MGB & GT Forum

Good Morning,

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I have an older engine,79 MGB, not sure of what the prevoius owner did...I have good presure 50/75..runs great!!

i CHange the oil, add Lucas Stab...and when you add the Engine Restorer product?

Any advise here, or are these all just Marvel Myster oil, STP....Lori Ann

The Engine Restorer product is (gasp!) controversial. I have used it, as I didn't think it did any harm, but was told here that the particulate matter in the product can build-up and cause oil passages to plug, and maybe affect the oil pump.

This has been about a year since the last time I saw anything on it, but try the "search" feature. You'll get an eyefull!

Seafoam, however, has a good reputation for the induction.

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Jim K is a grease-stained wretch

You are probably in luck, since you live in Bedford. There should be a Brad-Penn Oil distributor nearby you. Get on the Brad-Penn website (you'll have to Google it, as I don't have it handy) and locate a dealer near you. Brad-Penn's Penn Grade 1 High Performance oil is the best "dino" oil you can put in your car and has a superior additive package, which copntains all the "good stuff" you engine needs. So, when you start using Penn Grade 1, you won't need to bother with any of those "snake oil" additives.
No personal or financial interest, etc. Just a very long time, satisfied customer.

Cost a little more. Worth every penny.

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"Behind every silver lining there is a dark cloud"
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once"
“The difference between genius and stupidly is that genius has its limits” Albert Einstein
You don’t get smarter as you get older. There is just less stupid stuff left that you haven’t already done.
I’m at the age where “Should I” turns into “Let’s try it and see what happens”
I am pretty sure my last words are going to be “What does this thing do?”

If you have good oil pressure and it runs great shy would you want to "restore" the engine?

Bob- I have been using Marvel Mystery Oil in the fuel for my MG's for over 30 years. It does a great job of keeping the valves clean and providing additional top end lubrication. I have also found that it prevents much of the damage that ethanol fuels can cause although I try to use non-ethanol gas whenever I can. I first came into contact with Marvel Mystery Oil using it in a supercharger application and found that it had several additional benefits.

Many engine additives are a bit controversial as some have been shown to gum up the engine passages rather than lubricating well as they claim. There are a few good products which can be added to clean out engines a little, and Seafoam seems to be one of them and Marvel Mystery Oil probably can't hurt. Seafoam is really just a light oil with some other products added (not sure but it may be acetone or kerosene or some such addititves which car engines can burn just fine). Marvel Mystery Oil may be a good additive, and many people have used it for decades, but it might just be a thinner oil you're paying a lot of money for. I use it occasionally. It's in the "can't hurt" department.

With all such self-experiments you have no way of knowing if your engine would run just as well and last just as long if you hadn't used the additive! Lots of people swear by a product they've added for years because their engine runs just fine with it, but maybe it would run just fine without it and they could have saved hundreds of dollars? I'll sell you a pint of "super enriched high-tech moonshine lube fuel" for $20 a jar that you can add to your gas at every fill up. It's only alcohol and gasoline, but your engine will last for years, so why not try it? Send $20 plus shipping charges. Lots of products operate the same way. They're basically oil you pay a much higher price for. And some might even hurt your engine. I've read a few bad things along that line about Slick 50, for example. I did use it once in a car I owned and my mechanic was very disappointed when I told him. "Gums up engines," was all he said.

I might run a half a can of Seafoam through the vacuum lines (very early in the morning since your exhaust is going to smoke very heavily for a few minutes!) to clean the engine of some of its varnish and put the rest into the gas tank. They also recommend adding a little to the oil which I generally don't do. Maybe a does of Marvel Mystery Oil with every fill up would be useful. Beyond that, I'd steer clear of magical lube products and other internal engine cleaners. A good high quality oil you change regularly is most likely all you need. Be sure the oil has ZDDP in it (zinc) as it's useful for lubricating the engine. Valvoline "racing" oil has zinc. Check oil manufacturers' web sites for specs on additives in their oil. I'm using a lightweight Mobil One synthetic lately and the car runs great.

Basically, if your engine is running fine and has good compression -- and you say it does -- why experiment with additives? A little Seafoam once or twice and some Marvel Mystery Oil here and there might help. Good oil changed regularly is more important. Beyond that I would't go.

