12 replies to this topic

[minimender]

I've seen a lot of questions recently about mixing and matching parts. As you know I have only recently joined the forum and I must say I am enjoying it.
Anyway, to put your mind at ease if mixing Mini and Metro A+ parts;-
All Mini A+ / Metro 1275 and 1300 A+ engine blocks are the same , this includes the Metro Turbo.
All the A+ Mini 998 and Metro 998 A+ engine blocks are the same.
All the A+ camshafts from 1275/1300/998 engines are interchangable.
All the inlet/exhaust manifolds from all engines are interchangable.
All cylinder heads will fit on to all blocks. Some people say that a 1275 head on a 998 block will not as the valves will clout the block. Well I have done it many times without problems, as long as you dont use high lift cams then you can rev the bo11ocks of it , I have.
I have been mixing and matching blocks ,heads ,cams and inlet/exhaust manifolds for years trying to get power on a tight budget. When I say years I mean over forty years, of fiddling and twiddling and making mistakes. Dont be afraid to try anything and dont listen to the men selling the tuning goodies as mainly they are after your wedge.  soapbox.gif   280bytes   1 downloads
Happy Tuning
Pete
Except auto blocks

Edited by minimender, 03 January 2008 - 03:45 PM.

[Ethel]

That might need a few caveats

For example, the camshaft needs to match the oil pump and all camshafts aren't the same length.

I'd generally agree with your have a go approach only A series engines are getting rarer and mistakes aren't easily sorted by an afternoon in the local scrappers like the good old days.


oh 'n welcome to TMF

Edited by Ethel, 03 January 2008 - 12:07 AM.

[minimender]

That might need a few caveats

For example, the camshaft needs to match the oil pump and all camshafts aren't the same length.

I'd generally agree with your have a go approach only A series engines are getting rarer and mistakes aren't easily sorted by an afternoon in the local scrappers like the good old days.


oh 'n welcome to TMF

Ta.
I think you will find that I said all A+ bits.... and all the A+ cams are the same including the length.
I stated A+ on purpose because the pre A+ blocks did use diferent cam drives but as long as you matched the cam to the oil pump even those are interchangable.
Some oil pumps have different fixings but will still fit.

Edited by minimender, 03 January 2008 - 12:12 AM.

[Dan]

Some people say that a 1275 head on a 998 block will not as the valves will clout the block. Well I have done it many times without problems, as long as you dont use high lift cams then you can rev the bo11ocks of it , I have.

Depends on the head gasket you use and to some extent the type of rocker. Cooper S forged rockers push a little further than sintered rockers despite not being high lift. The exact 1275 head spec makes a difference too and there are quite a lot of different types all made with the same casting number so if you don't know what you are looking at you can't tell them apart. Also depends on the care taken in the build. It can be done certainly but if you get it wrong it costs a lot.

Not all oil pumps will fit all blocks, A+ or not but who would use a second hand oil pump anyway when brand new ones are so badly made that they are nearly worn out?

Edited by Dan, 03 January 2008 - 12:16 AM.

[minimender]

Some people say that a 1275 head on a 998 block will not as the valves will clout the block. Well I have done it many times without problems, as long as you dont use high lift cams then you can rev the bo11ocks of it , I have.

Depends on the head gasket you use and to some extent the type of rocker. Cooper S forged rockers push a little further than sintered rockers despite not being high lift. The exact 1275 head spec makes a difference too and there are quite a lot of different types all made with the same casting number so if you don't know what you are looking at you can't tell them apart. Also depends on the care taken in the build. It can be done certainly but if you get it wrong it costs a lot.

Not all oil pumps will fit all blocks, A+ or not.

I agree that there are a lot of different castings but I am sure that they are all the same thickness before any planing is done (69.9mm).
I have used 1275 MG head on 998 with 1.5 rockers but lost power !! so clearance there if not better performance in that case.
I have fitted three bolt pumps to four bolt blocks and vice versa, maybe I was lucky and didn't get a mismatch but they all fitted and worked for me.
There is no problem with sticking a 998 Metro head and cast manifolds onto your Mini, even the downpipes will fit snugly under the car and it is a far better set up than a Minis.
There may be the odd mismatch but I've never come across one on A+ engines.

[minimender]

All cylinder heads will fit on to all blocks. Some people say that a 1275 head on a 998 block will not as the valves will clout the block. Well I have done it many times without problems, as long as you dont use high lift cams then you can rev the bo11ocks of it , I have.

Must say I wasn't thinking when I wrote this because what I meant to say was as long as you dont use high lift rockers you will be OK because as I remember you cannot increase the lift of the cam because it wont fit through the block when you try to fit it.
The term High lift cam actually means a longer duration cam or increased opening and closing rates due to the way the cam is ground so I stand corrected.
Anyway , as long as you haven't ground a silly amout off the head face then the valves will not touch the block so no problem. But there is no point in doing it unless you intend to race and are going to fit a wild cam and big carburettors because all I have ever succeeded in doing is loosing all the low down torque and pushing the power up to around 4000 to 7000 which ruins the engine for road use.

