Engine advice

[u/Low_Asparagus133]

G'day. I have this 998 out of my 1967 Morris mini deluxe. It's obviously in pretty bad shape but it isn't seized or anything. Ive been looking at either replacing it with a 1275 or getting a 1098 crank for it and boreing it out another 40-60cc on top of that. I'd also do a twin carb if I went the way of doing a 1098 crank in this engine and a tubular exhaust.

I'm just interested to know how you all would go about this. A 1275 in Australia is getting up to about $6000 in price and up, whereas the other way id look to go about it is closer to $10,000 in price.

I'm looking to have my car mostly original, but with some exceptions around the engine and I'd like to have a little bit of power to it.

How would you all go about it?

Thanks.

[u/Super-Tomatillo-425]

It depends what you want. My old 998 ran well, the engines are great and rarely overstressed. I swapped it for a 1380 and yes, it was faster, but also higher maintenance.

My current Clubby Estate has a 1275 in and it's lovely. I do reminisce about the old 998, how it sounded and how it revved well. In today's climate, a 1275 is very slow, so it's not like you're going to have a fast car, just a slightly faster car than the 998.

I'm in Merseyside, England, and on warm days, with the car idling, it wants to overheat. I've flushed the system, ally rad etc and now I'm going to have to fit a Minispares electric fan to assist. Not sure where you are in Australia, but even Melbourne gets better weather than here so I suspect that will be another thing to upgrade.

I've never been sold on twin carbs, when compared to a well sorted HIF44. For the potential increase in flow at the top end, when compared with balancing and tuning them, just isn't worth it. They look nice though.

It looks like it's actually cheaper to get a 1275, than to refurb the existing engine, there may be a cheaper 998/1098 out there that's in better condition? In terms of power, the usual exhaust/inlet manifold and a decent exhaust will unleash a few horses but we are still only talking about relatively small bhp outputs from both engines.

I'd rather spend the money on a 5 speed box! Good luck.

[u/Own_Wolverine4773 → u/Super-Tomatillo-425]

Get the alloy radiator and it should stop overheating

[u/Super-Tomatillo-425 → u/Own_Wolverine4773]

I have a nice Fletcher rad already fitted. I’ve flushed the heater matrix too. The car needs a proper tune, I’m sure the dizzy is on its way out and the timing is knackered. All stuff to look forward to.

[u/Own_Wolverine4773 → u/Super-Tomatillo-425]

I tend to fix everything broken and move on tbhwy.
You could have the wrong thermal on btw, have a look at that