After a Triumph or MG club driving event, particularly one where I've driven
at 4,000-4,700 for several miles, it never fails that someone will come up
to me and tell me how great my Midget sounds. I have to agree. It really
is a sweet sound, which I enjoy listening to, for short periods. However,
after a few hours, it just adds to the other sounds which contribute to
fatigue. Since I really enjoy driving long distances in my Midget, and plan
to do more and more long drives with it, I'm looking to set one Midget up to
be somewhat less ahhhh.....boisterous than my '72. Not 'whisper quiet', but
not nearly as attention getting as the '72 (with MGB Ansa rear box).
Oh, I guess I should add that my '72 has gone over 160,000 miles, with one
freshening of the original 1275, at somewhere around 100,000 miles (I ran a
'spare' 1275 for about 20K-30K of those miles). I'd have to look at my log
book for the exact mileage, but, I do recall that the crank was judged to be
excellent, and was left at std./std. Same with the cylinder bores, pistons
& cam. New lifters, oil pump, cam drive chain & sprockets, and a few other
minor items were all that was done. It has since spent many, many hours at
4,000 rpm, and more than just a few at above 4500. Oil consumption is the
same as it's been for as long as I can remember, and oil pressure is still
very good. I'm gonna take a good look at it, over the winter, just because
I don't believe in running them until the crank journals shine, and the oil
smoke gags anyone following me. In short, I've found the 1275 to be as
rugged and dependable as I could ever wish.
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From Robert E. Shlafer [mailto:pilotrob at webtv.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 4:41 AM
To: Bud Osbourne; Frank Clarici
Cc: spridgets
Subject: RE: Non-hypothetical question, 1098 vs. 1275
"I run at 4500rpm all day"
....and you have spare engines on the shelf which you can rebuild and
install quickly and economically! There are those of us who haven't your
advantages at hand, for one reason or another. Or who simply wish to treat
machinery differently (if at all possible) in accordance with different
training, as in my case (jet engines are VERY expensive and "big brother" IS
watching!:)
But you are absolutely
correct (IMHE) is that even the stock Series
A is pretty much bulletproof, as is the whole driveline. LEC's on the whole
are very
tough machines.
Cap'n Bob
Basic Frog
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