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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - New tyres / First oil change

Guys,

Can any of you advise please , reconditioned engine , done 300 miles now , when should i look at changing oil and filter for the first time ?

Secondly just had 4 new wheels and tyres on car , seem to be very slippery , been reading up on net, loads of stuff about slippery new tyres and appears they need scrubbing in ? any advice

Thanks
Andy
Andy Sebring

yes, the residue of the release agent from the final part of the manufacturing process is slippery. You need to do 50 to 100 miles to wear it off then they'll be OK.
David Smith

depending on how slippery they are 200 miles when wet

after the first 30-50 miles on your new tyres you also want to check the torque wheel nuts just to make sure all are still tight

I'd also check your tyre pressures, when the tyres are cold from not being used, with an accurate tyre pressure gauge to check they have been set correctly (garage forecourt gauges and those on manual foot pumps and electric tyre inflators are often very inaccurate)

as for oil change the engine supplier/builder should tell you, the first engine oil & filter change might have already have been done

personally I like to do plenty of oil and filter changes as I gradually run the engine in, giving full beans after 2,000 miles and possible three or more oil and filter changes in that time

be gradual and look after your engine at the start and you'll get the benefit

the engine may open up more at 6,000 miles and that a service oil & filter change anyway

I wouldn't look at putting a fully synthetic engine oil in until 10-12,000 miles

others will have different views on the engine
Nigel Atkins

Andy,
PS
I meant to put no need to go all over t'net there are plenty of posts on slippery new tyres in the Archives here, much to the annoyance of some I regularly post this information and others post this too

anyway your tyre supplier should tell you about these things or give you a leaflet with the information on
Nigel Atkins

I wouldn't look at putting a fully synthetic engine oil in until 10-12,000 miles"

Personally I wouldn't use a synthetic oil in your A Series engine at all..! Use a good quality Mineral oil which is designed for these engines. Millers and Penrite are two to seriously consider.

Check for over inflated tyres.. I use 24F / 26R on all our Spridgets and 21 / 22 is what I used on the Race car. Over inflation will give you the 'slippery' feel you talk about.


Mark
M T Boldry

Mark,
different opinions are fine

I've used what is (called as the definition has been stretched from original) fully synthetic Mobil 1 engine oil in different classics for many, many tens of thousands of miles for many, many years and I've been told it wouldn't help my engines from all those years back to now yet my engines appeared not to suffer and at least one of them that I know of the engine continued to give good service with the next owner that also put plenty of miles of vigorous use on

that's my experience of 20+ years of using various classics as dailies and using Mobil 1 in them

I have found that the range of the multi-grade is important, too low such as 0w-40 in the midget (as Daniel warned me) can result in a sudden oil pressure drop in certain circumstances, as Mobil Motorsport 15w-50 is no longer available I now use Mobil Extended Life 10w-60 (the 60 soon drops to within the 50 band with use I was informed)

as always each to their own

I've now been using Mobil 1 in my present Midget for a few years, one advantage is that I no longer do 6 month/6,000 mile oil changes of ordinary mineral engine oil, I used to use Castol XL 20w-50 or Halfords Classic 20w-50 on those, now with Mobil 1 I change at 12 months/12,000 miles but I'm sure I could safely extend that a bit if I wanted to

I've also used Mobil 1 in other classic engines and in modern car engines and all have preformed well and had no detrimental effects that I was made aware of

of course there are better (and truer) fully synthetic engine oils available than Mobil 1
Nigel Atkins

Ive found that basic no frills store brand 20w50 is still the best with older engine designs like the A series, chevy 350, toyota 22re, ect ect

As to oil changes 1st as soon as the cam is broken in 1/2 hour, the next around 500 miles, and agian at the 1000 mile mark, then every 3000 miles after that

Btw... dont treat the engine nice and gentle for the 1st 3000 miles, more thrashing abuse the better....

the problem with synthetic, babing, and prolonging additives, is that it reduces friction between the rings and the cly walls thus not allowing proper ring bed in and that creats a condition known as glazing, which is just that, a hard glaze on the cly alls that wont allow rings to bed in...the solution...tear the engine apart, hone the cly and new rings

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

tyre pressure does depend on the tyres, suspension and personal preferences as modern tyres will cover a range of pressures successfully

I normally suggest 2-6psi over the Driver's Handbook starting at the recommended 22f/24r then increasing by 2psi each time and see how it goes and drop back down that 2psi if required

with my current new tyres I'm trying as Mark has put 24f/26r, my previous tyres I could only run at 22f/24r and the sets of tyres before these I ran at 24f/26r
Nigel Atkins

Prop,
I wasn't suggesting babying the engine just taking it easy on the engine for the 500 miles not pushing the revs, sustaining high speeds or labouring the engine with revs too low

500 mile oil & filter change

then I build revs and speed to the 1,000 mile oil change

as a belt and braces I also build more from there with more vigorous use to the next oil change at 2,000 miles but just before this I'd try most vigorous use

I think on ancient designed engines like we have you want to detect any possible faults before pushing the engine to its limits and a bit of care at the start will help the engine run better until the next rebuild
Nigel Atkins

I like 28 psi, but im running a 45 radial all purpose tour tire
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

This thread was discussed between 07/03/2014 and 08/03/2014

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