Any long time person on this list knows I don't have a Spridget but
I am building a 1934 Singer Le Mans and putting in a 1098 motor into it,
the woodwork on the body is taking longer that I anticipated but its
progressing nicely. There were 300+ of these cars built and my original
motor had a hole in the side of the block big enough for a crankshaft to
come through, because well, it did. I could not find a original motor
and decided to put the 1098 in since I need to make no mods to the
frame, the original Singer motor was 972cc and the Spridget motor is a
perfect fit. I now have a original good block, I just need to have a
crank made somewhere.
I also own a much bigger 1934 1.5 Litre Sports, this car has a
cracked but repairable 6 cylinder motor, it also has some "seeping" in
the water jackets implying very thin water jackets due to rust/corrosion
and that may be a issue when I rebuild it. The big issue with this car
is it is very rare, the estimates are that only 11 were built and only 7
known cars remain so I don't want to butcher it. The estimate I have
for rebuilding this motor along with crack repair and porcelainizing the
water jackets, etc. are 5,000 to 7,000 UK Pounds ($7,500 to $11,000) and
that does not include crating and shipping to the UK, etc, so for the
motor alone I need to budget $10,000 and it likely will be more. I
just don't have that kind of cash hanging around...
Last night my wife and I were talking about it and she asked what the
other motor in the garage was and said why don't you put that in the car
? Now I will NOT destroy what likely is the most original 1.5 left in
the world and I will NOT destroy a car that rare with a the wrong motor,
but she has a point. I have a running (barely, needs a rebuild) 1275
and 3 ribcase gearboxes, 2 should be ok, so for little money and time I
could swap motors while I save up the money for a proper rebuild of the
original motor. I can do the swap without having to drill holes, no
cutting of the Singer frame, no "permanent" mods of the Singer chassis.
Now, the original Singer motor is 6 cylinders, 1,497CC's and put out a
peak of 46BHP, the 1275CC puts out a peak of 62BHP or 75BHP depending on
which web site I look at, so its a smaller motor with more power.
The Singer weights 1 ton, 2 hundreweight, 0 quarters, 14lbs or in
terms most of us understand 2,478lbs. The Spridget weighs 1,575lbs.
So I am putting in a more powerful motor into a 900lb. heavier car,
but I think it would still move the car, right ?
The Spridget motor is of course much lighter than the 6cylinder so
some weight will come off the car, but i am not sure how much.
I am not trying to build a hot rod here, the car never was a hot rod
to begin with, just trying to get the car on the road while I save up
money and get the proper motor rebuilt. My concern is the weight
difference, will the 1275 move the car, I think yes since the car was
originally powered by a larger but much weaker motor.
And no, I am not thinking of a different motor like a 1,500cc MG, I am
thinking 1275 because I have one.
Mike
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