Bud,
It's not imperative to cover the oil cooler, but it is a good idea.
Oil should be about 200-250 degrees to provide best lubrication and to
cook out the condensation and crud that it tends to accumulate. Light
plane pilots with their $25,000 engines are very careful about this oil
temp issue.
Class 8 trucker are careful with this also. Notice how little air is
permitted through the covers of their radiator grilles this time of year.
MG didn't use coolers for the first couple of years of MGB production,
then installed coolers on the cars destined for USA.
I drove my '72 GT today for a club event, about 40 miles in coastal CT,
air temps 25-30 degrees. With radiator 1/3 covered with cardboard, and
the oil cooler completely taped over with duct tape, the temp needle
never got above 1/3 of the way from C to N, and that's with a 195 degree
thermostat.
I take off the oil cooler tape when I expect air temps to get into the
60s, and remove the cardboard from the radiator when the temp gauge gets
close to N. It never goes above N unless air temp is in the 90s, and
then only a fraction of an inch.
Bob
On Sat, 17 Feb 2001 18:35:45 EST BobMGT@aol.com writes:
> Our club has an early event this year and the weather man says it
> will be
> around freezing. I rarely take the MG out during the winter. Is it
> necessary
> to cover the oil cooler at 32 deg F? I know most owners who drive
> their B's
> in the winter do block the cooler. At what temperature does this
> become
> necessary?
>
> Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
> EMAIL - BOBMGT@AOL.COM
> 52 MGTD - under DIY restoration NEMGTR #11470
> 71 MGB - NAMGBR #7-3336
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