owelly
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 04:39 PM |
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EFI for a Midget?
Have a chuckle to yourselves about all the dwarf referances.......etc.....
Here's the thing.......I gave a chum an MG Midget and instead of spending a weekend welding in the new panels I had already bought for it, he
ordered a new shell. As you do. And whilst he was on the phone he ordered a type 9 kit......I suggested that he should just fit a Zetec but he likes
the idea of keeping the crappy 1.5 Trumpet engine.
These engine are known to be a bit feeble due to the three main bearing crank so instead of looking for more power, I've decided to look for
reliability and economy. So the twin SUs are heading for the hedgeback and I'm contemplating EFI.
So what are my (cheap) options? I say cheap because I don'y want my chum spending a couple of hundred quid for something that may not work and I
like the idea of making stuff fit.
Is there any usable bits off a similar sized engine that van be used? ie, find a random 1.4/1.5 litre engine a whip the fuelling and sparks off it? Or
do I need to go MS and perhaps fit a Lumention to get the trigger signal?
Any suggestions will be thankfully contemplated unless you're suggesting fitting TBs to Janette Kranky.....
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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g.gilo
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:04 PM |
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midge
reliability and economy i think you will strugle to beat su carbs on both counts?
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britishtrident
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:07 PM |
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Not really a lot wrong with SUs as long as they are not the waxstat type in which case a kit is available to remove the waxstat jet and replace it
with a normal type.
There is a lot wrong with the 1500 Triumph engine really bad for bottom end problems. The best solution is a BMC A series out a Marina or a K
series.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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Humbug
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:08 PM |
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K series + Type 9 has been done a few times on Midgets. Even the 1.4 is OK - got one in my seven 
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MkIndy7
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:10 PM |
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I'd stick with the SU's aswell,
Did put a Megajolt on a 1500 Spit with SU's and it pulls like a train!
Rock steady idle at about 800rpm.. that quiet you think you've stalled and can pull away at 30mph in 4th no problem!.
Has also returned over 50mpg cruising through Europe
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owelly
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:29 PM |
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Hmmm. And there was me thinking the SUs would be like the ones on my Mini that needed setting-up everytime the weather changed and were always a
compromise. You could get the fuelling spot-on at tick-over, part throttle or flat out but never all three!!
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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MkIndy7
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 05:41 PM |
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Think I remember the mini had a very funny Siamese port arrangement or something odd about it.
[Edited on 26/2/10 by MkIndy7]
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Neville Jones
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 06:37 PM |
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Last of the Rover Minis came with EFI. Maybe a manifold and setup from one of those would help. Some single injector, last were multi, but not
sure.
Cheers,
Nev.
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austin man
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 07:12 PM |
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stick a webber on it. I would personally trash the 1500 Triumph lump and either keep it retro wih an A series you can get a bellhousing for the type 9
gearbox. A good a series will put a hell of a smile on your face. I had a good 1098 in my Austin A35 running a kent cam and K&N and pig port head
from an automatic it went like stink
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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fatbaldbloke
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| posted on 26/2/10 at 08:13 PM |
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You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, my mother used to say .... the Triumph engine is the motoring equivalent of a sow's
ear. It really isn't a decent place to start.
The Rover K series transplant has been done a few times and as I recall it was well written up in a series of articles in the Midget and Sprite Club
magazine a few years back. I think that's the route I'd go.
(Although I also know of at least two examples of a V8 being squeezed in!)
[Edited on 26/2/10 by fatbaldbloke]
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 28/2/10 at 07:47 AM |
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1500 engine can be as reliable as any other"older" engine, just needs careful building and avoiding the VERY nasty cheapo crank bearings
that are out there. Plus decent oil (not the latest synthetics, they don't have the correct additives because they kill cats) and ideally a
thermostatic oil cooler, though I am investigating fitting a water/oil cooler from a golf or similar...
The engines can produce a reloable 100bhp, or the std SU's. May well need the attention of an old chap with a rolling road, plus the carbs in
decent condition. Megajolt def a good idea, although an easier route is the 123 distributor, but not as flexible.
A head skim plus an earlier profile camshaft (the mk3 spit profile can be had for the 1500) plus a good exhaust manifold. Makes a good package as long
as you dont keep it at more than 5500rpm for long! Full engine balancing does help too.
Having said all that, and having above engine in my everyday car, my spitfire past (rolled) and future (underway) are Zetecs!
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 28/2/10 at 12:48 PM |
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Like the others I'm not convinced the effort expended on buying, fitting and calibrating a full EFI system to the Triumph engine would be
worthwhile, other than for interests sake of course.
I would put your efforts into persuading him to go for a K Series or Zetec (which is heavier but probably a little cheaper as no special bellhousing
is needed). You have the chop out the gearbox cross member to fit the Type 9 so he might as well put some new engine mounts in whilst the angle
grinder and welder is handy  The OEM injection system can definitely be kept with the K, and probably with the Zetec also.
If he's really keen on keeping the vibrating, breathless boat anchor* then perhaps consider a set of bike carbs if you hate SUs. Replacing the
clockwork ignition for a mapped system (e.g. megajolt) would certainly gain some some economy and performance and is reasonably simple compared to a
full EFI system. Spending some time on the head with a die grinder would help the terminal asthma at anything over ~5000 RPM (though sustained high
RPM will turn this engine into a fragmentation grenade without bottom end work).
EDIT: You might want to tell him to look at the telescopic front suspension conversions. The top arms on a Midget are terribly spindly things that
flex around and really contribute to the Midgets nervous handling, especially under braking. The conversion comes with proper triangulated wishbones
that replace the lever arm damper. Quite pricey though, and something that could be 'locosted' fairly easily. Also consider telescopic
conversion for the rear axle, quite a simple and cheap conversion, and a panhard rod is also a good idea.
*having driven both a 1275 A series Midget and a 1500, the A series is a much nicer engine IME, though obviously less powerful.
[Edited on 28/2/10 by MikeRJ]
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owelly
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| posted on 7/3/10 at 08:49 PM |
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Cheers for replies folks. The Trumpet engine is staying. I'll look into MJ and perhaps some bike tooters.
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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britishtrident
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| posted on 18/3/10 at 02:23 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by owelly
Hmmm. And there was me thinking the SUs would be like the ones on my Mini that needed setting-up everytime the weather changed and were always a
compromise. You could get the fuelling spot-on at tick-over, part throttle or flat out but never all three!!
That'll be the Waxstat type
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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ettore bugatti
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| posted on 18/3/10 at 07:31 PM |
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The Bosch motronic found on the 1.3/1.6 VW and Vauxhalls is pretty cheap to get parts and the mapping of the ECU should quite right.
The downside is that the very simple ones are monopoint injection.
I would stay as well with SU carbs or some nice Keihins/Mikunis from a nice bike.
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