Before I get started, this isn't a flame and it isn't meant to be offensive, or
to
scare off a new guy, but I have been in a hyper mood all day and felt like
typing a
lot. I also thought it'd make for some good discussion so I'll have something
to do
at work tomorrow! That said...
Most of the bad things I have heard about the 1500 engine are all hearsay. And
most
cases result in something along the lines of somebody did something wrong in the
rebuild. The bottom end has a bad reputation, and I have found that the most
common
cause for this is that the bolts weren't torqued properly, thus causing a rod
to be
thrown. The other most common cause for distaste of the 1500 is because it is
Triumph in origin, which is pretty silly. Who cares? All these little cars
were
pieced together from spare parts bins. Even Lotus today is made that way (last
time
I checked, anyway).
I have had three 1500s, and have found it to be a strong engine. I rebuilt the
first
one with no knowledge of engines whatsoever, armed only with a few tools and a
Haynes manual. I drove that thing for two years, going on lots of road trips,
driving very fast and very aggressively (I was younger!), also in lots of
traffic,
got great gas mileage, didn't burn oil, and never broke down once. Sadly, it
met
its end when a truck ran over it (not my fault).
If the 1500 engine is properly taken care of during a rebuild, it will compete
with
any other Spridget engine, and I am sure there will be plenty of disagreement
among
the listers on that comment. All I know is that I beat many mustangs and other
such
cars off the line in my past 1500s (once again, I was 16-17 at the time). And,
if
properly motivated, you can make all sorts of modifications to it as well,
including
a Weber carb set up, headers, porting the head, race cams, etc etc. The biggest
problem is that nobody values the little things so nobody does much experimental
modifcations to the cars. They like to swap them for 1275s instead! All I do
is
bore mine out about .020 and leave everything else alone. As far as cam
bearings
go, I have never seen this causing a problem, so I imagine it's ok.
I don't want to offend or anything with this, just wanted to step in with a few
comments in defense of my favorite little spridget engine. Shields up! By the
way,
welcome to the list! heh heh
adrian,
trotting off because he heard 'Austin Powers' noises coming from the TV
Ed & Ida Townley wrote:
> 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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J. Adrian Barnes
adrian@icx.net
http://user.icx.net/~adrian/midget
http://www.ravineware.com
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