Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi Kevin
I have a normal 1098cc moggie engine with normal flywheel and clutch. The gearbox is the 1275 midget box and everything went together perfect. Nothing needed altering or changing.

cheers, daniel

Hi Daniel
Thanks for that I am now wondering if the ones that I drove with heavier / snatchier clutches were because they had used the Midget flywheel & clutch which are a bit smaller and may have given it more bite that the Morris items. Do you know what the ratio differences are and do they make much difference.

Pete I have spoken to the guy I am getting my Midget engine from and he says that he wants £85 for it, the only problem being that as the car is not running I have no way of cheching if its all ok, I was happy with not being able to hear the engine running as the price was reasonable and as its come from a minor it has all the right backplates ect, let me know what you think as I am unsure.

Pete if you dont want the box I am picking my engine up tuesday I will post the guys name and number afterwoods in case it helps someone else.

Sorry Kevin I should have replied earlier.

I can't consider the box at the moment thanks. I have had to sell one mog and the other may have to go soon if I loose my garage rental.
All being well I should replace Doris with a late 2 door that will be uprated with the 1275 engine in the shed etc etc but that is still somewhat over the horizon.

if you find a genuine 1098 midget engine, it is well worth getting, main plus is it has a 2" crank ( rather than 1 3/4" in a moggie) That lends it's self to tuning well..

if only i could fine one....

Agreed, if you can find one of these the engine No. will start
with10CC-.............the earlier ones were 10CG

I think Robins means trying to find a 5th that isn't there.
The trick on the Moggie box in stop/start traffic is to select second initially, then move into first. It will go straight in. Selecting 2nd stops the input shaft that was connected to the engine from spinning, the synchro on 2nd means no crunch. Once it's stationary, there's no crunch selecting first.

So Mike you have invented the 5 speed Moggie box, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, I think thats a bit of a cheat .

2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, I think thats a bit of a cheat

Oh! I thought everyone did that!
The principle is simple enough - the input shaft will spin with the engine as there's a very minor drag on the clutch. You don't even need to go fully into second, you just need to go onto the synchroniser, which brings the input shaft speed down to the 2nd gear speed (stationary when you are stopped).

Of course if you're not on an uphill slope and you don't have a fully laden car, you can just pull of in second instead. The only thing to watch is that you keep the engine speed low, and you close the clutch as soon as possible.
With high engine speed when you are feathering the clutch, the clutch wear increases hugely - If you also have a long slip time, the clutch wear increases astronomically due to super-heating of the clutch surface

Yeah, I use that trick too, works a treat. Will watch out for holding on the clutch though.

I knew a guy who always feathered the clutch at junctions (Not on a Moggy). We lived in Bradford at the time - plenty of hills. The clutch died after 6 months, then the handbrake went, so back to square 1.

MikeTrav68 wrote:select second initially, then move into first. It will go straight in. Selecting 2nd stops the input shaft that was connected to the engine from spinning, the synchro on 2nd means no crunch.

Wow, thats what I've always done. I just picked it up by accident, realised what was happening, and have always done that ever since. Though, other people have said that it doesn't do anything and just waists time, but cheers, now I can prove them wrong.

Let them try it and they can prove it to themselves! Option 2, just leave your foot on the clutch for 5s while the shaft slows down. Doesn't go down too well at the traffic lights. My mini had 5 gears - used to fit 13in Viva wheels for long journeys ). Can't say it was convenient!

Is it not a good idea to blip the throttle to get into first, then?

I'm getting quite good at double-declutching, 'cos the synchro's gone on 2nd in our Metro - only done 33k, too...

Has anyone noticed that first gear is not directly above second, but eversoslightly to the right?

Has anyone noticed that first gear is not directly above second, but eversoslightly to the right?

??
you're pushing the same shaft in the box, but just in the other direction, so the select position should be the same when you're in the neutral band.
Or did you mean when it is in gear the select lever is more to the right?

Nope, it feels like (and I must admit to being a cack-handed southpaw, so don't take this as gospel) to get it into first from second, that the lever has to be pushed forward, but guided through the change, with more pressure shifting to the right (ish).

There again, I have been told that I change gear wierdly, 'cos of how I hold the lever. Maybe it's just me, and what I think is straight-ahead, is actually a bit to the left...?

I reckon I'm confusing everyone now, so I guess I'd better stop. Would an automatic solve the issue?

I have 2 1275 Sprites (same as midgets) although neither run (yet) i have done lots of reading on spriget history.... someone mentioned the 1098 spridet engines would be good for tuning, that is true but only the later ones. The earlier ones are 3 bearing units and are weak in the bottom end, to later (10CC marked) units were uprated to 5 barings and are commonly known as mk 2 1/2 or 1 1/2 engines depending on sprite or midget! Hope it might help someone

Matt, ALL A-series engines (803, 848, 948, 997, 998, 1071, 1098, 1275) are 3 bearing.

The only other engine fitted to the Spridget was the Triumph 1500 unit (bit of a dog). These were only fitted to the last (rubber bumper) Midgets (74 on I think), but were also 3 bearing.

I think you must be getting confused with the 1800cc B-series engines (as fitted to the MGB), which started life as 3 bearing but changed to 5 bearing later on.

Maybe, but there are definately 2 variations on the 1098cc spridget the second one being made to address the weak bottom end in the 1st design

Yes, I think they had slightly wider main bearing journals, but they both had 3 bearing cranks.