I seem to recall that some of the central oil pickups are prone to getting clogged due to the fine mesh they put over the pickup.

Can someone recommend one brand over another?

Thanks.

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...

The 'newer' ones can be modified to increase pick up area. Take off the mesh - cut tube as so :



replace mesh further up the tube to cover the cut

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

The factory ST ones don't fit all rod shift boxes anyway. You usually have to make your own.

The mesh is needed, not a good idea to remove it, it's a good way to lead to a broken pump drive.

If your worried about the mesh clogging, just be sure change your oil more often.

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I didn't say leave it off - you have to take it off to cut a chunk off the pipe - then solder it back on - better than having it hanging off the end of the tube like a spent condom.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Just be careful to not cut the pipe too far back towards the bend - otherwise you're undoing the whole benefit of having a "centre" pickup after-all!

cheers,

Jacob

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'72 Clubman Van - 1022cc, 295 head, 731 cam - Daily Driver
'69 Morris 1100 S - Dinged by a bus, in shed under repair
'64 Morris 1100 - Early 1100, long term project

my bad, so you did

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Some Minis and 1100's have a factory fitted centre oil pickup.

The Auto ones.

No it doesn't fit a manual.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

I have an early centre oil pickup (see wombat's pic, + add mesh) in the 1412 and the later one (with horizontal entry) in the 1360.
I change my oil every 1500 miles, and I'm damned if I can tell any difference between them for fast road use. They both work.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

They miss by this much

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I have had to bend early Minispares ones at the bottom to miss reverse gear when engaged. Not hard to do, but needs checking before bolting the lot back together. Otherwise the mesh can get chewed.

Later one I bought fitted OK.

[edit] this was in 4 synchro remote boxes

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Where exactly do these oil pick ups lead, straight to the pump?
It looks like they come out the side of the box.

I haven't really ventured below the crank yet

Above that flange inside the gearbox, there is a drilling through the top flange. An O-ring seals that to the block, and there is a further oil passage cast into the block which leads to the pump intake.
Pump is mounted at the rear end of the camshaft.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

What sort of pressure is there? same as the other side of the pump?

Nope there is vacuum there, as the pump is well above the oil level and has to suck it up.

BTW the main reason for fitting these centre pickups is to avoid loss of oil pressure on hard RH bends, roundabouts etc. That happens because the standard pickup is in a stupid place, in RH front corner of box. On RH bends the oil migrates to the LH side of the box, which is pretty much empty of parts on all Mini boxes.
If you are a spirited driver and you can't afford or it's inconvenient to fit a centre pickup, my advice is keep the oil level ABOVE the full mark, at all times. Particularly so on rodchange boxes.
Low oil = no oil pressure on RH bends = stuffed big end bearings and worn crankpins. I've stripped a few low mileage engines that suffered for this reason.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I agree 100% with the Doc here. It is stupid, considering the fix is damn easy!

This is where the stock pipe picks up from. The black / red smudge area is where the centre pick up pipe picks up from.

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