11 replies to this topic

[bikenutmart]

Am I right in thinking the 1989 1275 metro engine I have for my mini (12HE72102087) will be ok on unleaded? Mart.

[alex-95]

Looks like it is on guess works website. http://www.guess-wor...Tech/engine.htm

[sledgehammer]

http://www.guess-wor...Tech/engine.htm

 

Source Vehicle : 

Metro  Engine type & CC :  A+ 1275 cc Transverse mounted 

Fueling :    Engine features :  95 Ron Unleaded petrol 

Gearbox features :  Std. Ratio Rod Change gearbox with Pot Joints 

 

thanks to guessworks - it looks ok on unleaded -

 

provided it hasn't had a different head - which is possible with any old car

Edited by sledgehammer, 11 October 2015 - 04:53 PM.

[Stevie W]

Hi Mart,

 

Yes, I believe a Metro A+ engine that late would be fitted with hardened valve seats for unleaded.

Hopefully someone else will be along shortly to confirm this!!

 

Cheers, Steve.

[bikenutmart]

Great!! Im a happy bunny, that's saved me a few quid. Mart.( Pretty sure its the original head)

[bikenutmart]

It says police spec with wide ratio gearbox !! Is this good or bad? Mart.

[Spider]

I'll take the Gear Set off your hands!

 

Though may seem a funny thing for me to say, but the wide ratio gear sets aren't really the best for road use under a half decent engine.

[bikenutmart]

Hi Moke Spider, Can you elaborate a bit about the gears, does it mean the gears are tall, and that it will be necessary to slip the clutch on pull away, what diff ratio would be in there? its from a metro with 12 or 13 inch wheels my mini has 10" minilights, would this help with the gearing, sorry for the questions, hope you don't mind. Im quite new to minis, but learning!!!! Mart.

[Spider]

Hi Moke Spider, Can you elaborate a bit about the gears, does it mean the gears are tall, and that it will be necessary to slip the clutch on pull away, what diff ratio would be in there? its from a metro with 12 or 13 inch wheels my mini has 10" minilights, would this help with the gearing, sorry for the questions, hope you don't mind. Im quite new to minis, but learning!!!! Mart.

 

No, the gears are short actually, you'll (almost) no sooner get your foot off the clutch after pulling away in 1st and be reaching for 2nd.

 

In a 'standard' gear set, 1st is 3.5 or 3.6:1. With these 'Wide ratio' it is 4.0:1. and for comparison, the Copper S 'Close Ratio' set was 3.3:1. 2nd gear is also 'short', by the time you get to 3rd, it's almost the same. Top gear in all sets is the same (1:1)

 

If you are sunning a standard spec engine, the wide ratios, while IMO not ideal will be 'livable' but if you are thinking of putting any sort of Cam in the engine, then I recon it would be almost painful, you'd have to ring each and every gear out much higher in the rev range than you'd like to and possibly outside of the useable range of the Cam. They better suit smaller engines (eg, 998) than bigger ones.

 

Having said all that, I use them and love them, but then my 'use' of them is somewhat 'odd' to say the least, they are a great set of gears for off roading as in the lower gears, we can get much lower 'road' speeds while still being in a useable torque area of the rev range. The engines that I sit on top of these have loads of torque from 900 RPM. I look at them as being the closest we can get to 'crawler gears' like the 4WD 'Rock Hopping' guys use (not that we quite go 'rock hopping'!).

 

But, in my Minis (now I think about it, all of them!), I run the stock Cooper S Helical 'Close Ratios' and I find them real nice.

Edited by Moke Spider, 12 October 2015 - 08:13 PM.

[bikenutmart]

Hmm!! Not sure they are for me? I have a complete 998 A+ gearbox, could I use that with the 1275 metro engine, would you be interested in the wide ratio gearset? I plan to rebuild over the winter, wonder why the police used this gearset? am fitting a minspares evo 001 cam manlflow exhaust and hif 44 carb. Can you tell me how I would recognize these gears in the box. Thanks so much for your help, you are a mini genius!! Mart.

[Spider]

In the Wide Ratio (or Twin Line sets as they are usually referred to as), most of the gear teeth will have two grooves across them, like

 

 

forming 'Two Lines' hence the name, Twin line.

 

There are also set that have a single line, known funnily as Single Line sets, these are a bit closer than the Twin line, but still wider than the eariler stock sets.

 

If the teeth are unmarked, you maybe able to read off a part number stamped in to the laygear (that's the gear that has 4 gears joined together on it), the stamped numbers are sometimes hard to see and sometimes they are just not on there at all, in which case you really need to do a tooth count to see what ratios you have and even then, take them apart to see if it is A+ or the early types.

[bikenutmart]

Excellent, Thanks so much. Mart.