Here's the deal:
One of the cars on we've got is a '79 Midget.
Not mine, a team member's, with rusted floors.
She got this one for a fun car. Pretty much
stock, except headers and no smog pump.
Well, she's out here in California, and the
car is back home in Arkansas. We're going
tomorrow to look at a '76 Midget, rebuilt
engine with the euro-spec pistons, weber
carbed, new tires, $300, I'm hoping it's
a nice rustless California tub. (Spent
the last few years in Escondido, nice and
in-land.)
Two things I'm looking for: 1) any 1500 Midget
smog bits, and
2) Exactly what fails in the 1500 engine? Everything
I've read and seen says "lower end". (We've got a
1500 Spit with a nice con-rod out the side block
in it.) Has anyone determined what is at fault?
The crank? The big-end journals? The rods themselves?
Is this a prob that can be cured with some nice
carillo rods?
What we want to do is build one nice rust-free CA smogged
fun car for my friend, and use the other bits for something
to play with, and given the rep of these engines,
I think the challenge of building a nice solid
revable one would be fun.
Thanks,
-Keith Wheeler
Team Sanctuary
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