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Re: 1800 in a midget?

To: "mgs" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: 1800 in a midget?
From: "Bob D." <bobmgtd@insightbb.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 22:39:29 -0000
Have you ever seen an XPAG engine next to an A-series engine? It's hard to
believe they're both 1250cc! The A-series is so much smaller. Does anyone
have the weight specs on MG's engines? XPAG, XPEG, A-series, B-series, and
what the MGA had.

Bob Donahue (Still stuck in the '50s)
Email - bobmgtd@insightbb.com
52 MGTD - NEMGTR #11470
71 MGB - NAMGBR #7-3336


----- Original Message -----
From: "Max Heim" <mvheim@attbi.com>
To: "MG List" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: 1800 in a midget?


> "Per cc", maybe, yeah... but you have to make up for 525cc's... that's why
I
> said "almost".
>
> The A-series engine was no prodigy either. I suspect the main reason they
> respond better to tuning is that they have always been class competive at
> one or another of their many displacements (therefore popular for racing,
> therefore attracting more tuner attention). 1798cc is an "orphan" size
that
> is too big for the 1500 classes and too small to compete with 2-liters.
The
> decision to go with that displacement was typical BMC expediency, but it
> pretty much screwed the MGB as far as track racing was concerned. Not
being
> competitive in any international formula, its racing development was more
or
> less left to amateurs.
>
> Anyway, I'm agreeing with your point that putting a B-series motor in a
> Spridget would be like adding ballast. You get a much heavier motor, with
> worse go-fast parts availability, and at higher cost, plus all the
headaches
> of a swap.
>
> The weight situation is probably even worse than I've indicated -- you'd
> probably wind up using the B's heavier tranny, and its heavier diff to
> handle the torque. Even if you picked up 40 HP (doubtful), it'd probably
be
> a net loss.
>
> on 6/6/03 3:46 PM, Larry Hoy at list@marketvalue.net wrote:
>
> > From what I see on the race track a 1275 engine can put out more hp per
> > cc than the 1800 engine. Seems like the 1275 is a better design.
> >
> > Larry Hoy
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net
> >> [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Max Heim
> >> Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 4:08 PM
> >> To: MG List
> >> Subject: Re: 1800 in a midget?
> >>
> >>
> >> Hmm, if you're going to the trouble of an engine swap, I'm
> >> sure you could find something with a better power-to-weight
> >> ratio than the B-series lump. I would also wonder about the
> >> bell housing fit, and the overall height.
> >>
> >> I once saw a neat installation of the Alfa Romeo DOHC 1500
> >> into a Spitfire. That or a Miata unit would at least make
> >> some sense in terms of a general increase in sophistication
> >> <g>. But you could probably get almost as much horsepower as
> >> the stock B engine just with some modifications to a 1275,
> >> without the road-hugging weight.
> >
>
>
> --
>
> Max Heim
> '66 MGB GHN3L76149
> If you're near Mountain View, CA,
> it's the primer red one with chrome wires

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