Well, armed with info from the list (THANKS!!!!), I revisited the Minor
convertible I found.
First, from the serial number, it's an early 1950 car titled as a 1952.
Strange.
Upon close inspection, the body was in better shape than I first thought
(carefully hidden by bad paint) while the sills were in much worse shape
and will require complete replacement. The floors have been replaced,
but not done well.
The good news: the 948 is brand new and has only about 1000 miles on
it. It's from a 1958 Minor (as is the gearbox) and is the smoothest,
sweetest sounding A-series engine I've ever driven. (As a lifelong
hardcore 1275 fan, I now realize why you guys like these engines!)
The gearbox, on the other hand, absolutely howls in first and reverse,
but seems to be decent in the other gears. I assume this will have to
be immediately rebuilt or replaced. (This is dramatic... I've never
heard anything even close in a driveable car!)
Anyway, the guy came down (a lot) from the low price his wife quoted me
to the point that I bought the car.
Not having owned such a beastie before, I have a few questions:
Will a late model 1275 Spridget gearbox bolt right up? Anybody close
have one?
Any reason not to go to dual HS2's? Anybody have a set of these they
want to get rid of? (I assume a header would make a good addition as
well... or does a street 948 need one?)
Shouldn't the 948 have a mechanical fuel pump (vice the solid state
electric that's in the car)?
Any experience with Trafficators? They _almost_ work!
I'm joining the Minor List, but I figure there's more 948 expertise
here!
Thanks again for all the help!
Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
|