Should I take the Plunge?

[Dadandson]

I am a very happy MG Midget owner with a unique opportunity. I can get a rolling 68 or 70, I am not sure of the age, Spitfire. It has no motor or trans. I have a spare, and good running, A-series 1275 with a trans from my 74 Midget. Does anyone know if this will fit in the Spitfire? My knowledge has been contained pretty much to MG's.

 

[Adrio]

From what I have been told MG itself did the opposite. The 1275 was killed because it couldn't make enough hp with the emmissions stuff, so they put the spit engine in. A friend of mine put the Spitfire engine and O/D tranny into his MG Midget so I would assume it works the other way, though I would wait for someone with direct knowledge and/or a Spitfire person to comment.

 

[billspit]

I know squat about Midgets, but I thought the intake and exhaust were on the opposite side of the engine from a Spitfire. Might not be all that easy of a swap. If I got this car, i would look for a small crank 1296 and associated transmission. Shouldn't be all that hard to find.

 

[jessebogan]

It probably *COULD* be done, but it would be far from a bolt in. You would have to fabricate adaptors for motor mounts, probably the trans mount, and so on. If you like the Spitfire, hunt up the appropriate engine and trans. In the end it would be simpler.

 

[Dadandson]

The 1500 motor in the Spitfire is the same as the 75 MG Midget and on. The 1275 has the exhaust and intake on the drivers side. Never thought of that. Any other motor swaps from say Datsun or Mazda that will fit? I own a machine shop in Arizona and am pretty handy when it comes to metal machining or fabrication.

 

[billspit]

I've always wanted to do a hotted up Datsun engine with a five speed into a Spit. Probably not the easiest thing, because I think the A series Datsun was developed from the A series MG engine. The good cyl head for the Datsun 1500 was not available in the US. They have to be imported and cost some bucks. The US version had the smogged head.

Too bad you are in AZ. I have a 1296 (big crank), twin carb intake and two transmissions (1 single rail & 1 three rail) in my storage building. I even have oversize pistons for the engine. Actually I also have a 1500 block that needs a lot of love. I've been saving this in case I wanted to replace the 1147 in my Mk I. But...I could use an adapter plate to install a Ford Type 9 transmission to my Spitfire bellhousing.

 

[Dadandson]

Too bad you are in AZ.

I kinda like Arizona! Just kidding. Thanks for your help.

 

[martx-5]

... Any other motor swaps from say Datsun or Mazda that will fit? ...

If you can fabricate, then what side the intake and/or exhaust is on shouldn't matter. Anyway, here's a link to some Spitfire engine swaps.

Edit: Just about all of those links on the site I linked to are old, outdated, or not there anymore. Sorry about that, but obviously, there have been many different swaps done into the Spitfire. I'm surprised that there wasn't a Miata swap in the group. That one seems so natural...I considered it when restoring the TR3, but sanity prevailed as I didn't want to totally lose the character of the sidescreen Triumph. :laugh:

 

[trfourtune]

IMHO, this is a candidate to make a spit-6. Get a gt6, 2.0, 6 cylinder engine and tranny.
Rob

 

[apbos]

Maybe this might help. Its local and just about free. I could help ship it out.
Craigslist ad

Paul

 

[tomgt6]

The spit6 would be good but to much work to the suspension. You have to upgrade the brakes, springs and so on to do it right. It would be cheaper I think to find a rolling gt6 frame, engine and tranny and put the spitfire tub on it.

 

[DanB]

How about an american engine: Chevy Small Block
Olds 215
Ford 2.3 Turbo
Rover V8

 

[tomgt6]

The small buick v6 is one that has been done. But remember anything other then something that size and weight will require work to the suspension and maybe frame.

 

[pjsmetana]

I've been looking into getting a 2nd Spit and putting a little RX-7 engine and trans in it. The 13B rotary would be an easy fit and makes a tremendous amount of power compared to the stock spit engines. And you don't get the silly big engine weight, or handling loss due to mismatched weight distribution. The best part is you don't have to mess with suspension!

 

[TR3driver]

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/ro-spit/

 

[trfourtune]

Very tempting. I like it! I love the low weight and low CG of the rotary. Might twist the frame up with 200 + hp.

 

[swift6]

The Grassroots Ro-Spit is fairly well modified in the suspension and brake area as well. IIRC the differential is an RX-7 unit as the stock Spitfire unit would most likely fail in a spectacular way if you pushed that much power through it. The brakes because the sane thing to do when you increase the go power is to increase the whoa power as well. Plus, it was built for Autocrossing and Hillclimbs.

For a Spit-6, yes, the easiest solution is to drop a Spitfire tub onto a GT6 rolling chassis and use the GT6 bonnet.

 

[UltimateQuestion]

If you can do the fab & mod, don't forget about the Honda S2000 mill like in "Tiny Tim" https://www.britishv8.org/Triumph/JoeCurry.htm

 

[TR3driver]

Didn't I read where Joe later took the S2000 motor back out of Tiny Tim? Or did I dream that?