Morris Minor Owners Club

Right guys get your thinking caps on....
I have a beautiful 1300cc engine from an austin allegro with an unleaded cylinder head, bearing in mind the allegro was front wheel drive, and had the a series identical to the mini, can i fit it to my minor. The main problem being where the allegro gearbox was, underneath and round the side a bit, will this just be replaced by the sump on the minor. Are there any other complications, such as distributor or water ways? Thanks loads. Ben

The crank is different and I think the end main bearing cap is too. To cut a long story short........... you CAN modify it to fit but it's a lot of machining work and not really worth it. Keep the head and ancillaries but you would be much better off with a Marina or Ital 1300 (which is in-line).

Or even a spridget 1275...............

Yes, if you can find one................

dam! So will the unleaded cylinder head fit on my 1098? or would i have to do all that stuff with the water ways and pump? Also if i were to find a marina with a 1275 would i need the box to match it, and would the head go onto that? And.. if the crank is different, would i really need tochange that much, i thought that would be just for the v-pulleys do you think you could explain to me exactly what i would need to modify, and would the sump just bolt on in place of the gearbox?

I have 2 spridget 1275 engines, shame I have 2 spridgets to put them in......

thats not fair! dam it. Do the 1275's go straight onto the minor box? even if it was from a marina? and my cylinder head wont fit a 1098 will it?

So will the unleaded cylinder head fit on my 1098?

Yes, but it might need pockets machining into the 1098 block. Mind you, if it's an Allegro head it should not be unleaded unless it has been converted.
Don't use the Marina box, it is a pig. The Minor box can be used and the head from the Allegro will fit straight on.

if the crank is different, would i really need tochange that much, i thought that would be just for the v-pulleys do you think you could explain to me exactly what i would need to modify, and would the sump just bolt on in place of the gearbox?

The end of an in-line engine crank has a flange which the flywheel bolts to. The end of a transverse engine crank has a nose cone which the flywheel slides onto and is held in place with one large bolt at the end. They cannot be modified to be like the other type. The main journals are different too (I think) so machining work has to be carried out to make the in-line crank fit the transverse block. The sump SHOULD just bolt on, but I'm not 100% on that as I have not tried it. Believe me it's not worth it. For the cost of the conversion maching you could easily get an in-line 1275.

You can use an unleaded Maestro 1300 - however as the crank is longer you need some machining and a special flywheel. JLH can do the conversion for you but it is probably cheaper to buy a Minor that is already converted to 1300!!
The Maestro engine does however have a proper rear crank seal - which is a better alternative to the optimistic, and difficult to install Owen Burton conversion.

If your 1275 Allegro engine is a good un then advertise it for sale on some Mini sites. You could get a good price and then start hunting around for a 1275 in-line engine. This will save all the hassle of finding a good machine shop and a knowlegeable engineer who knows A-series engines inside out!

Yeah, thats the most likely alternative only its my dads engine, he would be happy to see it used by me, but i dont think he would sell it and let me have the money! such is life. i got a quote for an unleaded conversion for aobut 95 quid. thats essentially what i wanted from the other engine, just an unleaded minor. However it would probably be cheaper to get a scrap one off a metro to suit my engine but i wont pop all the questions on that matter as they have already been answered somewhere on here! Thanks for the help, Ben.

i have converted a metro turboengine to inline using ital parts a few years ago and every thing bolts on. But you will need to have the new bearing caps lineboored

good luck with the search for the 1300!! took me 2 years

which is a better alternative to the optimistic, and difficult to install Owen Burton conversion.

Ray whats the problem with rear crank seal kit I thought it was supposed to be OK !

You have to have the rear bearing cap machined flush to the block apparently.

Ray whats the problem with rear crank seal kit I thought it was supposed to be OK !

Firstly:

You have to have the rear bearing cap machined flush to the block apparently.

secondly it relies on the non functional edge of the crankshaft flywheel mounting flange to be free of dings, scores and rust - often that's not the case. Even less likely to be ok if the crank has been machined as this face gets knocked during handling.
Therefore in a lot of cases the flange will need to be skimmed [info from Minor centres, though I'm sure some will only tell you the extra problems (cost) after the work is underway?]
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I expect that a lot of the kits sold end up sitting on a shelf in the garage!