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MG MGA - Location of Oil Cooler

My 1500 has an oil cooler. It is currently mounted just in front of the radiator. It seems that is not the most efficient place for it, there should be some room between the cooler and radiator. Question, how much room, 2", 4", or does it not really matter?
Steven B

Steven

I don't have one fitted so I cannot comment on the most efficient place to site it. However, the workshop manual (page A.23) shows the centreline of the pipe holes 4 and a quarter inches forward of the rear edge of the radiator duct panel.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve G is correct. The centerline of the cooler is 4 1/4 " forward of the rear edge of the "shelf" Post an E-mail address and I can fax a picture of that page. Shows mounting location and hose routing.
R J Brown

I believe the cooler fitted originally was sited under the duct panel. The instructions with my after market one states to place it next to the radiator i.e. directly in front of it - apparently placing it further away creates turbulence which affects air flow into the radiator - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

Cam is correct re turbulence. The air should be able to flow through the cooler and the radiator unhinded.
I have mounted mine under the duct panel where it is well protected, but I can't use the crank handle!!
Barry
BM Gannon

I know they were mounted under the duct panel from the factory but I can't see how any air gets through it being behind the front valance/bumper. John
J.H. Hall

Where did the idea come from that the MG factory mounted the oil cooler under the duct panel?
All the factory publications, especially the Special Tuning booklet, show it on top of the duct panel.
I have never seen one mounted under the duct panel on a road car, although some race cars have it under the panel for more air, as they are not worried about possible damage in road use.

Mick
Mick Anderson

Interesting comments. I never thought of putting it under the duct panel, always assumed it would be above the panel where the air flows through to the radiator. My concern is that the air coming through the cooler would (should?) be warmed from giving off engine oil heat and that would reduce the cooling efficiency of the water-cooling radiator.
What would the be the relative temperatures of the oil cooler vs. the water in the radiator?
Steven B

Mick is right road cars have it above the shelf.
The Proper location for the oil cooler per factory drawings is with the cooler on top of the shelf with the hoses going down through the shelf. Any one interested I can E-Mail a picture of that page.
The factory cooler had hard metal lines most of the way. The aftermarket lines are flexible all the way.
If you choose to remove the bumper and mount the cooler as far forward as possible and put a hole in the valance behind where the bumper was you will have the most efficient location for cooling. Air can then be ducted through the oil cooler and not shared by the radiator. I am currently modifying a fiberglass valance to route air to the oil cooler on me 58' roadster. The oil cooler is centered as far forward as possible. Pictures available.
R J Brown

Hi Steven. I installed my oil cooler a few inches in front of the radiator, at the center of the radiator duct panel. Since my car is a daily driver, and I dont really care about super authenticity, I ran my oil cooler lines through the large air duct opening on the inner fender. The large diameter air duct hose was missing anyway, and this route simplified the oil cooler's addition to my vehicle. Cheers, Glenn
Glenn

Steven,

I mounted mine under the duct panel on the advice of Doug Jackson of British Automotive (mgbmga.com). I haven't had any problems with road hazard issues. It made sense to me because, if mounted in front of the radiator, it seemed that the heat from the oil cooler would add to the radiator cooling problems that MGA's are famous for. I have a drawing of its location and the necessary holes that need to be drilled through the panel to the left of the radiator for the hoses. To get air to it I had a couple of vents cut into the valance and painted body color. Note that this location negates the usability of the hand crank.

The result is very neat and functional.

Randy Myers
'59 roadster, coupe
Randy

Mine is mounted on top about 4 inches in front of the radiator, as per the workshop manual. It does not affect the radiator as far as I can tell (have a fan shroud fitted which definitely helps at low speeds).
Remember the oil cooler will not reduce the water temperature - it will improve oil temp and oil pressure, however. I ran the flexible (rubber) hoses over the top of the radiator mounting bracket with hard plastic sleeving fitted over each one. There is just enough room under the bonnet.
Glenn - how do you supply air to the heater if the ducting is missing? Surely an efficient heater is essential in your area of Canada!
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Hi Peter. The heater box sucks in plenty of pre heated air from under the hood, and consequently the heater works very well without the big air duct hose being installed. Cockpit cooling is a different matter. With the air duct missing, cold air cannot reach the cockpit via the heater box. But in my experience, the cold air that was actually available was negligible anyway, due to the crappy heater valve that allowed hot water to run through through the heater core regardless of whether the valve was in the open or closed position. This year, as part of my "rolling restoration" effort, I will be installing considerable insulation to the transmission tunnel and firewall areas. I think that adding this insulation should drop the cockpit temperature down to bearable levels ,even on hot days. Couple the insulation with zipping down back county roads at speed, and cockpit cooling should be adequate! And if not, well, it IS a British car without modern essentials such as air conditioning, that only automotive masochists would appreciate. LOL Cheers, Glenn
Glenn

Mick - I wonder if the concept of the cooler underneath the panel stems from the fact that the pipes are routed underneath - I mistakenly assumed that because the pipes are underneath then the cooler must be as well.I don't think that the flexible pipes supplied with the after market cooler will allow it to be installed as far forward as the original (where turbulence into the radiator will be minimised)- cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

This thread was discussed between 22/03/2007 and 27/03/2007

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