Just got back from Spa Classic

[Tom W]

I took my E-type to Spa Classic over the weekend. A round trip of some 800+ miles including a mix of some country roads on the way there, and continuous high speed motorway driving on the way back. Here’s some thoughts on how the car performed.

Continuous high speed driving in warm weather seems to get the oil a little hot. Sitting at a steady 70-80mph on the continental motorways sees the oil pressure drop slightly below 40 on the gauge. Normally it’s on 40. My guess is the oil is working a little hard and getting thin, as it can’t shed heat any faster. The coolant stays a steady temp in the middle of the gauge, so engine temp itself is good. I have a S3 xj6 filter head and oil cooler in the shed, so I’ll investigate fitting that. At the very least, an extra litre or so capacity should make the oil work less. My car also has a 3.54 diff. I have a 2.88 to fit, when I get round to dropping the back axle. I hope dropping the revs at motorway speed will also reduce the stress on the engine.

2nd thought is, I’m done with the brake light pressure switches. On the journey, one of the group in our convoy pointed out I had no brake lights. There was someone at the event selling spares, but unfortunately he didn’t have a switch of the correct thread.

Fortunately though, there’s is an ingenious fix available if you have a few tools and consumables, at least for LHD cars. The choke light switch is a push to break contact switch. The choke isn’t even connected on my car as it isn’t needed with webbers. The choke switch was secured to the brake pedal and set up to be actuated by the little tab that holds one of the under dash boards. Cable ties help here. On a LHD car, the loom from the original switch is long enough to reach through the footwell grommet and up to the brake pedal with no modification. I’ll be setting up a permanent brake pedal actuated switch now.

Other than that, a fantastic weekend.

[JJC]

Just an observation.....mph has nothing to do with oil pressure....its the RPM's. IF, at 70 mph, your tach is indicating 3000 rpm, then you should have no more then 30lbs of oil pressure. 10 lbs of pressure, for every 1000 rpm's is a good rule of thumb. Your engine sounds fine. That being said....I'll bet you have an electric oil pressure system. Dump it and install Smiths mechanical gauge and system. Cheap, looks original, easy to install. No guessing on oil pressure. Happy motoring !

John

[Tom W]

Yes, I still have the electrical gauge. It’s probably not that accurate as an absolute indication of oil pressure, but it does show variation from the norm.

My gauge normally shows 40psi at 70mph. Slightly higher if the engine’s only just up to temperature, and slightly lower if the oil is a bit hot. I’d like to get to a situation where I could drive at a sustained 70mph without the oil getting too hot. Normally I don’t use the car for sustained high speed driving, but on this trip, 3 hours from Dover to home up the motorway on a quiet evening only has a couple of places that aren’t a constant 70mph. Whilst, changing the diff might see a lower oil pressure for a given speed due to reduced RPM, I think I’ll see reduction in pressure drop due to oil thinning.

Cheers, Tom