filter and use the larger Ford oil filter canister - more area of filter and holds that little bit more oil. Fill the oil filter to the top with fresh oil before fitting.
Whilst there is not so much metal floating around in the oil as say in a Mini sump it does no harm to fit the magnetic sump plug from ESM. As they say in the advert 'every little helps'

[GBond]

Since you're having your engine done to a high spec I'd recommend using Glyptal or a similar product to paint all of the engine's inside surfaces. This prevents the oil and any gunk in it from sticking to them and keeps the inside of the engine much cleaner. Corroless or similar in the water passages is also a good idea.

As for oil I'd stay with 20W50 since no matter the quality of the components used I'm pretty sure the tolerances still won't be what's on a modern engine. If you can find synthetic 20W-50 you could use that and take advantage of the longer intervals but remember synthetic is more prone to leaks.

Personally I use Motul Classic 20W50 since it's supposed to have additives specifically formulated for old engines and they say it's designed to prevent leaks (still leaks).

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[philthehill]

2nd vote for Glyptal 1201 RED ENAMEL (Insulating Paint). Made by Glyptal Inc, 305 Eastern Ave MA 02150 but available from Frost's see:- http://www.frost.co.uk Item No: P260. Not cheap but well worth it. I would not rebuild an engine without using it.
As regards the product GTX - yes use the Castrol 10/40 Magnatec by all means but if you can find Castrol GTX 20/50 (and Castrol do still make it) that will be even better as it is more suitable for the Minor engine.
Whilst a high mileage/older car can get away with using a cheaper 20/50 oil - using good quality oil will pay dividends over time especially as you have taken so much care over building the engine

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[GBond]

Seems like we're in the same boat then, I've got no plans to sell my Moggie but then again I've "only" got 4 cars and 2 bikes and that's including the moderns. With my dad's stash of rusty heaps the count goes up to 12 cars and 7 bikes but most of that is still not running, hehe.

I have an old thread I did during my pickup's restoration, the part where I rebuilt the engine is about here: http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... 4&start=45 and you can see how I used the Glyptal and the Corroless inside the engine. I had also painted it part by part but if I were doing it again (and probably will some day) I'd paint the engine after it's all assembled.

[les]

It's a Moggy after all and if standard, I don't see a problem with 20/50. I'm rebuilding a Marina unit at the moment and pretty sure that will be my choice, after all clearances aren't racing spec. With 22 cars I'm surprised you ask!

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[les]

------but you do know, hence saying no probs with magnatec. Didn't know this was your first resto, having all those cars I presumed you had some previous resto experience.

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[bmcecosse]

DO NOT use 10W40 then if it's just 'standard spec' engine -20W50 of whichever make takes your fancy is ideal for the A series. Seems a shame to not improve the engine when rebuilding - but it's up to you - it's your engine !

[les]

My apprenticeship was at J & E Hall, I'm too modest to say more!

[864 BYX]

Bye Bye

[GBond]

Nice collection! My father stopped riding bikes almost 20 years ago but he had a BMW R60/2 and an R75/5 in a corner of the shop gathering dust so I took a chance of re-commissioning them and they're both now in working order. Currently I'm working on a BSA B31 which is very similar to your Enfield, engine and gearbox are done, I'm currently sandblasting and repainting the frame and after that it's the wheels' turn which I'm dreading. The other bikes are old 2-stroke Zundapps from the 50's but there are still many other projects to finish before doing any of those.
Just to keep this vaguely on topic, I'm using Motul Classic 50 on the B31 and the R60 and Motul Classic 20W50 on the R75. (My dad is friends with the Motul distributor, so he gets very good prices). The modern also runs on Motul but synthetic so I don't have to do as many oil changes.