Time for an oil change and I cant keep up with which oils are performing as they should. Seemed the KMX was the bee's knees then a formula change made it a monkey's butt. Not sure if this is still the case, but I'm looking for the best oil for holding oil pressure at temperature. Barney's still holding strong, and I want to keep it that way!

ER

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http://www.rylstoneclassic.com

Valvoline XLD Classic 20W50, sometimes $20, mostly $26. Don't bother with Supercrap they don't carry anything anymore. Go to Autobarn

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Im with Lillee. I use XLD classic in my mini

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My favourite oil is:

1. Brad Penn Grade #1 "The Green Oil"

Contains high levels of ZDDP for our tractor flat tappet cam engines:
In addition to our unique base oil cut, increased concentration of “zinc” (zinc dialkyldithiophosphate a.k.a. ZDDP) provides outstanding anti-wear/anti-scuffing protection for engines employing either ‘flat tappet’ or roller cams. BRAD PENN® Penn Grade 1® High Performance Oils have been evaluated by a number of premiere camshaft manufacturers with tremendous success. Many are now recommending our Penn Grade 1® High Performance Oils to provide outstanding protection for their ‘flat tappet’ or roller cams.
http://www.penngrade1.com/

Second choice would be Castrol EDGE Sport 20w50.

I have good results with both, the Brad Penn held the best oil pressure out of any oil I've tried during track work, you just can't use it in cars with a catalytic converter (like my rover mini or modern cars) no issue for you though.

You buy Brad Penn by the case (about 12 x 1L bottles) for around ~$80-90..It's green too so will match Barney

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

XLD here, it looks and smells like the original KMX 20W/50 did and holds oil pressure the same too.
Castrol Edge Sport 25W/50 is good too but I got sick of paying for the Castrol Marketing Machine.
Can you say `GP50' > +$ `Formula R 25W/50' > + more$ `Edge Sport 25W/50' (for basically the same oil).

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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 find Penrite oils are the best and they are an Aussie company too. HPR30 in 20/60 is excellent and they make an oil in the classic range that is recommended especially for mini's (shared engine and gearbox lubricant).
Valvoline XLD is too watery now - IMO!

I agree it looks watery but no more watery than KMX was. I just changed it from KMX to XLD classic on the weekend so had a chance to directly compare and thought it was exactly the same oil...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

when did KMX lose its flavour ??????????????????? I bin still using it

About when they stopped putting it into 6L bottles...
From then on it looked and smelt different, and I found oil pressure when hot wasn't as good. So, I went > Valvoline XLD Classic.
75psi hot, no cooler, all the way to Kelso and back. Same pressure as KMX was...

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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.

Brad Penn is No.1; then it depends on what the use is...

For long term storage Penrite 'Classic Light' will not break down as fast as other oils; Penrite HPR 30/60 for a well priced oil and of course Castrol Edge would be up there for high revving. Unsure about the others mentioned

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..still waiting for the Italian Job sequel to see if the bus went down

I still use KMX, oil psi is still high (around 80psi while driving) seems alright.
I did have an engine with poor oil psi on KMX so I swapped it for Penrite HPR 20/60 and that increased the oil psi by about 5 to 10 psi, that shows me HPR is a better oil than KMX but it is also double the price. Seeing as my engine has good pressure now I'm not convinced I need to spend the extra cash.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

We have an oil scientist in our club and he did a talk for us.

His recomendation was to use a 20/60 to a 20/70 as the mini gear box chops the oil molecules in half very quickly so your protection is halfed. This happens after 500k

As for oil he prefers shell as he has tested thousands of samples .

He did say a 20/60 will effect the syncro by slowing it down until the gearbox chops the oil up

Also a desiel oil has the best levels if zzdp but very high in dertergents which can cause problems.

Also most modern oils are very simular these days

Isn't a 20/60 oil the same as a 20/70 oil at Aussie temps and altitude?

My understanding is the latter numer is winter viscosity, hence the w, not 'weight' as most people interpret the w to be.

So it seems most people already use the correct oil. What you don't get in an engine oil versus a gearbox oil is shear resistance.

A modern hypoid gear oil resists the meshing faces wiping away the protective film. Unfortunately hypoid oils can only be applied to gearboxes with compatable bearings. And it's extremely thick. The additives destroy yellow metals.

My son once had a 998 Clubby S that drank lots of oil. One day I did an oil change and used Penrite 40W/70 to hopefully reduce its thirst.
Bad move- as it was winter, the oil was so thick it stuck the primary gear to the crank and we couldn't get gears. He had to go out urgently (hot date, woohoo) so I just drained ~1L out and poured 1L of diesel fuel into it until the next day. Yes it worked....

So, be careful going too thick in winter, or you might have problems.

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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.

So which Brad Penn? 20-50w?
http://www.penngrade1.com/Products/Racing-Oils.aspx
Thanks for the info!

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Now with 2 extra ports!