>(Scott Fisher writes that the Chevy inline 6 was a precursor to MG's B engine)
> Is this true? (Am I showing my ignorance publicly by questioning Scott?)
Naw, not at all... especially on something as obscure as this. I make
it a point of knowing stuff that nobody else does and then selling
it to them. :-)
> I've always heard (okay I've heard it twice ... but from different people)
> that the B engine was a descendant of a Ford Tractor engine, and that parts
> could actually be bought thru a Ford tractor dealer.
They were mistaken. Lindsay Porter wrote a book the exact title of
which eludes me, but it's something like "BMC B Series History and
Technical Data." It's a depressing book, but one of the pieces of
interesting trivia in it deals with Austin's licensing of the Chevy
"Stovebolt" Six beginning in the early Thirties. After the war,
when Austin and the Nuffield Group merged to form BMC, the first
engine to come out of Austin's office bore an uncanny resemblance
to a four-cylinder version of the Stovebolt, with -- it is said --
just enough modifications to avoid having to continue to pay license
fees to GM. Some of those modifications included the decision to go
with siamesed intake and middle exhaust ports, since the pushrod
holes were on the opposite side of the block as the distributor
drive. It's a little complicated, but basically they didn't want
a leaky SU carb over a sparky Lucas distributor, a pairing that I'm
sure we can all agree with. And they determined that the siamesed
ports actually gave, assuming the engine firing order, more volume
in each port (on a per-phase basis) than going to separate intakes
and exhausts, after leaving room for the pushrods.
It's a shame they didn't license the small-block in '55...
> I've never owned a B powered car, and I've never actually gone out to verify
> this story on my own, so please set me straight.
It's in the book, along with a lot of grim details about the wretched
machinations of both BMC and B(P)L, leading to using this great lump
in the first place and in abandoning the sports-car market altogether.
A sad book... and one that should be force-read, Clockwork Orange-like,
to the technical managers of more than one computer company.
> Hmmm, Chevy inline 6 to MG B engine, Buick V8 to Rover V8... Let's hope
> BL gets dibs on the Corvette ZR1 engine or Cadillac Northstar V8...
Let's hope BL burns down, falls over, and then sinks into the swamp.
BTW, did you not know that the ZR1 engine was designed by Lotus?
> Geoff "How wide is a Midget's engine compartment?" Bishel
If you've got a Spridget ('74 and back), you've got the other version
of the Stovebolt -- the A Series and the B Series were basically made by
setting the blueprint machine on "reduce to 66%" and copying the B Series
prints. If you've got a Spitfidget ('75 and up), then you might have
the Ford Tractor motor. There is some scandalous, largely incorrect, and
generally tenuous connection between certain Standard engines and
certain Ferguson tractor motors, but I can't remember the specifics.
Details, Chris/John/Bill/Mark/anyone?
But for the record, a Spridget's engine compartment is easily wide
enough to fit a Mazda 13B rotary...
--Scott "Still wishing the B had a real sports car engine" Fisher
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