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Drew Maddock, So. Calif. USofA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-03-29 01:53 PM by DrewM.

I worked in car dealerships for twenty years. The last dealership I worked in we used Lucas Oil Stablilizer in cars that needed work, but the owners couldn't afford to do it right away. It was done as a stop gap temporary measure only and the owners were told that up front. I've been using Restore in my B for a while. It brought the oil pressure up almost immediately, but I know it's got to be a temporary measure until I can either refresh the engine or do a complete rebuild. My friend who has been working on imports and domestic cars for about as long as I've been alive, recommended STP, but they don't have the 4 cylinder version locally so I started using Restore. So far, I've seen no ill effects and as I said earlier, the oil pressure is up a few points.

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_______________________________________
Frank

A legend in my own mind....
75 B with HIFs, Pertronix, K&Ns

Lucas is an excellent product; being extremely sticky it clings to internal engine surfaces. I've seen it prolong the life of engines with bad oil pressure due to worn bearings, crankshafts and cylinder bores for extended periods of time. My 91 GMC lives on the stuff. If I don't use it I have about 30 seconds of mulitiple bottom end rattles when first starting it. With it, I don't. It has increased overall oil pressure in my one MGB by at least 10 pounds, hot or cold.

Seafoam is an excellent fuel stabilizer, and combustion chamber cleaner. It works much better as a stabilizer than does Stabil or the other expensive fuel stabilizers. I have been using it in multiple 2 and 4 stroke engines as a fuel conditioner for several years, and haven't had any issues with non-starts, gummed up fuel systems since.

I've tried Restore and didn't feel it did anything useful for me.

As said earlier read the RESTORE threads there is a LOT there... I should know I wrote most of them LOL
I am a firm believer in RESTORE partly because I wanted it to eb snake oil but was convinced otherwise. It is not magic and if your car is broken it won't fix a missing ring but it WILL bring compression up a bit and keep it there, it will do a few other things too. I have a habit of squirting an ounce into each cylinder in a cold engine when I buy a used car, disconnect the coil and spin it a few seconds,and let it sit a few hours, spin it again and let it sit. Then I conect the coil and start 'er up. yes it smokes for a few minutes but after the car runs real smooth. I do not use RESTORE with every oil change as a matte of fact I think that is a waste but I do the treatment every 25,000 miles or so. I do not use SEAFOAM on my cars though I do on my boats.

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Michael J. Caputo
'79, '77, '76, '74.5 (rubber dual SU), and '73 owner. 12v Audio System design. Vendor of Regalia and Promotional Products since 1993. Supplier of Accessories to MOSS. Forum Member since 2009. Warped sense of humor since birth.
Publisher of the annual MGB & GT Calendar, mailed worldwide. Buy one!

No matter what you add it will not bring back worn rings, cylinder walls,or bearings. If the engine is worn out the only thing to do is rebuild. I agree with Drew write up.

If your car doesn't need it why waste your money? A lot of the stuff on the market uses Teflon which will help with the lubricant. Others just makes your oil a heaver weight (oil pressure increase).

Growing up I had a buddy whose dad had a used car lot. I learned a lot. Horse crap for a leaky head gasket or radiator, gear lube in the crankcase for a worn out engine, kerosene mix with the soap and water to give the car a look of a wax job and so forth. All temporary solutions but enough to get the car off the lot and sold.

Now some of this stuff may appear to work and if it does more power to you. If you notice these company all talk about what is in there product that preforms these miracles . But uses letters instead of the chemical names. So I guess they believe you are not smart enough to understand. A little like my buddy's dad line of thought.

Just an after thought to let you know that I had tried some of these products on the market.

Jonn mgaguy,

Kill Devil Hills...wow! How does the mg do in the salty air, we love Kill Devil Hills, I work for Lowes..how is the new store?

Lori Ann

I put ZDDP in the motor of my '79, the PO gave me a new bottle when I bought the car. I'm running 20w-50 Castrol GTX. Any reason to switch oils or add anything else. New main and crank bearings are giving me great oil pressure now.

Jim, you add Marvel to every tank? How much do you add?

Michael