[Jammy]

All the inlet/exhaust manifolds from all engines are interchangable.

Another Caveat:

No point in using an inlet manifold from a small bore engine on a large bore. Similarly, large bore carbs and manifolds won't do much for performance on a small bore engine.

Plus, later HIF carbs are four stud, and HS carbs are two stud, you can still probably mix and match, but make sure the throat size of the carb matches the inlet manifold throat size, and that the size of carb is appropriate to the engine size.

[minimender]

All the inlet/exhaust manifolds from all engines are interchangable.

Another Caveat:

No point in using an inlet manifold from a small bore engine on a large bore. Similarly, large bore carbs and manifolds won't do much for performance on a small bore engine.

Plus, later HIF carbs are four stud, and HS carbs are two stud, you can still probably mix and match, but make sure the throat size of the carb matches the inlet manifold throat size, and that the size of carb is appropriate to the engine size.

Dont think anyone is going to stick an 850cc manifold on to a 1275 but the point is you can if you want to.

Yes you can put two stud carbs on four stud manifolds and vice versa, you have to unscrew two studs and just leave the two that you want, the point again is that they are all interchangable . Larger HS carbs ( inch+seven eights etc) were four stud anyway.

You can stick the dashpots off HIF onto HS carbs and vice versa, I know because I have done it many times when money was tight and I had to build one good carb out of several.

What I'm trying to get across is that for instance, an Austin 1300Gt (1972) is the same engine as the 1972 Cooper S, or a 1.0 litre Metro city motor is a slightly upgraded 998 Mini engine and heads manifolds gearboxes etc are all interchangable.
I know the early 'S' engines had sodium filled exhaust valves etc but British Leyland soon put a stop to all that when they took over.

These are things that I was never told as a lad and I found out the expensive way like when the 1275GT was first launched everybody raved about it being a detuned 'S' but in fact it was a standard Austin/Morris 1300 engine. You could sell any 1275 head as a GT one as long as it was black.

Someone somewhere is going to pick out a minor detail difference and prove me wrong but overall the majority of parts are interchangable, look at the list of cars on the packing when you buy parts, it will fit, Mini, Metro, Allegro, Maestro, Austin, Morris, Riley, Wolseley etc. etc..

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Rant over

[Jammy]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to nit pick or anything, and I understand that on a basic level you were getting at the point that most parts are interchangable to a point that they will bolt on to nearly any block, etc. But, some people reading this won't know that the manifold throat sizes are different, they will try to put a any old manifold on an engine, and then wonder why it doesn't run too well.

We get people of all levels of experience and technical ability on the forum, therefore we do have to explain things to the Nth degree, frustrating though it can be at times.

[mini_lad_deacon]

Can anything off a metro 1275 AUTO , go onto a 998+ engine to make it better...

[Ethel]

Very likely, are they both A+?

[minimender]

Can anything off a metro 1275 AUTO , go onto a 998+ engine to make it better...

I'd say no, anything 1275 would be too big on the port size side and you would loose torque if you fitted heads or manifolds, or carb for that matter.
Everything will fit but best leave it.
The distibuter may be a good swap if you intend putting an LCB and K+N on for instance but it depends on the dizzy you have and the 1275 one as they are not all the same spec.
British leyland did some High compression engines and some economy engines which had different spec dizzys.
The best way to get the best from it is to get it set up right and make sure the timing chain isn't slack (fit new one) you would be suprised how much power is lost from a 998 through general wear and tear and with only about 38/40 horses to start with every extra one counts.

[minimender]

Can anything off a metro 1275 AUTO , go onto a 998+ engine to make it better...

Tell you what you can do if on a budget.
If you have the 1275 auto exhaust system and it is a twin downpipe system from the manifold the that is a cast LCB.
Like this one  Metro_Manifold.jpg   146.25K   0 downloads


The system will fit and you will have to shorten it and take out the middle box etc maybe fit a big bore.
This is an early Metro exhaust system
 Metro_Exhaust.jpg   100.93K   0 downloads


You can also use the inlet manifold but put your carb on it with the metro air filter set up.
What you have then is a lovely exhaust note from the lcb , you have a big bore exhaust manifold, maybe not ideal but you have one. the inlet will work fine with your carb and you may see a few extra horse power as the metro air filter housing is built to handle about 60 bhp.
You can drill large holes in the outer edge of the filter housing to make it noisy and it will flow as good as a K+N for zero cost.

This is what I would do to make a nice burbling exhaust note if I had no cash and some parts and I would hope to gain a few horses but who knows.
I'm not advising you to do this as the insurance company cant tell the difference and it wouldn't be fair on them also it is a lot of work for what could be no gain in power.