Milwaukee Midget

[Milwaukee Midget]

Well, that worked.  Looks like the 1275 will be the starting point.  Leverage is my friend.

Got the VD off.   Perhaps I should clarify that statement, the Vibration Damper . . . yes, that’s better. 

Crank looks great all the way around.  The cam, on the other hand, looks like a George Jones crew-cut, circa 1963, with a bit more oil.  Didn’t surprise me – the early ‘70’s in Britain were not known for their high standards when it came to castings and forgings.  The tappets look like somebody maliciously took after them with a center punch.


APT makes a hardened replacement with a phosphate coating, so that will go on the shopping list.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Debriefing - Progress on the temporary 1275 is as follows -

Cam off to Oregon for a regrind
Crank at the shop for a polish
Rod bolts came in today - Rods are being sized and shotpeened
Block goes in next week for boring, decking, alignment, hone
Gaskets, seals - ordered and/or in transit
When the crank is done, and we're sure of the bores, I'll be ordering bearings and pistons - probably early next week.
Head - TBD  

Captain Chrispy, over and out.

Oh, yeah - tappets arrived today, too.

[4-barrel Mike]

You've seen this haven't you??  1500cc Turbo Midget project:



http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?3,1291166,1291166#msg-1291166

Mike

[Milwaukee Midget]

Hey, Mike -

It seems the MG Experience site has been down for a few days.  Some server issue, I've been told.  I will check it out when it's back up, and thanks for the link.

Earlier I mentioned that the head was "TBD".  The determination has been made.  Picked up a Longman GT head off of E-bay today.  This head will do duty this September on the 1275 block, and next year on the 970.  Richard Longman raced Minis in Europe for years, and started his company in the early '70's.  They recently closed.  His heads are world renown.  This picture comes to us from the seller.


The intake valves are 1.48, which is about as big as one can go in a BMC A head without offsetting the valve guides.  I'll clean it up when it arrives, send it out for a shave and post some more pics.

Oooooh - I'm all excited!   

[Tzoom]

Just some gee whiz info.  When I was stationed in England I was a member of the Austin Healey club.  At one of our meetings we were invited to a new member's house to see his collection.  This was one of his cars.

http://www.williamsandpritchardregister.co.uk/speedwellstream.htm

[Milwaukee Midget]

Tzoom - Thanks for the link.  You look at the doors, the cowl, and the hole in the rocker panel for the jack, and it's pretty clear what that streamliner started out as.

There's a fellow I've met, Richard Rooks, who lives here in the Milwaukee area.  He and my wife used to work together a few years ago, and he has one of the Speedwell Sebring Sprites the were built around 1959-60.  I've been told that it's one of only two here in the US.  Speedwell also sold power parts for BMC stuff in the '60's.  In some ways, Speedwell was to Austin and MG what Holman-Moody was to Ford.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Update - steady by jerks.

I actually have an appointment to finally get the Midget in for the cage.  Saturday AM, it will be heading over to Skeeter's.  He's been REALLY busy, but the next pic of the chassis will have bars. 

Timing on this is great, because I need the space in the garage to prep the MGB for summer.  The tensioner pully plate bolts broke off of the supercharger system on the B, and I had to order up some fabricated spacers from Moss.  If I don't get it running before the weather turns nice, Mrs. Midget will be very angry with me.  In order to extract the broken screws, I have to raise the engine.  God forbid it be easy.

Received a call from Northwest Import Parts - my cam is done.  It's not a huge cam - .295 lift w/ 264 duration - a strong cam for a street motor - again, a temporary engine.  I'm having him hold it until the block is finished.  I want to order my pistons and bearings from them, so I'll wait and to have freight combined.

Rods and crank are supposed to be done - need to get over there and pick 'em up.

And the head should arrive Friday.  Still waiting on the wheels . . .

[hotschue]

That's progress!!!!  Are you using any 948 stuff??

Udo

[Milwaukee Midget]

Hey, Udo -  Decided to use the 1275 in a stock configuration this year, and build the short-stroke 970 on the other 1275 block for next year.  If your interested in a 948 block, I'll mail it to you.  In fact, that's how I received it - USPS!

And no wheels yet . . . 

