Morris Minor Owners Club

Metros have 135/12 to 165/60/13 wheels/ tyres, and 3.6 to 2.76 diffs.

A 998 (according to my Haynes, but I'm sure other ratios were used) has a 3.64 diff, 135/12 or 150/65 315 (nasty Metric) wheels/ tyres.

Is the 4th gear ratio 1:1? or does it have a 5th?

4 speed box, direct on top - It's just the Mini 4 in the sump setup (wehy they never fitted a 5 I don't know, really crippled the car with some silly diff ratios to compensate). I can dig out the intermediate gears if needed, just didn't fancy typing so much

Wasn't the fact that 5th couldn't be fitted in the available room one of the reasons BL tried to kill the whole design? A vague memory...

bigginger wrote:Wasn't the fact that 5th couldn't be fitted in the available room one of the reasons BL tried to kill the whole design? A vague memory...

Well IIRC Jack Knight and KAD both managed it (one of them certainly did, and they bnoth did 16v heads which might be what's confusing me), so how can small independant firms manage where the behemoth of BL failed?

OK, stupid question...

D'oh! Yes, of course, it's using the Mini 'box if it's a 998! And they only had 4 gears, and yes both KAD and Jack Knight did very good (but expensive) 5 speed boxes.

Anyway... back to the question, assuming it has got 135/12 and a 3.64 diff then at 70 MPH it will be turning 4177 RPM. Only 115 RPM less than the Minor!

Gareth, if your wheel/tyre size is different, let me know and I'll recalculate.

Hi Guys...

Back to my question... sort of...

I (with some aggreement from Pyoor and a friendly AA bloke) have decided that something is amiss in the crank somewhere. Now, Hebe's not leaking large amounts of oil, nor is she burning it off excessively and does seem to pull quite well up to 65 or 70 mph (even if she does rattle loudly when she gets somewhere between 4k and 4.5k rpm), but I'm concerned about damaging her further.

It's half term in a few weeks - so do you all think she'll last till then when I can have a proper look without worrying about time-limitations?

And those two 1098 engines in the shed - should I start work on rebuilding one?

Nikki

She'll probably last although not reving hard will help.

Rebuilding an engine is always a good idea unless your bank account says otherwise!

Are you sure it's the crank and not a loose flywheel, clutch cover, etc?

Our Metro has the 'nasty metric' (for which read, flippin' expensive) 150/65 315 tyres. And yes, the old girl sounds somewhat 'busy' at 70 mph... Sounds like the revs is quite similar to the Minor, then.

Oh, and I wound Phyllis up on the motorway this evening, to somewhere around 4k, if her speedo is correct. My ears have only just stopped ringing....

Sorry for hijacking... I'll have the moderators after me... Oh. Er. Yeah. Oops...

Right, with the nasty metrics on you will be turning 4265 RPM at 70!

Only 27 RPM lower than the Minor. No wonder she sounds 'busy'

Cam wrote:She'll probably last although not reving hard will help.

Rebuilding an engine is always a good idea unless your bank account says otherwise!

Are you sure it's the crank and not a loose flywheel, clutch cover, etc?

Well, I suppose it could be the latter or a loose flywheel, but as far as we could tell we put it on right

I do have a rumbling though when I put my clutch down just to biting point.

As for rebuilding... I'd love to but Hebe needs taking off the road in about six months. We're still saving for other things at the moment but as soon as money is available we'll take her off the road and get her done properly

Gareth wrote:Our Metro has the 'nasty metric' (for which read, flippin' expensive) 150/65 315 tyres. And yes, the old girl sounds somewhat 'busy' at 70 mph... Sounds like the revs is quite similar to the Minor, then.

Do yourself a favour and hunt out some imperial wheels at the breakers

Although to be fair, has anyone ever had metric tyres wear out or craze? I don't know what they're made of, but not only do they not grip, they also don't age or wear out!

Did we take the flywheel off yours? I thought only Guy and I had to do that.

Yup - that the only thing that goes wrong with the tyres! The sidewalls crack, or they get punctures. They don't seem to wear out, but I'll agree that they're fairly useless. There again, I think we used Michelin for a while, and they're almost indestructible.

Dear Mr Cam,
Do you know where I can find the revs v HP curve for the standard 1098?
And I seem to remember that we are supposed to get 48HP at 5100rpm but can't find the reference. Am I right? Regards, MikeN.

I don't think I've ever seen a power curve for a standard 1098! Try Vizard?

Tried Vizard; don't think he's interested in any standard engine, and not much on the 1098 directly (which isn't to undervalue his work - its great). Got lots on the 1275, 1380 & 1430. But can you confirm 48HP for the 1098, or have I dreamt it? Taa, MikeN.

I think it was 48bhp. but what sort of horses are those. Measured at the wheels, or at the flywheel?

Oh yes, it was 48 BHP at 5100 RPM and 60 lb/ft at 2500 RPM peak for the 1098.