MG Car Repair: MG Midget oil quantity, rear main oil seal, main bearing cap

Question
We have almost finished with all mechanics restoring an MG Midget 72, unfortunately, my cd regarding literature do not work at all, my question: How much oil is necessary in the engine?, because now is leaking between transmission and engine; thank you very much in advance.

Answer
Hi Manuel,
The pick-up in the pan must have an oil level up enough to pick up oil and I have seen some 1275cc Midgets come in to the shop and show no oil on the dip stick but still show oil pressure on the gauge. I have no way to know how much oil that is in the pan at the time. As for how much oil goes in the pan at start I don't remember exactly and I have several manuals that don't say either but I think it is about 4 US qt. That sometimes is different if you have an oil cooler and what size filter you have. The dip stick will tell you on a fill up if it is a little over or under 4 qt.

I can tell you this for sure. When you see no oil pressure on the gauge and the engine is running, major damage occurs to the engine in seconds.

As far as a oil leak at the rear of the engine. There is no rear main oil seal so if you have excessive ring "Blow-by", or a stopped up crankcase vent system, oil will be forced past the spiral cut behind the rear main bearing. Also if the upper cap at the rear main bearing cap is not well sealed you can get a leak there. Another possible excessive oil leak can be the tin cover over the oil pump. The same is true of the back engine plate gasket.
Howard