Rob Lewis wrote:
>
> O.K.
> New guy here. Owner of a '59 with a tired old 1098. I have been
> looking
> at pumping up a 1275. Will a 1500 fit in a Mk 1?
Rob: another new guy here, but felt compelled to add my $.02. Having
recently had the pleasure of assisting in the disassembly, and reassembly
of a 1975 1500, I will never have one of "those" engines in any of my
vehicles. At the risk of offending members of the list who have 1500s,
here's my reasons:
1. that blasted diabolical thrust washer arrangement at the rear of
the
crank, which, if any po had the tendency to use the clutch as a left foot
rest, will quickly round the shoulder on the crank, if you are lucky, and,
also ruin the boss on the block that is supposed to hold the thrust washers
in place, if you are unlucky. We were lucky-Only had to have the crank
welded up and remachined.
2. No cam bearings. What? We spent 10 minutes looking for the cam
bearings under the bench, in the block, etc. before we discovered there
ain't none! Cam bearing surfaces ride in machined holes in the block! I
was astounded, but this arrangement must work satisfactorily for the most
part, because I haven't heard of as many problems with this as the thrust
washers. I don't like it, however, and think BL was cutting corners big
time when they produced this engine. It is the same engine use in
spitfires, though, so I better shut up before I manage to offend lots of
people with my first post. IMHO, a1275 is the perfect setup for the
ultimate sprite, because she slips right in, and every kind of performance
mod imaginable is available if you want to go that route.
BTW, if you can latch on to a 1967 1275, that is one of the last ones
before poluttion controls, and has a little more stock HP than most others,
I've been told.
Opinions are like belly buttons-everbody has one-
ED in NM
59 AN5
65 BJ8
78 XJ12(lump)
71 TR6
58 FX3 Austin taxi (Neville)
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