[hotschue]

Chris, Thanks for the offer, just trying to give my stuff away.  Think I have a lightened/knife edge 948 crank over at the shop.  I had it maged no cracks but haven't seen it for a while.  May be going to Road America in May could drop it off.  If you have a use I'll look for it....

Yes, I have my wheels finished will post some pics over the weekend....think they turned out pretty well.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Gorgeous day, Saturday.  Rented a trailer and took the Midget over to Skeeter's (FINALLY!).  He'll have it for some time - it's a case where he'll be putting the cage in while he's working around his other jobs.  Hoping to have it back home by Memorial Day at which point I can put the drivetrain in.


Funny thing about the trailer - the U-Haul folks say my T-Bird is incapable of pulling their car trailer, but they'll rent me a 6x12, which weighs about 500 lb's more, and if I wanted to, I could fill it with 3000 lb's of gravel (?!?!)


Head arrived Friday, I'm going to clean it up today and snap some pics - some aspects on this head might be of interest to those of you who are doing shared intake ports.  Dropped off the block Saturday at C&S for a clean and mag.  Left the rods - after the block checks out, we'll determine overbore and I'll have the the pistons and cam bearings drop-shipped and pressed in.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Took the valves out of the head and cleaned it up a tad this afternoon.  A bit of a comparison between a stock head and the Longman head

Pretty clearly, the intake and exhaust ports are bigger on the Longman, which is what one would expect.

Larger intake valve (1.48) and stock size exhaust (1.3).  Not a lot of room between the two valves on the Longman – something I need to be aware of.  The casting is solid underneath, but heat buildup here can cause the seat to warp a bit.  I'm not going to worry about it this year, but a set of Rimflow valves with confirmation grooves are on the shopping list for next year.


Top pic is the Longman – Bottom is stock.  The stock head has a huge boss that the valve guide sits in.  From the outward face of the intake valve seat to the lowest point of the stock casting, the depth is 1.15”.  The same location on the Longman reads 1.56.  That's a lot of restriction removed, and the bullet nosed valve guide doesn't hurt, either.  

Note the intake port on the modified head.  The casting is very thin between the widest point of the port and the hole that the pushrods pass through.  If you look down the pushrod holes on either side of the intake port, you'll notice inserts that have been pressed in.  This allowed the intake port diameter to be taken out from ~ .94 stock to 1.2.  Maybe that's an old trick that I just learned about today, but by golly, I think it's pretty darned crafty.
So far, I'm pleased with my purchase.

[Milwaukee Midget]

It may be unseasonably warm today, but it’s like Christmas here in Milwaukee.  Seems like Santa drives a Fed Ex truck.



Of course, the head arrived last week, and yesterday I picked up the rods and crank from the shop.  They did a straightening on the crank - .002 out – and put a nice polish on the journals.  Standard size, loose end of the tolerances, but no cutting necessary.  Also, they resized the rods, shotpeened them, and installed new ARP bolts.  I dropped off the block last week, and it magged out as good, so we’re going a .020 overbore, an alignment hone, and decking to flat.  Less is more.

Ordered up the bearings, bolts and pistons today – they're shipping with the camshaft, and they should all arrive next week.  When the block is done, also next week, I’ll drag it home, tap the oil galleries for new plugs, and give it a thorough cleaning and paint.  I’ll need to drop it back off for the cam bearings to be installed and the wrist pins pressed in.

Parts are accumulating – crank sensor, manifold (not shown – and hey, I’m looking for a 45 DCOE – see “Items Wanted”, or PM me), rockers, gaskets, lifters.  The Midget should be back home by Memorial Day, and I’m hoping to have the engine assembled and ready to drop in over the holiday weekend.

Next week - "some assembly required".

[Tzoom]

I wonder what David Vizard would think of this engine build.

[Graham in Aus]

Hi, looks like it's all coming together! The head looks great, Longman did a nice piece, he's retired now I hear 

I spy a thermostat sleeve? and are the seals sitting on the inlet guides or are they a different material?

As you are looking for a Weber, I guess the trigger is purely for ignition, what system? Mega Jolt? I'm looking for some of that ford 4 cylinder EDIS stuff myself!

Rockers look good too, where were they from (if I may ask!)

Keep it up, enjoying the build!