MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Midget powered by Smart fortwo?

I'm going to start a rebuild of my midget and have started thinking about engine choices.

I'd like to put something a little more environmentally friendly and modern in her and have thought about the 698cc three-cylinder turbo charged unit from a Smart ForTwo. I used to have a ForTwo as my commuter and it was a great little engine. I'd like to bring the 6 speed sequential gearbox and associated electrical bits too.

If anyone has undertaken a odd project like this I'd be glad to hear from you.

Thanks
John
John Samson

A nice idea John

I don,t know if its possible but are you thinking of putting the engine in the back!
C Bintcliffe

K-series...you could get a 1.4k and it would be incredibly economical, perform well, and theres lots of people who have done it, the parts are avialable esily and it fits perfect in the engine bay!
Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

John, far be it for me to knock a converison, but I have to ask why you would choose a transverse engine/transmission combination for transplant into a fairly nice front engine rear drive chassis? I can't quite figure out what the attraction of using this combination is. Seems like a teriffic amount of fabrication to make it all work when other chassis that would be more suitable are available, Fiat 500 for instance.
Bill Young

Has anyone done the MX5 thing yet (must be)?
Lee Reed

Lee, from what I've seen with MX5 swaps into MGBs the engine is a little on the tall side for a Midget chassis. You'd have to bump the bonnet quite a bit to fit one in. (OK, I know I have no right to comment on buldges in the bonnet ;-) ) I'm surprised that the K series fits as well as it does, most OHC engines are too tall to clear, although the Suzuki and some Toyota engines will.
Bill Young

Yes Bill taller engines are a problem :o)


Lee Reed

Taller engines a problem Lee....? Here is the same engine as yours in Anita's, the 'bulge' was to clear a single 45 DCOE but as it is now running twin 40s it could now use a standard bonnet.

Mark.


Mark Boldry

Im thinking bill, has the market cornered on tall engines....hey bill, is that a 454 v8 you got stuffed in your midget??? you really should stick a blower on top of that...lol, I got a blower lying around the shop if you ever want to try..."Eaton M90"

If your going to do a transverse, Id look at a VW beatle from the 60' and 70's

Seriously,

Id talk to "darren 1800" about his zetec, that is a nice set up, fuel efficiant, and massive horse power, still a enginerring challange but nothing like what your looking at.....If you where going to go that way, Id say look at a motor cycle engine as well, thre was a lite blue midget with a harly-davidson flathead on ebay sometime back that we all got a laugh from, But it was fasinating to think about, as to the possiablitys

prop
Prop

Prop - a beetle engine is not transverse. Mine was, but that was a 2000 model. It does have a transaxle if that is what you are confused with.
Shawn

Prop, the european version of the Smart Car has a turbo version of the engine rated at 84 bhp. To make any real performance edge even in a Midget chassis you need to keep things light. A VW beetle, even the older ones are not going to give you any weight advantage over a Midget. The lightest car I could think of that might be a real runner with the Smart engine was the tiny Fiat 500, which originally came with a 350cc engine IIRC. Might make an interesting lump in the rear of a Bond Bug as well. Ahh, some of the fine cars we didn't see here in the States.
Bill Young

your correct,

For some reason I confused the rear engine and the transverse axle.

Hey bill, lucky us, I agree with the weight theroy ut I just cant imagine a 3 cylinder high perfformance engine would be effective in a midget...Id think you would have better results with a 948.....kind of like putting a high performance 1275 in a 1973 1 ton ford, 4x4 full size crew cab work truck .

prop
Prop

If it's environmental issues you're worried about - forget carb engines and go straight for EFI. And there's no better than the Kseries which was designed to run lean and clean without a cat.

Mine does 50mpg+ if I stay with normal traffic on main roads etc and don't exceed 70 mph by much...

A
Anthony

Mark has it got a type-9 box? it's the bellhousing that is the problem. I think Darren cut the chassis to make it fit but I am not as clever as him.
Lee Reed

Busa engine!
R T Jakeman

Or maybe two Busa engines on a common crank!!

http://www.holeshot-racing.co.uk/index.php?page=holeshot-hartley-v8

Economy could be beaten but there isn't much chance of anyone building a quicker midget than that, ever.
R T Jakeman

Lee. No it's got the 2000E Three rail box as fitted to Lotus and GT Cortina. Very strong and lovely ratios. No need at all for a five speed. 2.9:1 First gear and semi close through the rest. coupled to a 4.1:1 LSD rear axle and powered by 148bhp X Flow it's a LOT of fun!

Mark.
Mark Boldry

that s a wicked idea with the smart idea my mates got one and for so little cc its well nippy/fast and it sounds wicked aswell ,Mark with that amount of power what about a 3:9 ratio that would cut the revs down for cruising as 4th is still 1:1 but still keep the neck snapping pull in the lower gears , also whats turned into a bonus with the zetec ( and probably what happens with K s as well ) even though im running on twin 45 webbers the fuel consumption has come down by about a third didnt even think of that when i was fitting it just a lucky bonus :-)
darren1800frogeye

R T,
I'm quite sure a Busa engined midget might be better known as a 'wall' within about 5 minutes of the first drive.

:-)
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

Thanks for all your comments.

I was initially thinking of the smart engine as I used to have a fortwo and liked it a lot. I have a Midget and like that a lot too so why not put them together? I did think about rear mounting the engine but that scared me off a little so it was going to be a straight swap out (obviously with some engine mount changes).

From comments above I'm tending back to my original plan which was to put a 1.4 K Series in place with a Type 9 gear box. If that will run as economically as mentioned above it will be perfect.

I don't think I'll go down the bike engine route; I've been in Caterhams with Fireblade engines but I don't want to say any more about that day.

John Samson

Darren, the 4.1 Diff suits Anita fine for Autotests and Rallys, not worried about the top speed or cruising, or fuel consumption come to that. Punch off the line or out of corners is what is needed. A good friend of mine is running a VERY HOT 1400 'A Series' in his Mk1 Midget and is using a 4.5 or a 4.7 diff depending on what he is using that car for. Yes, he does use it on the road too.
I think there are few in this area will testify as to it's performance!

Mark.


Mark Boldry

Has anyone done a VTEC conversion? It is something which is being tried in 1100 circles at the moment, and from Sarah's CRX I can vouch what a great engine it is, economical as a shopping trolley at low revs, fast growly beast at high revs.
Mothy

I have had experience of the conv in a mini, good toy but not as mad as the bussa engined ones.
Lee Reed

Honda engines run the opposite way, causing lots of problems.
Shawn

Wow... that twin Hayabusa V8 is just plain mental! Amazing, though. Over 400bhp in a Caterham. Goodness gracious, indeed.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

By the way, do a YouTube search on "smart hayabusa." Some gent replaced the passenger seat in a smart fortwo with a Hayabusa engine, and came up with a very effective means of turning tires into smoke.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

If you are thinking of BUSA power you might aswell go the hole hogg like this!!

http://www.zcars.org.uk/ultima/index.htm

Anyone feeling brave!!!!

Carl
C Bintcliffe

Allright it not a 1000bhp as Carl showed but i was rather impressed when i saw it at Emerald RR last summer:


Arie de Best

And another one in the back with some nitro for overtaking...
Must make it the most usseles car for your girl to do the shopping.

A great enginering job thou!


Arie de Best

This is possible in a midget isnt it?

A Busa turbo in a caterham so it should fit a spridget too me think.


Arie de Best

This thread was discussed between 27/02/2008 and 03/03/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.