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MG MGA - Oil cooler installation help

I have an aftermarket oil cooler installed on my 1960 1600. The oil lines connect at the top of the cooler and are currently routed through the heater supply duct opening next to the radiator. I have since installed a heater and need to move the lines. I see two possible options: create an opening under the duct opening and run the lines through that or route the lines under the radiator and back up to the cooler. It looks like there is room for option 2 but wanted the advice from the members of this board before I proceed. Appreciate any help or suggestions.

Don Carlberg
Aiken, South Carolina
D. R. Carlberg

I ran mine next to the heater duct.
Mark

Mark,
Thanks for the response. I didn't think that there was enough clearance to route them that way. How do you keep them from chafing on the duct bracket or radiator?
D. R. Carlberg

Mine are run next to the heater duct, with both hoses wrapped together in bicycle tire inner tube rubber in that area to prevent chaffing.
Frank Nocera

Frank, thanks for the advice.
Don Carlberg
D. R. Carlberg

I may be wrong but when an oil cooler was originally installed in an MGA didn't the lines run down and under the radiator duct panel and then up to the engine. The oil cooler itself had the connections facing down thru holes cut in the radiator duct panel ????
Michael Hosier

Michael is correct an old workshop manuel i have shows the cooler exactly how he describes it.But I got a 59 coupe with the hoses put through a small opening in the packing piece near the heating duct
Bob

I recently reinstalled my heater as well, and was faced with the routing hose problem.. Initally,I ran mine through the air duct, but this option disappears when the corregated duct is replaced.It also creates a least path of resistance around the rad, which you don't want..There is little or no room between the rad and frame, so I carefully measured in the vertical bulkhead area below the right side air duct.There is space to drill and grind out two holes for the cooler lines ,but one must measure carefully..Pay attention to the natural run of the lines, no kinking ,etc..Allow for the installation of two rubber grommets which will need to split if the hoses are hooked up. The grommets won't fit over the fittings either, so I just split mine. That takes care of the chafing problem. I relocated my cooler to the underside of the horizontal panel. ,with the lines feeding through the two cooler holes in top of panel, down to the cooler. Some panels may not have these holes..Concerning oil coolers, the MGB site has an interesting thread on the pros/ cons of oil coolers on non-racing engines...An interesting read..nasty things can happen to engines with overcooled oil...an interesting read.
All the best,
JC
John Coryea

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I drilled two holes and used rubber grommets the way John describes. It's the same setup you'll see in the MGB engine compartment. It looks clean.

Concerning over-cooling the oil, I usually cover my oil cooler with cardboard when I'm running in a colder climate.

You don't see many MGA's with original style oil coolers except for the TC's and MKII's so I don't feel bad about mounting mine the "wrong" way.

Mark
Mark

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I'll be drilling the bulkhead.

Don
D. R. Carlberg

I've fitted an in-line thermostat with my oil cooler to overcome any risk of overcooling. The reason for the oil cooler in my case was to help control engine temperature when stuck in traffic.
malcolm asquith

I installed my oil cooler per the diagram in the Workshop Manual, see Fig. 13 on Page A.23. I used an all rubber hose installation which worked out quite well. Good luck, Marvin
Marv Stuart

Don
Before drilling through please check the position of the cooler holes from the manual. This is important so that the formed metal pipes neatly pass the steering rack and also there will also then be room for an electric Kenlow fan should you wish to fit one.
Pete
Pete Tipping

Thanks for the last three comments. My cooler is an aftermarket type with the oil connections at the top, not at the bottom as shown in the shop manual. Steering rack interference is definitely a consideration if I try to route them under and to the right of the radiator. The cooler came with all rubber hoses.
D. R. Carlberg

When I fitted mine, all rubber hoses with connections at the top of the cooler, I found that there was just enough room at the top edge of the radiator support for the pipes to be routed through without cutting anything.

However I did wrap the pipes where they lay against the support. I used a section of split rubber hose to protect against the rubbing.

Chris.

Chris C

Chris, thanks for your comments. I certainly have plenty of viable options to consider.
Don
D. R. Carlberg

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2005 and 04/02/2005

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