My original question regarding life span of the Type A had more to do with
metalurgy than anything, ie. the hardness of the bores in terms of a well
maintained engine that is driven somewhere between "girlman" and "like you
stole
it."
I am new to the Spite thing having recently purchased for 5k a very nice '59
Bugeye with very minimal rust (if any) and a well documented 64k miles on the
clock. The previous owner installed a rebuilt 1275 and only put about 100
miles on it until he cracked a notch in first gear. . and then it seems that
he
lost interest in the car for a good while. I also have the original 948 with
64k on it.
My sense is, after reading all of your helpful emails is that - the A engines
were cast as strong as just about any other engine and for that matter, if
well maintained could go a good 100k miles before there is significant wear
between the rings and the cylinder walls? Most likely the same quality in
casting that would also be found on the bigger Healeys. . . .?
I have seen well maintained Harley EVO engines reach the 100k mark over and
over again - consider also that the Harley engine is an air cooled long stroke
pushrod design.
Toyota's and Hondas seem to have engines that have incredibly dense steel in
their cylinder walls as they can pull 300k miles on their bores even when the
owners have not maintained them well.
But the type A seems just as solid as most others in terms of wear potential.
Thanks - Kirk
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