ok i was talking to a mte last nite down at the pub, he told me that hismate has a 1275 or something of that caliber, stroked out to close to 1400, now this is what i want to know .... he said the pistons were "stagered" meaning (this is how he explained it) that the pistons are not lined up in a row, they are stagered
eg: 4 pistons
one closer to the top, the next one closer to the bottom, then top, then bottom
wouldnt this mean that the conrods would ahve to be at a angle to connect to the crank
it sounds like some bs to me

but would be interesting to know if its possible
cheers steve

J E N N I F E R G A R N E R

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner

Could be "Pub Talk" or it could be off-set boring...

Anyone else wnat a go ?

J

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hmm yeah .... explain off set boring

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner

pic kinda tells the story
you can squeeze bigger cubes in there

except you probably wouldnt want me to bore your block like that

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yeah thats it so that off set boring then is it ?
alright ... how does that work does the conrod have to be angled cos the crank would still be straight.... /steve confused

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Hmmmmm..... Jennifer Garner

mainly you would need a not-so-normal crankshaft
the conrods wouldnt really need to be special unless it was severe

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Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

You can, instead of going front-to-back-to-front-, go further away from each other, so you push them to eac end, but, again, your crank will have to be changed... Sounds ex$pen$ive

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

I've never seen it done duc's way ..probably a good thing , only where they are seperated to give room for larger bore.. ie 1 & 2 and moved towards the radiator 3&4 towards the flywheel...with a bit more spacing..not sure about crank mods..

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

No crank mods are needed for `offset boring'. There is room for the pistons to slide on the gudgeon pins- the bores are not moved far.
Reason for doing it- on a 1275, 2&3 are closer together than 1&2 or 3&4.
Why? Buggered if I know!

If bored at normal spacing to 74mm (1400cc - for which pistons are now unobtainium) there is too little metal there, it's getting a bit close...

<edited> for clarity

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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.

VW does that for their narrow angle V engines, I think you'll find that they need to be bored at angles like a V engine.

Either way I reckon your mate might be a bit pissed while trying to explain the offset pistons mentioned by previous posts. A mate of mine who is a genius engine builder was explaining that to me once and for a little while I got the impression that they had been staggered the way you describe, until he put me right

Offset boring is explained in Vizard's Yelow Bible, done for the purpose of maintaining max meat between 2 & 3. Can be done as Mini Mad says or for really big bores the centreline is also moved slightly toward the push rods holes.

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Steve

Steve, big pistons are getting a bit scarce now, I haven't seen 74s for years..
Many people now bore to 73, keeping 73.5 up their sleeve for later.
And you don't have to offset to get to these sizes.

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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.

My 1430 is offset bored.

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/