Milwaukee Midget

[Rex Schimmer]

Chris (it is Chris, right?)
Let me apologize for the "Eric" call, must be my addled 70 year old brain, maybe I had just gotten up from a nab, what ever! If we do ever get together at the salt you can make me drink your special beer made with bilge water.

Your project is now in the "let's spend a lot to gain a little" phase. It may be time as Fordboy says to consider a change in "lumps".

Rex's corollary to Murphy's law: If you have a 50/50 chance of being right you will always be wrong!

Rex

[wheelrdealer]

Rex, but at 50/50 once wrong under your rule the second time around you have 100% chance of being right.

Anything I can go in two trys is a victory in my world.

BR

[Milwaukee Midget]

Rex, no apology necessary.  I'll buy you a good beer, and after a few, I'll probably answer to just about anything. 

The K-series is a legitimate swap into the Midget in GT.  For that matter, so would a Magnette OHC 6 from the 1930s, or the XPAG engine from the T cars, any number of Triumph or Rover engines, and probably even a Ford Cortina engine, seeing as they owned MG/Rover at one time.  British Leyland owned Coventry, so if I DID win the lottery, I could likely put a Coventry Climax engine in it and still make a case for legitimacy. 

The K was available in MGs in Britain, and was the backbone of the failed MG EX255 attempt in the late 1990's.  Made a nice photo op for Andy Green, though.

Problems with it are the unusual sandwich construction and a notoriety for being unable to hold a head gasket.

Biggest stumbling block for me is finding the DOHC 1100 stateside.  They were never imported to the US, so acquiring one is a problem.  Destroking it to 1,000 cc - well, I've got a crank guy.  Might be able to make the transmission line up, but if I'm going all in, there are better options.

But there ARE HP parts available for them in GB.

 

[manta22]

Darn! I should have bought that Coventry-Climax engine that a guy offered me for $60 back in the Eighties!

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Milwaukee Midget]

Darn! I should have bought that Coventry-Climax engine that a guy offered me for $60 back in the Eighties!

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

I doubt you could get the cam bearings for $60.00 today. 

[Jack Gifford]

Here's an O-ring cross-section sketch from a page of my notes dated 1987(!) as I was first building my blown-alky hemi V8 (I'm too lazy to re-do a more elegant drawing). I'm posting it in hopes that it will help you understand the essence of sealing via an O-ring with a receiver groove. Note that the O-ring itself doesn't actually get [directly] "clamped" between the block and head- it merely serves to deform the copper gasket to create the labyrinth-type seal against combustion pressures. Any other style of O-ring use (sans receiver grooves) is not the same fundamental scheme.

These dimensions (grooves and O-riing) work well for a range of gasket thickness from .020" to .040". I used thicknesses throughout this range over the years that I competed with the engine, as availability of copper gaskets changed. I initially acquired a large sheet of .024" dead-soft copper and built punches/dies to make my own gaskets, since nobody was offering Pontiac gaskets with round bore holes then.

I can't imagine you'd need to worry about .020" deep receiver grooves in your head.

[grumm441]

Yep
We have "o" ringed cylinders , and try as hard as he can , Goggles hasn't popped a head gasket on it yet
G

[Milwaukee Midget]

Jack, thanks!  I'll take a drawing with clarity over a CAD print-out almost any day.

Yep
We have "o" ringed cylinders , and try as hard as he can , Goggles hasn't popped a head gasket on it yet
G

We're only at 9.6 static . . .

I have more compression on my lower vertebrae.

[Crackerman]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-Midget-1500-Triumph-Spitfire-1500-Cylinder-Head-Complete-No-Cracks-/331013019504?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d11e9d770&vxp=mtr

i dont know much at all about bmc engines. or if this head fits your 1.0L or not... but it is a 4 cylinder, and has 4 ports for intake and exhaust.
surely it has better cylinder distribution for air/fuel mixture.

then there is this guy, most likely makes it illegal for your class
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crossflow-Cylinder-Head-Austin-Healey-Sprite-MG-Midget-/230620025017?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35b20650b9&vxp=mtr

[Milwaukee Midget]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-Midget-1500-Triumph-Spitfire-1500-Cylinder-Head-Complete-No-Cracks-/331013019504?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d11e9d770&vxp=mtr

i dont know much at all about bmc engines. or if this head fits your 1.0L or not... but it is a 4 cylinder, and has 4 ports for intake and exhaust.
surely it has better cylinder distribution for air/fuel mixture.

then there is this guy, most likely makes it illegal for your class
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crossflow-Cylinder-Head-Austin-Healey-Sprite-MG-Midget-/230620025017?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35b20650b9&vxp=mtr

The 1500 head is a completely different animal.  That's the old Standard/Triumph Herald engine - a decent enough engine for its time, but even more expensive to develop than the BMC.

Now the 7 port cross-flow head is based on the Weslake design, but I can't seem to confirm it as a factory design with the integrated Weber manifold.
On the other hand . . .




This head does have a factory casting number and raised intake ports.  I suppose if I really pushed it, I could get SCTA to approve it, but then I'd have to buy one and have a cam made for it - the sequence is different than stock - and I understand they're a bit fragile in the valve seat area.

Maybe I'm painting myself into a corner on this, but the two options I'm seeing are either a destroked K or continued development of the 5 port.

[Crackerman]

That head sure is pretty compared to the 5 port!
surely valve seat areas can be addressed by a competent machine shop/head rebuild shop.
and a cam really is kind of miniscule in the grand scheme of things (cheaper than a crank for a destroked k series)

still gonna cost an arm, but may save the leg...

like this k series?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-ZR-TF-160-VVC-K-SERIES-1-8-ENGINE-30-000-2000-2006-LOW-MILES-/321195850998?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4ac8c3bcf6&vxp=mtr

or is it too new?
and two more
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-ZR-TF-160-VVC-K-SERIES-1-8-ENGINE-14-000-VERY-CLEAN-AND-RARE-LOW-MILEAGE-/370833623661?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5657680a6d&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MG-ZR-TF-160-VVC-K-SERIES-1-8-ENGINE-51-000-2000-2006-/321044464474?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4abfbdc35a&vxp=mtr

[Milwaukee Midget]

A Formula 2 vintage casting like that is probably going to cost in the neighborhood of 5K as it sits. 

I've often said, "It's all a grand experiment".

That head would turn this into a 5 grand experiment.

Additionally, it's not clear that the angled intake ports would accommodate an effective manifold that would clear the hood and fender of the MG.  These were used by the Cooper Formula Junior factory teams, and the intakes just hung out in the breeze.  To construct a manifold that would fit carbs or injectors under the hood of the Midget would require a whole lot of flow bench time, modeling up different configurations, building prototypes.  I think it would be a fun project, and it would be interesting and educational, but even if it might produce 125 hp per liter, there are more cost effective options.

[Milwaukee Midget]

The K-series engines you found were the 1.8 litre units.  I need to find the DOHC 1.1, or even the SOHC 1.1.  Taking a 1.8 down to 1 litre would be even too radical for my tastes!

[Crackerman]

But the rod ratio would be phenominal!!! (Insert sarcasm) and let you make some high rpm at a safer piston speed!!! (End sarcasm)

[Crackerman]

So something like this then?
This ebay.co.uk is pretty cool

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171114753904?redirect=mobile
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-MG-METRO-200-214-1-1-1-4-8V-K-SERIES-CYLINDER-HEAD-LDF10231-/171111804596?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27d70eeeb4

They are being sold by same guy, maybe he can make a package deal?
Sorry if that first one doesnt work, trying to do this on my phone.