Hello, everybody!
I was driving my recently purchased 1975 Spitfire last weekend when I heard
this terrible knocking noise. Not so surprisingly, I took the oil pan off
and... a spun rod bearing. After thinking about doing a patch job and
replacing the bearing until winter (I had to do a full drivetrain rebuild
anyway -- it burned a litre of oil per gas tank and my syncromesh gears are
shot), I found that my block is cracked!!!
So, a few questions:
Any conceivable way of welding up the block (FM3xxxx)? It is cracked
beside cylinders 1 and 2 (about 1/2" from the bottom of the cylinder bore),
opposite side to the camshaft. It appears that the PO may have dumped cold
water into the block, because it seems to be along a watermain. I don't
know if it is related to my bearing failure, because it was cylinder 4 that
died, but it wasn't loosing water before the incident (now there is a big
puddle of coolant all over the floor).
Since a repair to my existing engine looks impossible, I have access to
another 1500 engine and transmission out of a MG Midget (I think). The
engine number is FP5xxxx -- does anyone know where I can find the year,
specs, etc. for this engine?
Also, I have a (non-functional) overdrive transmission with bad syncros --
are the insides of the regular 4-speed the same as the overdrive
transmission such that I can exchange parts between the two? Or, will the
overdrive unit fit on the back half of the other transmission?
Anyone have any suggestions on bastardizing these MG parts? Or should I
stay away from this incest?
Thanks.
Michael Thomas
1975 S@&#fire
|