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A known criminal where I grew up had an Austin Lancer for a while in the '80s. Every time he got rumbled by the coppers he'd brush paint it a different colour as a subterfuge. He is also an idiot. There were only two Austin Lancers in our area at the time and the other one was near immaculate.
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Jan 11, 2019 17:28:55 GMT
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My Dad has a 1500, running +60 pistons, MGB head, twin carbs and a 270 cam. It runs and has an MOT (but I need to rebuild the carbs for him). Dad wanted it MOT'd as it's been off the road since the 70's.
The engine mods have been previously proven by a chap in America who did similar to an MG A. I'm just waiting for Dad to blow up the gearbox or the diff..... Or both!
If anybody is interested, I'll get photos and details of the build. When we get it on the rollers, it should pull 80-85 ish HP
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Jan 14, 2019 12:26:45 GMT
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Friend ran a Riley 1.5 in the late 80s as an only car. It had a hard life. After killing two 1500s (twin carb versions) we fitted it with a Marina 1800 TC engine (MGB would have worked too) and that made it really quite nippy. Nippier than the all drum brakes for sure. Plus the extra torque in combination with the rudimentary Morris Minor suspension made it “drift on demand”. It’s remains still linger on in a lock-up but it would be a major project to get it working again and an even bigger one to get it nice.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend)
1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing)
1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Jan 14, 2019 21:30:40 GMT
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just to put it out there, you know the Morris, upon which the Wolseley/Riley/Major was based, also spawned the Hindustan Ambassador which was in production in India until recently? It might be a source of parts that can be adapted a bit. The Ambassador is based on the larger Oxford/Cowley models - 1489 B series engine and non-OD gearbox is about the only shared part. The 1.5/1500 has Moggy front suspension and the small case banjo axle fitted to the Moggy/Midget etc... whilst the Oxford/Cowley/Ambassador has coil springs with lever arm dampers and the medium sized banjo axle shared with the MGA, Austin Cambridge etc... You can convert the Moggy to run front discs relatively easily using an off the shelf bracket kit and Midget calipers/hub/discs - might work on the 1.5/1500 as well I guess. The standard half-shafts are no stronger than the Moggy and will snap eventually if subjected to a lot of torque - even a pretty standard 1275 and some grippy tyres has done for more than a few Moggy units. The 1.5/1500 does have a longer diff than the moggy though - either a 3.7 or a 3.9, the former being quite sought after by owners of other models with the same axle (worth remembering if you uprate the axle in one to something stronger). The 1500 B series is an absolute boat anchor compared to the A series, but its also a lot torquier and the old ones sound really nice (to me anyway). They are pretty asthmatic on a single carb and respond very well to having a pair instead. If converting a single carb one to twin carbs, you need to have a look at the downpipe coupling on the new manifold, as some are angled back and others are straight down, I can't remember which the 1.5/1500 uses though. Any manifold fits any engine, capacity doesn't matter. If I remember right, the later 1622cc engines are not a direct fit to the 1500 gearbox. I know you can't fit an 1800 to a 1622 box without filing the backplate out, so perhaps the same applies to the 1500 and the larger engines. The crank and mains were beefed up for the 1622, and I think the later 1.5/15 models got this some time after '61 as the other 1489cc models were phased out. |
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This thread has been an education! Thanks ladies and gentlemen.
But after 4 muppets agreeing to buy my Commodore and no-showing - not to mention the sheer number of bogans trying to convince me to give it to them for next to nothing, I decided I was just going to keep it.
Seriously, one guy offered me $1000 to pull the engine and gearbox out (because he didn't want it), load it up on a car trailer and deliver it roughly 2500km away. I'd spend that $1000 in fuel just to tow there and get back! Then he spammed my inbox & phone when I politely pointed out that such a transaction was never ever going to happen. Ahh, the joys of selling old cars.
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