Morris Minor Owners Club

Anyone know whether a 1.3 engine from a G reg Metro (89/90 year) will drop straight in a minor?

A couple of problems its a Transverse engine with the gearbox slung underneath, so to answer your question no it wont Drop in, JLH have apparently made a kit to fit the Maestro engine but I have heard its a bit pricey £££££, and any 1275cc engine Midget/Marina/Ital will require some alterations and adjustments.

made a kit to fit the Maestro engine

Are we talking crossed purposes here... this is a Metro engine which I think is just an A series with a diff box & exhaust setup... Am I talking complete rubbish??

The Maestro engine is transverse BUT has an 'on-end' gearbox. This engine requires a bit of work (a lot more than the Ital engine) to fit the Minor.

The Metro engine is the same as the Mini/Allegro engine and has an underslung gearbox and different sump/crank/clutch arrangement. It CAN be made to fit but then so can a V8!!

A Metro engine is not worth the effort in making it fit.

Ok that answers that.... Just have a mate who has pulled one from a metro to fit a GTA turbo lump. Thought it may be useful to someone... I can probably get hold of it cheaply if anyone wants the head, carb or whatever... let me know.

According to JLH they use the Maestro donor engine as it has a few improvements over other A-series engines (proper rear crank oil seal etc...)
However their stuff isn't cheap - and yes this is crossed purposed to your question on 1.3 Metro ;-)

and yes this is crossed purposed to your question on 1.3 Metro

Thanks mate; just so long as I know

As I said if anyone wants any bits off it now is the time to shout.. it'll be in the scrappy soon enough!

According to JLH they use the Maestro donor engine as it has a few improvements over other A-series engines (proper rear crank oil seal etc...)

Yes, like they are available new and VERY cheap to buy apparently (according to the man himself!)

Would anyone here know if the head would be any good on my Ital 1300 engine ?
It needs reboring and new seals all round.... so the head / valves might as well get the treatment too ... a 1990 head sounds a much better start point than a 1978 one !

The head should fit, no problem. In fact I have a 1300 Metro head on my Ital engine.

The Maestro engine

Does this mean you can use the 1.6 or 2.0 or are they a different beast entirely?

Jim, let me know if you want the head, can probably get the manifold, carb & anything else you might want too... in fact it'd probably be better if you just picked up the wholde engine if at all possible... I don't know if he'll want money for it but shouldn't be too much if he does...

No the 1.6 and 2.0 are COMPLETELY different engines to the 1.3. You can only interchange A-series engine bits for A-series engine bits!

1990 head sounds a much better start point than a 1978 one !

Jim I got a 30,000 mile 1993 unleaded Mini head for my Midget engine and it still has the bypass outlet so its just a straight swap and much cheaper than converting the original head as it only cost £20:00.

Presumably the head off this 1.3 Metro needs work before it would fit our 1098? Is this one of the heads that needs pockets machining in it??

Presumably the head off this 1.3 Metro needs work before it would fit our 1098? Is this one of the heads that needs pockets machining in it

It is probably a 12G940 and you may have to machine pockets in the BLOCK or have the valves recessed.

Is this one of the heads that needs pockets machining in it??

Possibly, also if it does not have the bypass hose you will have to change the water pump and maybe do a mod for the heater valve, and remember lots of Metro heads are not unleaded, I think the engine number ends in an `E` if its unleaded otherwise you need to pop a valve and have a close look at the seat to see if you can see an insert.

If its a 89/90 engine then it will be unleaded as the A-series went lead free in 89.