13 replies to this topic

[adam c]

Was browsing ebay as always this morning and found a lot going for 99p ending this afternoon. It was basically lots of mini bits and an engine in pieces. I asked the seller and apparantly the engine was rebuilt many years ago using genuine parts and was never re-assembled afterwards. Evcentually I won the lot for £17 and know that all the other parts are worth well more and there is also a nice walnut dash that may go in my mini so am not too bothered if this engine is no good.
All I want to know is whether the rust shown on the pic is any problem since this engine would be an absolute bargain if it is good. Would it be worth taking it to an engine place to have it refaced (If this is the right word??)
Any help would be great....

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[adam c]

Another shot..

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[Turbo Phil]

Looks pretty rusty round no.4, i would suggest having the block surface ground to ensure gasket reliability.

Phil. :grin:

[Bluemini]

By the looks of it, its a 998 A (not A+) series, and judging by the pistons its low compression too. I wouldnt bother with it. Sell it on and make your £17 back and keep all the other goodies

[adam c]

Cheers...
Wouldn't the engine in my 1971 mini be an A series anyway??
Whats the difference?? Just lower compression??
Thanks very much.....

[Bluemini]

Your engine should be A series, as long as its not been changed to the later A+ type at some point.

The main differences are the later block has more strenghtening ribs and a differnet dizzy.

[adam c]

Cheers again - its should be comin on tuesday so i'll soon see what its like. When you say different dizzy is it a different mounting or is it just a different dizzy itself?? My current engine has a 25D dizzy so this should fit the new engine??
Thanks very much mate.....

[bluebottle]

the a series, and some of the early a+ engines have a dizzy that has a clamp around the base, this clamp is then held onto the block with 2 bolts. these are handy, because you can remove the dizzy without affecting the timing.

the later a+ engines have a dizzy that is held in place by a sort of 'y' shaped clamp held in place by a single bolt. with this method if you take the dizzy out for any reason, make sure you put a mark on the block and the dizzy so you put it back in the same place it came from.

the 25d4 is the older a series dizzy, this was fitted up until the mid 70's i think, and then replaced with the 45d4. the quick way to tell the difference is the caps, the 25 cap is quite rounded, while the 45 cap is a lot squarer looking.


the later a+ dizzy's have wider drive lugs, compared with the 'a' series dizzys.

[adam c]

Cheers mate. My dizzys stamped with 25d so I know its that type. Have just sold loads of stuff on ebay so the gearbox is going in for rebuilding on wednesday and then I should also have the money to have the face of this block skimmed - Is this the right word for it?? - i'm gonna have to ring and ask for a price so it would help if i new what i needed doing!! Any guess's on how much this will cost??
Thanks again :grin:

[Woody]

The block doesnt look verry bad in the pics usualy they will clean up with a bit of emery paper and should only need a surface grind if it is verry badly pitted .

[adam c]

Thanks..
Didn't think you were supposed to use emery paper on it because it has to be really smooth dosen't it?? I'll see if its pitted when i get it, it looks like most of it will come off with a bit of WD and a cloth (I hope). I'll keep you posted.....

[Bluemini]

I use a wire brush in my drill to clean my block faces up, as long as you dont go mad with it, then there is no risk of damage.
If there are any deep digs in the face then get it skimmed, I get mine done for around £25. The best thing to do is ring around your local engineers for prices.

[dklawson]

The reason you generally don't use emory on any bores (brakes, engine, points, etc.) is there is a chance you will pull abrasive off the media and imbed it in the walls. Once stuck like that the carborundum turns your bore into a sander which scores up pistons, seals, rings, etc. On points you aren't supposed to use emory for the same reason except the resulting stuck particle holds the points apart resulting in arcing an quick burning of the contacts.

As mentioned, take the engine to a machine shop and ask for their evaluation of the bores.

[adam c]

Had a go at the engine today and its come up fine. I think it was only surface rust from storage. I used lots of WD and some wire wool to get it shinin without damaging it (i hope). I'm gonna remove all of the bits of wire wool with my parafin blow gun at about 120psi which should shift all the C**p. There was very little rust in the bore so it cleaned out really easy too. Pic below....

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