Yeah, my friend was very interested in doing this conversion to an Alpine.
Going from the 80(?) horse 1725 to a 140 or 160HP rotary, lighter in weight,
mounted lower and further back for a better CG, mated to a 5-speed, sounded
like a pretty attractive proposition, even to me.
Max
on 12/29/00 1:12 PM, Bob Howard at mgbob@juno.com wrote:
> There is a Mazda rotary in a bugeye that lives in Chester, CT. The
> owner is a Pratt & Whitney mechanical engineer who has had many LBCs over
> the years, and an immaculate BJ8 now. He loves the Midget, particularly
> its handling, but did not enjoy the limitations imposed by the engine.
> He removed the original engine and gearbox assy, cleaned it, painted,
> prepared it for storage and crated it. Then he worked up a Mazda rotary,
> painted it green, and installed it in the Sprite w/o making any cuts or
> alterations to the Sprite except for bolt-ons. He installed the later
> model disc brakes, of course, and a traction bar, plus making up a
> radiator and oil cooler for the car. Again, everything fits the
> Sprite--nothing in the car was cut to accommodate the conversion bits.
> Now he can drive the car, keep up with most anything on the road, and
> can return it to original when he decides to sell it. I don't think that
> anyone looking at this Sprite would consider it a desecration. More
> likely, the viewer would consider this an easily-reversible upgrade to
> achieve utility that would otherwise be lacking because of the
> limitations of the Sprite. It would not seem appropriate for an MGB
> since the MGBs are more capable of being driven at today's speeds with
> reasonable engine longevity.
> Among his other entertainments is flying his 1920-something biplane. He
> uses modern fabric on the wings.
> Bob
>
>
> On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 09:42:24 -0800 Stuart MacMillan <macmillan@home.com>
> writes:
>> All I can say is "good grief!"
>>
>> I remember that a few were put into MGBs back in the '70s too. What
>> a
>> travesty!
>>
>>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5328196
> 10
>>
>> Stuart
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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