Boy, you'd think I'd know when British Leyland started putting the Spit
motor in the Midget, but off hand I don't know which year, whether or
not it coincided with rubber bumpers.
Anyway, the 1500 wasn't the best Spitfire motor, but it wasn't bad.
There were some crank oiling issues and localized hot spots in that
block casting but nothing serious. The 1500 did share the problem
of having the thrust washers fall out if folks didn't pay attention to
wear, just like like the other Spitfire, Herald, GT6, TR6 motors.
The general consensus seems to be that the failure rate of these motors
was higher in the Midgets than the Spitfires for two reasons. First off,
they didn't like having to serve time in an inferior car ;-) But more
important was the basic design difference. In the seperate frame and
body of the Spitfire, there was plenty of breathing room in the engine
bay for the motor.
In the closer confines of the unibody Midgets, keeping cool air flowing
around the block was difficult, so the motors tended to run hotter and
trash more rod bearings, thrust washers and such.
But in general the long stroke of the 1500 motor lends itself to low
and midrange torque better than the other three Spitfire motors ( the
1147, the 1296 and the 1296) and makes a decent street motor, and
as the Killer Spit has demonstrated in the past a decent autocross
engine. But for racing, the small journal 1296 is still the best bet.
Gee, most folks are nodding off, I better shut up now and move on
to other topics.
mjb.
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