Well, after a fine hour yesterday morning at Gannon's, i toddled off home to receive the 850 from my brothers place and it is now safely ensconced in the garage.

Also went and picked up the two engines from the storage unit. Pulled the heads off both of them to have a look.

The 850 is cactus. The PO told me that he rebuilt it a 7000 miles (he had owned it for 40yrs and was a deisel mechanic) after one of the little end bolts had come undone. In his words, it had scored the bore, so he had it rebored to +x thou and reground the cam while he was at it. Well when i pulled the head off, all the bores were glazed and could have done with a honing. But when i rotated the engine, about 3/4 of the way down no. 3 is a hole in the cylinder wall. Not just a scratch, but a 3 mm hole. No wonder it was a little sluggish up hills. I wonder if it always had the hole and he just used it that way?

I would have tried to get new rings for the +30 pistons and rehoned it if it was not there because it is the original engine for the car, but alas it is not to be. Upshot is that i have a set of +30 pistons and an 850 head i don't need now, as i will stick with the 998 in that car now.

The 1098 was a bit of a dissapointment too. It looks like it is a stock 1098 that just had the dellorto and extractors on it, so now i have to decide whether to fix it up for the red one or try and go 1275......

If it is similar $ to go big bore, i am there....

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

I hear you Mick!

to work an 1100 would cost the same as buying a good stock 1275.
the 1100 would be quicker.. but the 1275 would eventually be quicker once more money is spent.

Mad Mini on this forum has a 1275, complete and running (?) for about $600... Give him a try.

If some reasonable power is your goal, go with the 1275. The 1275 will do the same job stock as a well built and modified 1098. But this will mean you need (by law, and common sense) disc brakes. So there is another $800-1000

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

already got the discs, and this is my motorsport basher, so i don't have to worry about the road rules

all i need to do is find a reasonable 1275 in rebuildable order. I mean if i am going to pay $X for all the machining and parts on the 1098, and the same machining and parts on a 1275 cost $X, i'll pay a little more to acquire the 1275 block. I have the K gearbox, so that should be OK, right?

Anton, Chris, Bob, you all recently rebuilt engines. If you don't mind me asking how much? If you do mind it being public, you could PM.

This is big decision time, because i am allowed to spend whatever i need to do it right once, and it has to last.

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Mick I'm right there in the middle of several engine rebuilds so I know how you feel.

Heres the garage at the mo

steve

Cylinder head full reco with unleaded seats: $240 (this included assembly with new valves which I supplied)

Block machining $100 (bore +.020", hone)
Steam clean block: $50

I bought cam followers, timing chain, valves, valve guides, gaskets from Karcraft. Can't remember how much (maybe $200 - $250)

Couple of cans of paint. $40

DRMINI fitted the pistons to the block and timed the cam with an offset key. I did all the rest.

I will do it all again with a 1275 if and when I get one

i think the gearbox is different on a 1275?

I'll let you know when I get the bill

_________________
Bob Slattery
Duffman Says A Lot of Things - OH YEAH!!

mind if i come and have a look some time?

michael

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

No probs most welcome

steve

A 1275 will fit on a Mini-K box, no problem. Only gearbox conversion part you need is a 1275 primary gear. And an S clutch diaphragm of course, unless you like clutch slip....

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

This is the equivalent to an 'orange' clutch diaphragm, yes?

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

No it's a Blue dot. Orange one is rally spec. Unless you have real big torque from 1380+ or a turbo, a stock S one is fine. My last one took all the modified 1310 could give it.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.