Discussion
the chaps who built my engine say i need an oil cooler but i'm not convinced, so opinions please. It gave just under a 100bhp at flywheel with a 286 so am expecting a bit more when run with a 296 and improvements to head etc. Water temperature stays below 1/2 way with no thermostat. I'll use valvoline racing semi synthetic oil when run in. Final drive is 3.7 and it'll be used for hillclimbs where your flat out for 40 seconds or blasting around on b roads, certainly not motorways.
Well my mini was originally bought from Coopers in ferring. It had the S conversion done to it which includes a oil cooler.
And that was when it was still bloody slow (done much to it since I purchased it)
But mine is still shy of 100bhp at the flywheel so maybe it would be a worth while purchase.
One other thing is the use of semi or synthetic oils.
Dont forget your gearbox shares the same oil as your engine and we all know how gloopy gearbox oil is!
What rating is the valvoline oil?
>> Edited by Dodgy Dave on Wednesday 12th May 15:56
And that was when it was still bloody slow (done much to it since I purchased it)
But mine is still shy of 100bhp at the flywheel so maybe it would be a worth while purchase.
One other thing is the use of semi or synthetic oils.
Dont forget your gearbox shares the same oil as your engine and we all know how gloopy gearbox oil is!
What rating is the valvoline oil?
>> Edited by Dodgy Dave on Wednesday 12th May 15:56
My car also was a "Cooper S pack", and has a neat little square ali cooler from 'Oxford Coolers' in front of the alternator. I'm not sure about the usefullness of this cooler on the road, or indeed in a sprint situation, but I when I do trackdays I can tell when the oil is really hot because the quality of the gear changes drops (hot oil is less viscus so less drag on the syncro-rings to help match the gear speeds ??). Also when I return to the padock my oil pressure at idle is down in the upper 20's.
In the past I've used a semi-synth bike oil (also shares oil with the gears, I only do about 4K a year and change the oil regularly) Silkolene Pro 4 15w-40(which is red in colour, so looks like the car is bleeding if it leaks !!), but now I'm trying Millers CVT which is a semi-synth (I think) at 20w-50.
I have got some of those stick-on temperature indicators which I am going to put on the inlet and outlet from the cooler to see what the temperature gradient is like.
The only other thing I'll say is that the last Coopers from Rover had an oil temperature gauge fitted in the dash. Now personally I'd have prefered an oil pressure gauge, but why did Rover fit temperature instead ??
In the past I've used a semi-synth bike oil (also shares oil with the gears, I only do about 4K a year and change the oil regularly) Silkolene Pro 4 15w-40(which is red in colour, so looks like the car is bleeding if it leaks !!), but now I'm trying Millers CVT which is a semi-synth (I think) at 20w-50.
I have got some of those stick-on temperature indicators which I am going to put on the inlet and outlet from the cooler to see what the temperature gradient is like.
The only other thing I'll say is that the last Coopers from Rover had an oil temperature gauge fitted in the dash. Now personally I'd have prefered an oil pressure gauge, but why did Rover fit temperature instead ??
Like Haynes I run Valvoline Racing 20/50, but because I run a sump guard I always fit a 13 row Mocal cooler. Even than, after a long stage at high revs with lots of gear changing the 22 psi oil warning light can flicker on and off a bit when ticking over at around 1300 rpm.
Why take the risk with a nice engine like yours, Haynes, when a cooler is relatively low-cost.
I change the oil after every event as well.
Why take the risk with a nice engine like yours, Haynes, when a cooler is relatively low-cost.
I change the oil after every event as well.
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