I have been obsessing over my oil pressure since last months thread on the
subject. I have put more miles on my daily driver '71 MGB than most people
would believe, but never knew/thought to do the "recommended 30,000 mi big end
bearing and 50,000 main bearing/thrust washer replacement. (until now) Those
mile markers have come and gone many, many miles ago. The oil pressure was
always 75 running warm 50 idle, until after I put a new clutch on this winter.
After I got the car back together I did not have oil pressure. (no movement on
the gauge) Obviously an elec. problem caused by getting the wires out of the
way while putting the engine back in. But after I played withe the wires and
started getting a reading it was still low(25). Changed the Fram oil filter
and got a higher reading 65 on start up and 50-55 warm. (did not know so many
people had problems with Fram oil filters until checking the archives) I
wonder if a bad filter could cause damage?
Regardles, I plan on trying to get back up to the upper limit on the oil
pressure again. So here is what I plan to do:1. Raise the front of the car on
jack stands2. Unbolt the engine mounts and raise the engine to get to the oil
pan bolts3. Remove oil pan
Unsure of the following. Any advice/recommendations would be greatly
appreciated.
4. ?Unbolt/remove and replace the big end bearings one at a time. (How do you
get to the top half of the bearing?
5. Can you replace the main bearings/thrust washers with the engine still in
the car? Is there a special tool? Where would I get one? If I can't replace
with the engine still in the car, can I at least replace the bottom half of the
bearings? Or should I just leave it alone?
Anything else I should do (while leaving the engine in)?
Things to buy?New oil pan gasketBig end bearingsMain bearingsThrust washers
Thanks
TimNew Racing Green 1971 MGB
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