Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 389 Threads: 33
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Location: Garden of England
Car type: ARQ Ruby July 1936
On the recent post on E10 petrol mention was made of the Eurotour 2020 A7 Centenary Tour thro' Alsace, Belgium and Germany.
My brother and I are also taking our A7's on that tour and we have been busy putting together all the spares and stuff necessary to take along, and with our wives on board as well, space and weight is a worry.
This raises the question of how much "spare" oil do I need to carry on such a trip??
It is a round trip of about 1000 miles and no doubt there will be additional mileage along the way.
FYI, my Ruby has completed nearly 1000 miles now since a full engine rebuild including re-sleaving the bores and new pistons/rings, valves, etc. Plugs are no longer oiling up as they did to begin with and appear clean and dry and amber in colour. Compression in around 120 psi +/- 5 across the four cylinders. I have changed the oil twice in that period.
I have managed to eliminate a lot of leaking oil problems but still have one which has been discussed on the forum previously, but as yet to be resolved.
I realise the simple answer would be to buy as I go and carry just enough to top up as we go, but from the initial rebuild the engine was filled with Castrol XXL 40 oil, mainly because 40 grade was the recommended in an original Austin One Shilling handbook no. 1400D.
I do have a good stock of this oil but believe Castrol XXL 40 cannot be be mixed with other oils and will no doubt not be readily available from local garages along the way, so what do you think, how much should I carry??
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I suppose the question is, Dennis, what oil consumption is your engine giving, assuming you have the petrol pump issue resolved? I've taken a couple of approaches on previous Eurotours. The first time I just stuck a gallon can behind the passenger seat and had done with it. The last time, I took a number of 500ml plastic bottles (old tonic water bottles, I recall) which, with a Cabriolet ( same for Ruby models) I was able to store in the tool box under the bonnet. My engine is fairly oil tight, but I will probably take a couple of litres, at the very least, to cover for any eventuality.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 862 Threads: 16
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Location: North Yorkshire
If I was doing a lengthy run I would take a couple of 1 litre plastic bottles of oil, easy to stash away in the rear footwell. As far as mixing oils go, obviously mineral and vegetable based oils are a no no, but I have never worried too much about mixing mineral oils of similar grade. It is better to have a decent amount of oil in the engine, of whatever grade or type, than to have none! I found that the oil consumption on my saloon reduced considerably once I realised that I had the wrong dipstick and had been habitually over filling it.
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Location: Auckland, NZ
Original 1930s recommendations were influenced by considerations of consumption and noise. And probably no antiwear additves so viscosity had to be high. The cheapest oil now superior to all. Let the drained oil settle for a few months and take that.
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Second hand oil. Seriously?
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Location: Auckland, NZ
29-03-2022, 08:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 29-03-2022, 08:35 AM by Bob Culver.)
After it has entered the oil pump intake once, it is all second hand. The all synchro version of my 1960s modern suggested no gearbox oil changes, but did for the non synchro 1st as mine. I used to alternate the same oil and not use the 1/2 inch at bottom of container.
I dunno about latest exotic blends but I have unused containers of inexpensive new oil 30 and more years old. A distinctly fine silt forms in the bottom. This was a feature of reclaimed oil much used in the 1970s but I guess all goes through some imperfect filtering. It is well recognised that cold running degrades oil but I have read no info on the degree to which it is restored by a long hot run. It can certainly lower the oil level as all the water and petrol evaporates. Dunno about modern oils but condensation was the death of Seven main bearings.
Most Sevens burn so much, and with no filter, there is little point in exotic long life oils.
And Hugh, it is intriguing that the little bug cannot muster the nerve to cross the fence line. Like ducks with a straight hose.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,230 Threads: 33
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Location: Salop
Car type: '28 GE Cup. '28 AD Chummy '30 RL Saloon. '34 RP Saloon. Too Many toys!
(28-03-2022, 09:08 PM)Hugh Barnes Wrote: Second hand oil. Seriously?
You havn't lived Hugh
For a while after passing my test, I ran what amounted to the works site vehicle.
It used so much oil, I topped it up using used oil from the plant fitters. They even filled bottles up for me.
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Hi Dennis,
Would have thought 2.5 litres should be enough for 1000 miles providing you engine is reasonably oil tight — with the accent on reasonably!
Look underneath after a good run to see what is going on when the engine is warmed up.
I use Castrol Classic XL 20w/50 which I believe is a popular choice.
Charles
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Back in the day (60's) I ran a very leaky BSA A7 combination. I collected oil cans and bottles from the local garages forecourts , drained them into one container via a bit of guttering. Never had to buy any oil. Can't do it now as cars apparently don't top up any more.
1949 BSA.jpg (Size: 4.17 KB / Downloads: 180)
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 389 Threads: 33
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Location: Garden of England
Car type: ARQ Ruby July 1936
Charles, I had what appeared many leaks once I started using Ruby regularly, after much chasing including replacing sump gasket, I found that the main culprit was the dynamo joint.
I simply hadn't realised just how loose the joint was. This was found by "accident" when I had to remove the dynamo after it had failed, the screws were no more than finger tight. The oil from that joint ran all around the block to crankcase and generally spread itself to the four corners liberally filling the oil tray in the garage.... Having replaced the repaired dynamo with new gasket and with suitable goo and regularly checking the tightness of the fixings, the engine is, at the time of writing, pretty leak tight with the one exception of the fuel pump.
Hedd Jones gave good feedback on leaks from the fuel pump but due to my continuing + covid test results and feeling pretty crap, have not yet resolved that issue.
I have sourced a set of 1 litre plastic bottles and will take a number with me, I had thought a couple might suffice but never having ventured out on anything like this........ nerves are jangling!!
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