Is this possible?
what exactly is involved with transplanting a austin/morris/wolsely 1300 engine+gearbox into a mini?
Worth it or not?
Austin 1300 Engine Transplant In A Mini
Started by
mvahora
, May 10 2026 12:39 AM
3 replies to this topic
#2
timmy850
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Up Into Fourth
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Posted 10 May 2026 - 05:09 AM
You’ll need to change:
Diff ratio
Radiator mount
They have an additional engine mount on the timing cover backing plate which can be removed
They are a good option if you can’t find a mini 1275
Diff ratio
Radiator mount
They have an additional engine mount on the timing cover backing plate which can be removed
They are a good option if you can’t find a mini 1275
#3
imack
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Posted 10 May 2026 - 07:29 AM
They're a pretty straightforward swap. Depending on the year of the austin 1300 engine you'll probably need to swap the radiator top mount, the lower one will need to be from the mini though and remove the fan spacer, but very early ones (1967/68) had the mini rad top mount as standard and no fan spacer.
The additional engine mounts on the front plate can be cut off. It is actually possible to fit the larger austin 1300 radiator, but it's very tight. A rod change gearbox is a straight swap into the mini so long as you have the same type of drive shaft joint. The pre 73 remote boxes use a sandwich plate between the diff case and the remote housing. These have bolts sticking out the sides which can cause fitting issues with an lcb. The sandwich plates are rubber bonded to steel, the rubber can fail and I doubt replacements are available. You'll also need to drill and tap the end of the remote housing to take the minis rubber mount. Remote boxes generally have rubber coupling drive shafts, and rod change generally had pot joints, but there was the cross over period where some rod change had rubber couplings, but diff outputs can be swapped to suit. Final drive ratios may be a bit low for 10" wheels. I think earlier 1300's were 3.65:1, but later cars may have been taller. Speedo drive gears may need swing as well. They also had exceptionally heavy flywheels so probably worth fitting the mini one.
The additional engine mounts on the front plate can be cut off. It is actually possible to fit the larger austin 1300 radiator, but it's very tight. A rod change gearbox is a straight swap into the mini so long as you have the same type of drive shaft joint. The pre 73 remote boxes use a sandwich plate between the diff case and the remote housing. These have bolts sticking out the sides which can cause fitting issues with an lcb. The sandwich plates are rubber bonded to steel, the rubber can fail and I doubt replacements are available. You'll also need to drill and tap the end of the remote housing to take the minis rubber mount. Remote boxes generally have rubber coupling drive shafts, and rod change generally had pot joints, but there was the cross over period where some rod change had rubber couplings, but diff outputs can be swapped to suit. Final drive ratios may be a bit low for 10" wheels. I think earlier 1300's were 3.65:1, but later cars may have been taller. Speedo drive gears may need swing as well. They also had exceptionally heavy flywheels so probably worth fitting the mini one.
Edited by imack, 10 May 2026 - 08:37 AM.
#4
mab01uk
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Posted 10 May 2026 - 09:37 AM
The Austin/Morris 1300GT and the upmarket Wolseley/Riley/Vanden Plas versions of the ADO16 1100/1300 range also had the higher spec engines fitted with twin SU Carbs, etc, which were much sought after by Mini owners when the breakers yards were full of rusty 1100/1300's back in the day. The 1300GT engine was very close in spec and performance to the Mk3 Mini Cooper S and pretty much the same as the Innocenti Mini Cooper 1300 engine.
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