mg engine to morris

[mattie]

Hello, I am thinking about putting an MG Midget in my 1959 Morris 4 door. I was told that the engine/trans combination from a 1500 cc Midget will fit without cutting or major reconstruction. Does anyone have any experience with this conversion? I want to upgrade the Morris so I can travel at highway speeds of 65mph. I also need to change the rear end or change the 4.55 gears in the Morris. Again, any help is apprreciated. Thanks, Gary and new project

[d_harris]

Hello, I am thinking about putting an MG Midget in my 1959 Morris 4 door

Yeah, I don't think you will get one inside.


In all seriousness though the 1500 is not a common conversion - its a triumph lump I think but the 1275cc is a very common upgrade and doesn't require any major metalwork as far as a recall. There are a lot of people who have done that on here who will be able to give tips

[bigginger]

The 1275 doesn't involve ANY metalwork As for changing the diff ratio, pretty much all BMC cars of this kind of capacity shared a very similar (and therefore interchangeable) diff that will fit the Mog axle, providing various ratios.
Like Dan, I've never heard of or seen a 1500 unit in a Morris. Aren't those engines universally despised?
a

[d_harris]

Oh yeah, I remember it was fitted to the rubber bumper model for emissions purposes i think......

[bigginger]

Something about the lack of bottom end strength, IIRC
a

[dougieboard]

I had a ride in a Triumph 1500-powered 1000 Traveller about 10 years ago. It was owned by Russ Smith who was the deputy editor of Practical Classics at the time.

There were some metalwork differences, particularly around the bulkhead - the dashboard was pretty heavily reworked too, but I don't know if that was a neccesity of the conversion. It may even have had a different pedal box but I'm a bit hazy on the whole thing. If you have some copies of the mag from 1999, it was in the Staff Car Sagas most months.

The engine definately fitted tho, with the triumph 'box and from my brief time in the passenger seat, I remember it being pretty lively...

hope this helps

[bmcecosse]

Oh yes the dreadful Russ Smith Traveller! All sorts of problems to fit a Triumph engine - exhaust etc on other side and it's a hopeless engine anyway. Far easier to fit a 1275 A series from Midget or Marina/Ital. But if all you want is 65 mph - then a 1098 engine from a later Minor/A40 will easily do that for you - and is an easy installation.

[Packedup]

Something about the lack of bottom end strength, IIRC
a

They're heavier than an A series, no easier or cheaper to tune (and frequently more expensive as Triumphs and MGs are "higher prestige I imagine), and weaker than a weak thing with flu. Big end bearings are almost a service part, to be done every 10th oil change, and thrust washers are designed to let you know when they need doing by falling into the sump...

The good thing about the 1500 engines is they cost less than the petrol to collect them, but that's slightly offset by the various bits needed to fit them in anything that didn't have one to start with.

I'm stuck using one due to the car it's in (and the fact the car is quite rare so I should really mess around too much). Given the choice I'd be ditching it for an A series, you'd have to be madder than Mad Jack McMad to want to do the swap the other war round.