[Spridgets] lets talk 1275's AND off-topic

Mike Rambour lists at dinospider.com
Fri Sep 30 09:51:55 MDT 2011


     Any long time person on this list knows I don't have a Spridget but 
I am building a 1934 Singer Le Mans and putting in a 1098 motor into it, 
the woodwork on the body is taking longer that I anticipated but its 
progressing nicely.  There were 300+ of these cars built and my original 
motor had a hole in the side of the block big enough for a crankshaft to 
come through, because well, it did.  I could not find a original motor 
and decided to put the 1098 in since I need to make no mods to the 
frame, the original Singer motor was 972cc and the Spridget motor is a 
perfect fit. I now have a original good block, I just need to have a 
crank made somewhere.

   I also own a much bigger 1934 1.5 Litre Sports, this car has a 
cracked but repairable 6 cylinder motor, it also has some "seeping" in 
the water jackets implying very thin water jackets due to rust/corrosion 
and that may be a issue when I rebuild it.   The big issue with this car 
is it is very rare, the estimates are that only 11 were built and only 7 
known cars remain so I don't want to butcher it.   The estimate I have 
for rebuilding this motor along with crack repair and porcelainizing the 
water jackets, etc. are 5,000 to 7,000 UK Pounds ($7,500 to $11,000) and 
that does not include crating and shipping to the UK, etc, so for the 
motor alone I need to budget $10,000 and it likely will be more.   I 
just don't have that kind of cash hanging around...

  Last night  my wife and I were talking about it and she asked what the 
other motor in the garage was and said why don't you put that in the car 
?  Now I will NOT destroy what likely is the most original 1.5 left in 
the world and I will NOT destroy a car that rare with a the wrong motor, 
but she has a point.   I have a running (barely, needs a rebuild) 1275 
and 3 ribcase gearboxes, 2 should be ok, so for little money and time I 
could swap motors while I save up the money for a proper rebuild of the 
original motor.  I can do the swap without having to drill holes, no 
cutting of the Singer frame, no "permanent" mods of the Singer chassis.

  Now, the original Singer motor is 6 cylinders, 1,497CC's and put out a 
peak of 46BHP, the 1275CC puts out a peak of 62BHP or 75BHP depending on 
which web site I look at, so its a smaller motor with more power.

  The Singer weights 1 ton, 2 hundreweight, 0 quarters, 14lbs or in 
terms most of us understand 2,478lbs.  The Spridget weighs 1,575lbs.

  So I am putting in a more powerful motor into a 900lb. heavier car, 
but I think it would still move the car, right ?

  The Spridget motor is of course much lighter than the 6cylinder so 
some weight will come off the car, but i am not sure how much.

   I am not trying to build a hot rod here, the car never was a hot rod 
to begin with, just trying to get the car on the road while I save up 
money and get the proper motor rebuilt.  My concern is the weight 
difference, will the 1275 move the car, I think yes since the car was 
originally powered by a larger but much weaker motor.

  And no, I am not thinking of a different motor like a 1,500cc MG, I am 
thinking 1275 because I have one.

   Mike


More information about the Spridgets mailing list