Morris Minor Owners Club

Checking out the Midget in the local yard (yes it has got a 295 head and big mains!) I jacked up one rear wheel to do a diff turn check. Over 4 wheel turns the prop turned just about exactlyish 8 turns. Am I right in thinking that because only one wheel was turning, the ratio would be halved? In which case I need to go back and check it over maybe 20 turns to get an accurate count. Tempted by the engine- it is full of proper coloured oil and turns freely.....

Sounds like 3.9 final drive then - and yes that engine (and gearbox) is worth having! If the price is right of course. Hope you let your overall disappointment at these finds show clearly when talking to the scrappy owner............

bmcecosse wrote:Sounds like 3.9 final drive then - and yes that engine (and gearbox) is worth having! If the price is right of course. Hope you let your overall disappointment at these finds show clearly when talking to the scrappy owner............

There will be a lot of tooth sucking on my part!!! Unfortunately the old boy is savvy enough on the A series to know the differences between a Midget and a Moggy lump Next step is a jump-pack and carb/manifold to get a tune! Sadly the Midget exhaust manifold has fractured or that may have been worth passing on as a cost limitation exercise!
Big, unanswerable, question is whether I am ultimately better off going for the Maestro option?

The Maestro will be very expensive to install I think! Do you have costs for the necessary parts ?

linearaudio wrote:about exactlyish 8 turns.

an oxymoron if ever i heared one

Who are you calling a moron?

Already had the flywheel machined "by accident" last summer as I didn't realise the engine we were using for dimensional checks for the O/D box was a Maestro one at the time- we couldn't work out why the flywheel didn't just drop on.....
Opening up the backplate looks straight forward enough. Then it's a case of swapping front plates. Think I'll go down this route for the O/D job, now need to sort a 1098 to tide me over. Know of a couple in a barn, so hopefully one will be OK.

Just something about the Midget lump which appeals somehow, although logic tells me the Maestro would be more powerful and stronger. Decisions, decisions!

Oh yes - if the Maestro fits - it's obviously the better engine. Have you tried a starter motor on it yet - to see if it engages and disengages the ring gear ok? Why do you have to open out the backplate ? - or - are you using a 1098 backplate on it ?