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Spitfire spitfire 1500 vs MG Midget engine

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MontySaine

Freshman Member
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Hello,
I am new to this forum so I hope I don't step on any toes...

That being said, I have been told that the motors in late 70's Spits and Midgets were basically the same 1500cc engine. Is this true? If I am doing a complete rebuild will the core for an Midget work for a late 70's Spitfire.
What is a good source for a rebuildable (or already rebuilt) short or long block?

Thanks in advance for any info/leads.

Monty
 
Welcome -- pretty hard to upset anyone here, especially when you're asking questions about how to get a car on the road or keep it on the road.

If you can hook up with one of the SoCal clubs you may find that to be a source for a core block as local pickup greatly reduces the overall cost.

Meanwhile, if you haven't seen it, you might look at this:

https://members.cox.net/spitlist/
 
I would guess that the long blocks are the same except for the serial number prefix. Attachments may differ.

I would also guess that you could find someone to give you one for a core. I would if you were local.
 
One difference is the oil pickup; the Spitfire 1500 has an angled pickup pipe, and the Midget is supposed to have a pickup that comes straight down from the oil pump. That said, my MG Midget actually has the angled pickup, and it's the original engine. If you look at the diagrams from Moss, they show the difference.
 
I've had both a 1975 Midget 1500 and a 1976 Spitfire 1500. The engines themselves are very similar... I bet that everything inside the block is the same. The oil pans differ, which probably explains the oil pickups being different, as described above. The thermostat covers may be slightly different, in part because the Midget uses a thermostatically controlled vacuum valve in the top radiator hose to control when the EGR valve opens; the Spitfire uses a spring-loaded switch pin on the enrichment circuit lever to close a vacuum orifice to enable the EGR valve. The carb differs only because of the EGR switch, that may be because 1975 cars differed from 1976 cars, now that I think of it. I'm not sure if they went to a common carb when later years had the water choke.

Oh, the motor mounts are different, as is the rear motor mount at the back of the transmission.

Scott
 
Thanks all for the info.

P.S. Billspit, if my current block is bad how about I pay the shipping for one of yours /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
There are plenty of 1500 motors and blocks on eBay. I just got a pretty good price on one, with the matching transmission.

Keep your eyes open, they go pretty cheap.
 
MontySaine said:
Thanks all for the info.

P.S. Billspit, if my current block is bad how about I pay the shipping for one of yours /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
Click to expand...

It isn't worth the cost of shipping coast to coast as it too needs a complete rebuild.
 
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