Morris Minor Owners Club

Given the prices that 1275's are rising to is it really worth fitting one?
The standard 1098 gives 48bhp and with a little work and not huge expense you should easily get 60bhp or more if you follow Roy's advice. Your alternative is the standard Marina(60bhp) and A+ Ital(61bhp) with all the fitting changes you need to make.
Unless you can find a 'real' MG 1275 (65bhp) or intend to spend money modifying your 1275 when no doubt power outputs in the high 70's are readily available is it really woth it.

Oh yes
I was lucky and got an original MG 1275 +60 thou re-bore Mini clubman carb banana manifold and its a very different drive to the standard minor good fun on a low ratio van dif but I do run out of revs around 80 MPH.

It will depend on what you do with it. On faster roads or in hilly areas, a well laden Traveller will be much better as a 1275. As they say, "There's no substitute for litres".

The saloon is a bit lighter and if not heavily laden will cope with most things; just not as quickly and you won’t have much in reserve for overtaking (Though there are ways of overcoming this ).

1098 with suitable mods runs very well - and pulls my 3.7 final drive just fine. I have 2 X 1275 engines ready and waiting in the wings, but with the price of fuel now I'm actually looking for an 848 or possibly a 948 to try to maximise fuel economy.

depends if you like quicker speeds but less fuel econamy, mine is a lot quicker but its almost have mpg,s (but that could be the way i drive )

My 1275 Midget engined Traveller has a useful bit of extra power and torque, great for overtaking and hillclimbs

yes Quicker speeds and the ability to keep up with modern traffic mind you stopping is equally important. econemy dosnt seem that much worse because the engine isnt working as hard.

I have a 1275 Marina motor sitting very quietly in the corner of the garage and I have now decided that the 1098, 940 head etc, is just going too well to take out. Economy is very good and it is more than capable of keeping up with the traffic.
The main advantage of the 1275, to me, would be the ability to modify it beyond the 65 HP area and still retain reliability. Maybe in the next car.

I wonder if there's a modern RWD small engine gearbox combo of similar or a bit more power to standard that would fit in without having to modify bulkheads or weld anything? Something that could be fitted with the aid of some new engine/gearbox mounts points and a revised propshaft. I'm not talking about performance modifications but changing the A series for something that that can be had for a similar or lower price and would offer more reliability and less tinkering.

I appreciate that wouldn't suit a lot of people as it's less pure or true to the original design. On the other hand, if it means people with less technical ability or inclination can keep driving their Minors affordably and with less under-bonnet tinkerings in later years it can't be a bad thing.

dp wrote:I wonder if there's a modern RWD small engine gearbox combo of similar or a bit more power to standard that would fit in without having to modify bulkheads or weld anything? Something that could be fitted with the aid of some new engine/gearbox mounts points and a revised propshaft. I'm not talking about performance modifications but changing the A series for something that that can be had for a similar or lower price and would offer more reliability and less tinkering.

Maybe even a diesel? Trouble is nearly all small efficient modern cars are FWD, and converting a Minor to FWD is non-trivial.

I wasn’t aware that a healthy A Series was unreliable. I think it’s a well sorted and simple engine. My preference is for OHV, as valve adjustment is simple; no need for shims. I know some OHC engines have hydraulic self adjusting tappets but I still prefer simplicity of the OHV arrangement.

The A Series was a pretty efficient engine and if the head is polished and flowed, that would result in a bit more efficiency, as would a free flowing exhaust (These would also increase the power by virtue of greater efficiency).

Might be worth looking at the 1.25 L and 1.4 L Zetecs, in rwd configuration. Mind you a 2.0L Zetec will better a 1098cc A series on fuel consumption, with the added benefit of reasonable power. Trouble is, the conversion costs, engines are cheaper than rebuilding even a standard 1098 (pro build not DIY), bell housings , props, fuel tanks etc etc all add up unfortunately.

i always wondered about a 2 lt reanult clio sport there rear wheel drive and i dont think that the enigne will be to big for a little car