>After a Peter Egan kind of life with numerous MGs,
>Sprites, Jensen Healeys and other British roadsters, I
>thought I had put behind me any interest in British
>sports cars, only to have a friend give me a 72
>Spitfire in exchange for doing a head/broken belt job
>on his 944.
>
>(Can you still call someone who gives you a Spitfire a
>friend - especially when it has a hole in the block,
>some leading/trailing edge bonnet/boot lid rust,
>rusted out floorboards, half weathered and half taken
>apart?)
>
>So now I've got the British sports car fever again and
>can't wait to get the light nimble beast back on the
>road.
>
>Anyway, I'm looking for a 1296 cc or 1500 cc engine
>located somewhere close to the area between Lafayette
>LA and San Antonio TX.
>
>Will someone confirm that the later model 1500 engine
>is a straight swap?
It is ... sort of. You'll have to mix and match flywheels and clutch
parts to get your gearbox mated to the engine, I believe, as 1500's
have larger-diameter clutches than earlier motors. Motor mounts and
such, though, are identical AFAIK. Some small amount of work may be
required to adapt whatever carb setup you choose, due to differences
in the way accelerator cables and such are routed. Of course the
carb setup you have now should bolt onto a 1500 with no trouble.
>
>I also noted that someone posted a comment about
>swapping a TR6 6 cyl in a Spitfire - how difficult is
>this?
I have heard of TR6 motors in Spits, which is reasonable given the
similarity of TR6 and GT6 blocks. I've seen GT6 blocks in Spits,
which is a fairly straightforward swap, except you do need a GT6
bonnet. I'm not sure about mating a GT6 motor to a Spit gearbox; I'd
be very hesitant about a TR6 motor going through a Spit gearbox.
>
>Any comments or suggestions on other reasonably easy
>engine/trans swaps would be appreciated.
>
>Although I know it is sacrilege, what about a miata,
>rx-7, or 240sx engine/trans swap?
Saw an RX-7 motor in an MGB once, but was owned & driven buy a guy
who wouldn't exceed the speed limit or even leave a stop light in a
hurry.
Hope this helps.
Dan
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dan Buettner - Des Moines, Iowa - mailto:danb@thelittlemacshop.com
1977 Spitfire, FM64159U, now with an O too. Runs & drives, but shakes
like crazy; needs new tires and a steering/suspension rebuild.
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/gmachine/greenmachine.html
1957 TR3, TS15098L. Needs an O. Undergoing frame-off restoration begun 9/99.
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickndan/TR3/TR3.html
1988 Honda Civic 4WD Wagon. Gets me to work and back home again every day.
No home page. (go figure)
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