I'm helping a good freind restore his 2nd MGA ... I'm always bugging him about
using one of the spare U20's I have to power his 'A'. Technically it should
fit, same basic lay-out. Forget about the comp. oil pan - cross member is in
the way. 5 speed would be easy as well. For his current car we've adapted a
280Z 5 speed - it fits with little trouble.
As far as costs go... you would have to throw large bags of $$'s at an MG motor
to get anywhere near 100 HP, yet alone the bigger bag of $$ to get near the 150
HP the U20 would put out. The U20 would be a bargain in comparison. A stroked
1600 would be a better bet, or better yet, a modern fuel injected Nissan or
2.0L Ford engine.
Lino B.
SRL-00016
Quoting Adam Bradley <ambradley@frontiernet.net>:
> The MGA uses the BMC B-series engines. These engines are the same
> externally as Datsun J-series, which is much smaller than the R16/U20.
> I'm sure it could be done - heck, anything can be done if you have
> enough $$$ - but it doesn't make much sense. Parts are still more
> readily available for the BMC engines. A swap to an 1800cc MGB engine
> would be a much more realistic change. How about a rotary swap?
>
> C. Halsted wrote:
>
> >I had someone who expressed an interest in buying a U20 and 5spd to put
> into
> >his MGA. his Brit car friends told him it would take lots of cutting and
> >welding to get it in there, maybe as much as anything because the idea of a
> >Japanese engine in a British car was abhorrent to them... anyone have any
> >particular knowlege of engine bay configuration, crossmember, etc.. and
> what
> >would be likely involved in getting the engine to fit in an A? sounds like
> a
> >good swap to me ;-)
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Craig Halsted
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