madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,152
Club RR Member Number: 46
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Reading about these engines, phrases like "incredibly light" and "ahead of their time" comes up a lot. Compared to what's come along since and up to today, is this still the case? Or are there lighter & better readily available alternatives for similar stock power outputs (105-140ish)?
There are a lot of cheap whole cars with 1.4s on Ebay.
Ta
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whitz
West Midlands
Posts: 216
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I had one on 145,000 miles on its original head gasket (sorry!). The coolant froze over winter because topping up with water thanks to a leaking water pump and cracked the block or shifted the liner. Was impressed with both the 1.8 in MGF and 1.4 16-v in my Metro GTi.
The 1.8 has same dimensions to a 1.4, you can get a VVC for next to nothing or. The same used to be with the Vauxhall XE about ten years ago, you can't get cheap anymore.
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Last Edit: Feb 8, 2017 7:47:25 GMT by DavidB
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,188
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I had one on 145,000 miles on its original head gasket (sorry!). The coolant froze over winter because topping up with water thanks to a leaking water pump and cracked the block or shifted the liner. Was impressed with both the 1.8 in MGF and 1.4 16-v in my Metro GTi. The 1.8 has same dimensions to a 1.4, you can get a VVC for next to nothing or. The same used to be with the Vauxhall XE about ten years ago, you can't get cheap anymore. VVC's are quickly getting more expensive! They are a great engine if looked after properly only thing that's gonna come close performance wise is the Yamaha developed ford stuff, the 75/ZT owners club has pages and pages of people loving the k-series. |
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,152
Club RR Member Number: 46
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Thanks all, I was reading something or other about giant-killer MG Midgets and the fact that the engine was so light struck me. Then in fantasy land, I started ruminating over how much weight one could take off a Midget by making things in carbon fibre. So instead of adding loads and loads of horsepower, taking off all the weight to help acceleration and fuel economy.
The carbon stuff is expensive but it a one-time cost while extra power costs for the modification then costs in extra fuel too.
But then, I'm also thinking about the Sparrow kit for 2cvs - (BMW boxer engine to 2cv or visa gearbox) and wondering what would be most entertaining at 100bhp, a lightened BMW 2cv or a lightened K series midget.
The article link above is fascinating, particularly that Lotus engineers couldn't figure out how to sort their K series problems. Also that a K series revved briefly to 16,000 rpm without grenading (TLDR broke a liner).
What I infer from the article overall is that there's a much higher level of skill needed in machining and assembling one and lots of tuning companies getting it wrong. With that in mind any recomendations of companies with a proven record?
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
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I've had two k-series engined metros recently, only small cc but I loved them!
A mate of mine is building up a rwd setup for his A35 van using the engine from a scrap 420.
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,152
Club RR Member Number: 46
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There are whole cars with K series engines on Ebay for less than £300. In RR language that's free since you can flog off enough part to get most if not all of that money back.
Probably perfect for something small and light like an A35. Were your Metros 1.4 or 1.1?
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,234 
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Having driven midgets with K's in varying states of tune and 'prep' I can say they are absolutely brill. From a stock 1.4 to a VVC with solid cams and race management, they all go damn well.
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I've had two k-series engined metros recently, only small cc but I loved them! A mate of mine is building up a rwd setup for his A35 van using the engine from a scrap 420. 2.0 wasn't a K though. |
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
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I've had two k-series engined metros recently, only small cc but I loved them! A mate of mine is building up a rwd setup for his A35 van using the engine from a scrap 420. 2.0 wasn't a K though. *416 lol |
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JoshO
Part of things
Posts: 337
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When I did work experience at Caterham (the showroom service garage) I was taken out in a K series R500, It was so incredibly fast and loved to rev, sounded incredible and ever since I have wanted something with a k series in, I keep having bad ideas about a rover metro with a vvc lump swapped in.
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,152
Club RR Member Number: 46
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JoshO
Part of things
Posts: 337
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Terrible crash protection + going significantly faster, not the best idea, but would be fun!
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The K Series is an incredibly smart little donk, a lot of the reasons why are highlighted in the AROnline link in the second post.
Someone really thought about what they needed out of it when it was first designed, and the end result -whilst compromised a little by some applications- really was a revolution in engine design which would likely still be a world beating design if still in mainstream production today.
As alluded to in the article, it would take something awfully special to improve on things, and I doubt that a few blokes at an engine tuners are going to have the nouse to improve on something developed by teams of very well educated chaps with a much larger budget who came up with something that -given a little further fettling to solve teething problems- has yet to be bettered.
Fair enough they're not as well revered as the T Series, but if you know what you're doing with them and modify to suit -thermostat relocation being the main one- then you can't help but realise just how good they are.
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njw
Part of things
Posts: 226
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I learnt to drive in my mother's Rover 214 sli and despite having not a lot of car experience at the time I can remember it seemed very quick for only 1.4 litres in a not all that small car, it went very well indeed, I can remember the throttle response being very good indeed. I believe that 1.4 engine made 105bhp which would be considered more than acceptable in a new car never mind from an engine that was released nearly thirty years ago, in fact, are there any 'modern' 1.4 litre engines that produce the same or more power?
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2017 20:21:39 GMT by njw
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Let's not forget -like the T Series- the strong torque curve.
Power is nothing without torque to back it up.
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Interesting link in post#2 above - it's good to see a basic but well researched list of "fix this" items and, just as important - the reasons why they are common failure points. I nominate whitz for Brownie points and/or a RR gold star   |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,829
Club RR Member Number: 174
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I've got a K series at work. Want to try something very silly with one. They're great engines as long as they're built properly.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Feb 10, 2017 10:23:39 GMT
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Haha there's some gems in this thread.
All I know is its all just about its rep. It could have been a great if rover had done the job properly.. They didn't. It had its issues. Got a bad rep for good reason. Issues got ironed out in the end but bad rep lingers even if it isn't a bad engine.
That article is toss. (Or atleast very bias.) The issues with then engine were design flaws not the tuning companies doing. Maybe they didn't know how to fix them either but rover designed the engine and let it go into mass production with the flaws so who's actually the idiots? The K IS a comparably fragile engine because it was designed that way. Theres a reason no one else was mass producing an engine that advanced.. Because why make race engines to go in a road car!?
At the end of the day it's good for us because we get race engines for cheap but for somone buying a car back then pretty curse word!
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Feb 10, 2017 12:06:29 GMT
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My mate bought a V plate Rover 214 from a scrappy to get him out a hole last year and I every time I saw him it was a standard greeting of "Alright bud, head gasket gone yet". However he gave that car death, it was ridiculously nippy for a 1.4, easily out dragged my Vectra SRI 140, and revved awesomely. Was genuinely gutted when he got his Focus sorted and returned the Rover from whence it came, engine was a peach still.
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