Hey SB, I've run all my 5hp Briggs at a similar angle and with no shroud for 20 years and never had the slightest problem with oiling or cooling. Well, except for one time a few years ago when my buddy Dan and I just got his bike up and running. We trucked the bikes up to the base of Cajon pass and parked by the Mcdonalds. Road up the 138 and took the back way to Wrightwood. He didn't machine his double pulley groove deep enough and the belt bottomed out and slipped so much, it wouldn't make the grade. Also we engineered the diameter a little large and the overall drive ratio was a bit high. And I hadn't checked my oil in about a year (even though they hold 22 ounces, they burn a little). So mine was pulling the hill okay, but it siezed up. I had to pedal about 3 miles )(mostly down hill), and he rode his back. Got everything squared away and no problems since.