Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

I've currently got a 1952 Split Window 4 door sedan than I'm wanting to do a more modern engine conversion to.

Obviously with this I'll require some modification but I'm specifically after engines that have decent power output with minimal modifications.

Happy to have to fabricate somethings to make engine/drivetrain fit but don't want to go overboard.

Surely this has been discussed before somewhere?

The easiest conversion is to fit the 1275cc Midget/Sprite engine and gearbox. The next easiest is to fit the 1275cc Marina/Ital engine with the 1275cc MG Midget/Sprite gearbox.
After that the world is your oyster.

See also:-

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/index.php?page=339

1952 was the year that the A-Series engine was first fitted I believe? Do you have an A-Series engine or the 918cc side valve engine?

If it is an A-Series then you have a choice of the first version of the M1000, 948cc, the second M1000, 1098, or as Phil suggests a 1275 either from the Midget (easy swap, but getting hard to find), or a 1275 from a Marina (slightly more difficult swap, but easier to find). Apart from the 1275 Marina engine, the rest are more or less a straight swap.

Assuming you have the A-Series already, the next decision is the gearbox - the original with the 803 A-Series was a smoothcase box and a long 'wand' as a gearlever. The internals of the 803 box will not put up with much power and the best option is to use the gearbox that matches the engine - the exception being the Marina 1275, where the gearbox will not fit without quite a bit of work.

It might be worth noting that with anything beyond the A-series 1275, such as Zetecs, Fiat Twin Cams, etc, you're going to need to make far more extensive modifications and uprate the suspension and brakes to cope.

Tuned 1098 or 1275 is the easiest and cheapest route.

With ANY engine upgrade on a 52 car you will need to attend to the tyres/wheels/brakes/ suspension/back axle and gearbox before even thinking about the engine. As others have pointed out - a larger capacity A series will be the relatively straight forward choice.