I've never seen any comparisons on 'reliability' for any of the A-series
engines, but these are 'British cars' for gosh sakes, and I don't think I've
ever seen the words 'British' and 'reliable' in the same sentence ;-)
Seriously though, I would suspect that overall the 1275 might come out more
reliable, or at least last longer between rebuilds. Since the 1275 has a lot
more torque, it doesn't have to be revved as high or as often, thus increasing
the life of the valve train bearings, etc. Since it takes the same amount of
work to rebuild a 1098 vs a 1275, I personally would always go with the 1275
simply because after all is done, you end up with more torque and power.
As far as the Tranny goes, the 'ribcase' tranny is supposed to be much
'stronger' than the 'smooth case', and if you do go with the 1275, you should
probably use the ribcase to handle of the increase in power.
I'm sure there are other members of the list that have a lot more experience
with the various engines, and can give you 'testimonials' as to which they
prefer.
Good luck - Bryan (59-bugeye 1275 - ribcase (soon to be 5-speed))
>Subject: 1275cc engine questions
>To: spridgets@autox.team.net
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>
>Hi list. Is the 1275 a very dependable engine? How dose it compare with the
>1098 on reliability? I know the 1275 has more power which is nice but I am
>looking at how reliable it is to make my decision on which one I will drop
>into my 1962 Sprite. Also I want the lists view on the compatibility and
>reliability of my original smooth case tranny with the 1098 and 1275. It only
>has 72,000 original miles on it and appears to be in very good condition yet.
>Very little to no play in the shafts inside the caseing and still very clean
>inside. Thanks in advance.
>
>Jamie
>1962 AH Sprite MK II (under restoration)
>1976 Spitfire 1500 (body shell parting out)
>1978 Olds Cutlass Supreme (wife's car)
>1979 Spitfire 1500 "Judas"
>1979 Trans Am (back on the road again)
>Web site links: <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/darkside/mycar.html">We
>lcome to my british car site</A>
> Register your Sprite here: <A
>HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/darkside/SpriteData.html">Austin Healey
>Sprite database</A>
> Register your Midget here: <A
>HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/darkside/MidgetData.html">MG Midget
>database</A>
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