MG Midget Madness (i.e. It was either this or kill it with fire)

[GySgtFrank]

lowered by Kevin Frank, on Flickr

1975 MG Midget - 1500cc; 4 speed. 1640lbs. with the cast iron engine and trans.

For those of you that don't know what kind of an idiot I am, I will give a brief explanation. I bought the above green hair removal tool to get around with until I could get my 79 SA back up. It seemed to only need a few things and I could either do a swap on it later, or fix it and make a little bit of money by selling it.

No dice. Every time I fixed one thing something was broken/screwed up that had been hidden away by the previous owner(s), or broke in the process of fixing something else. After about a year of fighting with it non-stop, and putting far too much money in it, (2 engines, 2 transmissions, carb, manifold, ignition, switches, wiring fixes, radiator, lights, etc etc. ad nauseum). I have had enough with the weak kneed, poorly designed and built, crappy 55hp engine and glass transmission (and worse wiring). Time for something infinitely better.

I have put quite a bit of work into suspension/interior/exterior so not all the money dumped into it will be wasted.

I will be cleaning up the '87 S4 NA 13B and 5 speed that I have and transplant the whole shebang into it. Hopefully I'll be able to retain the fuel injection, but we'll see as I go along. In addition all the wiring will be stripped out of it and either tossed in the trash, or burned in a black Sabbath bonfire to help it on it's way to hell. I will be using the GSL-SE front cover and pan to utilize the front engine mounts. The trickiest part (other than wiring) is going to be building a header, as there isn't a lot of room.

More pictures to come as I get stuff done.

[chibikougan]

Dun Dun DUuuun!

[Slides]

Nice. A friend's father has a midget, they are a nice little car. Sticking na in a soft top is a good idea I think you would be popping windscreens otherwise. There is a guy on the adaptronic forum who has a big turbo setup in one of the hard tops

[GySgtFrank]

Originally Posted by Slides

Nice. A friend's father has a midget, they are a nice little car. Sticking na in a soft top is a good idea I think you would be popping windscreens otherwise. There is a guy on the adaptronic forum who has a big turbo setup in one of the hard tops

That was my thinking. I doubt this chassis could handle large amounts of torque without deforming. An NA rotary should be the perfect swap in one of these. Lots of power, but low end torque should not be excessive. We'll have to see how it comes out.

engine2 by Kevin Frank, on Flickr

before picture, pretty, but a PITA.

[Nutsid]

If you would like a S4 NA engine, I just so happen to have on sitting on my kitchen table. Good luck, Gunny. Your luck with cars is about the worst I've ever seen.

[GySgtFrank]

Originally Posted by Nutsid

If you would like a S4 NA engine, I just so happen to have on sitting on my kitchen table. Good luck, Gunny. Your luck with cars is about the worst I've ever seen.

I may take you up on that whenever I manage to get any money. (The green appetite ate it all). A spare engine would be a good thing, especially if the curse is transferrable.

[Nutsid]

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

I may take you up on that whenever I manage to get any money. (The green appetite ate it all). A spare engine would be a good thing, especially if the curse is transferrable.

Just let me know. It has sat a really long time so it could probably use a freshening up, but it was fully operational when it was pulled out years and years ago.

[infernosg]

Nice! A coworker of mine has been working on a custom chassis/caged Midget built around a 12A for some years now. I keep trying to convince him to ditch the 12A and go with a 13B.

[13x]

oooh gunny the MG guys are going to black ball ya lol ... you can do this ... am curious of the outcome ... good thing about the tiny tires is they should break loose before anything breaks lol

[GySgtFrank]

That is one of the good points to this swap Ray.

The tires are the new ones I bought for the 79, They were OK with this engine, but they did break loose pretty easy on the RX7. I'm hoping to get it down to 1500lbs (800lbs lighter than the 79 RX7) which will only make matters worse, but fun. Now if I can only figure out how to get the waffles on there.

:edit: engine and trans are back out. I may end up using my Weber 45 side draft as it would be simpler, but I really like the reliability and ease of the stock fuel injection. I've heard that the stock FI intake will hit the hood, I'll have to try it and see for myself.

[silverfdturbo6port]

My next door neighbors 13b 6 port. Webber carbs, header. Pretty fun to drive!

[GySgtFrank]

Originally Posted by silverfdturbo6port

My next door neighbors 13b 6 port. Webber carbs, header. Pretty fun to drive!

I know this swap has been done quite a few times in the past, but I've never seen one. Let alone got to drive one. Do you know what he did for a transmission? It's looking like I'm going to have to move the shifter box forward 8.5 inches if I use my NA 5 speed.

[silverfdturbo6port]

Its a 86 or 87 box. The tunnel has to be modified to work. thus picture doesnt show but its the exact same color as yours.

[BrewerBob]

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

but low end torque should not be nonexistent.

Fixed.

[BrewerBob]

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

I've heard that the stock FI intake will hit the hood, I'll have to try it and see for myself.

Then just drop everything lower and further back a la Brian style.