Wide Ratio Gearbox And 1380 Engine Build by AndyMiniMad

7 minute(s) of a 171 minute read

Not much been happening with the 1312 build this week...But in other news...I bought a clubman...yep! Im officially nuts..the wife isnt speaking to me..Haggis is in bits. im trying to build a 1312 at the back of the garage and ive gone and bought another project..its going to be a busy winter...Pics will be along shortly.

The clubman has one of my other engines in it at the moment...I built the 1275 MG metro engine about a18 months ago with the intention of keeping it as a spare, but it somehow found its way into this clubman and has sat in the garage ever since. Any way its coming home now. The guy I bought the car off just never had the time to get it back on the road and ive been pestering him to sell it to me for about a year. so thats it then A very busy time ahead.

11-11-2011

Thats a bit harsh!! The engine is a girl...but the car is a boy...Its confused about its sexuallity...

Does anyone remember that Cooper S cylinder head?

Well its back from the machine shop, they took 20 thou off the face and it came up pretty good...



Except for this...



So its a door stop!!

In other news...my cross pin diff has been giving me a bit of a hard time..built it up 5 times with new and old fiber washers and it still locks up every time I tighten the crown wheel bolts....

So I spoke to john at Guessworks who informs me that sometimes the new pinion gears can be a bugger to lock onto the old output shafts...something to do with the machining...any way the answer is to fit the old pinion gears onto the new diff pins and see if that cures the problem..

Anyone else had this problem..

11-12-2011

Thats me spat out my dummy and chucked the cross pin diff in a box...Its winging its way back to Guessworks as I type this...Fecking thing.. I spoke to martin at MRA this morning and got some good advice, but it still wont turn when the crown wheel bolts are done up, even just finger tight. So bugger it Ive sent it back to get done by the Guru..He will probobly bung it together in five mins and think im a pillock!

Im off to play with the buggy and them off to the pub for the afternoon!! BEER!! the answer to, and cause of all lifes problems...lol..

Thats blown a few cowebs out...Mooocho fun with the buggy!!



Click on the picture to play the vid..Sorry the quallity is rubbish..

And now for a pint..

11-13-2011

Tatties is here...Pics!!



















And also a big trailer load of spare parts which I have not had time to look through yet..

11-16-2011

Got a lookat some of the bits last night...found two 12G940 heads, big valve ones, NICE ....a bit foosty, but its only surface rust and they should come up ok...



I got started with the valve lapping on my spare ported head...I hate this job...



Four done....I got bored so will do the rest tomorrow..

11-17-2011

Ok change of plan for Tatties...the MG engine is coming out and a new build 1380 is going in...spare block is off getting bored and rods being ballanced. bearings should be here tomorrow so a dry build and measurements for how much to skim off the block can be taken.

11-20-2011

Mg metro engine coming out!! The fun begins...

11-21-2011

These arrived last night from Tatties former owner...Nice...





All i need now are the drive flanges and proper bolts...WooHoo...it should stop quite well now..

So here is my first problem with Tatties..The bracket thingy that goes under the clutch resovoir and for holding the engine steady is missing...







So I welded the bottom plate that had come loose and made up a bit of steel I had lying around into a right angle..







Then after some weldy weldy grindy grindy...I drilled a hole for the bolt and hey presto problem solved..











Needs a lick of paint to stop the rust, but its cheeper than buying that premade plate that always rots anyway!!