Does anybody here know the differences between the A series Engine and the A+, I have heard and read a few things but im pretty intrigued to find out the full story.
Along the same lines, are the colours of the block determined by type and size? Again if someone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated...
John
The A plus appeared in the late 1970s. The block is a stiffer casting to the A series. There's other minor revisions too. As for the colour most of mine have been a dirty oily colour. Although I think 1275 A plus blocks were red, and 998 A plus blocks were yellow. Of course anyone could repaint it.
Thanks for your reply, The only reason i ask about the colour is i have acquire a new engine. This was part of someone elses project that they now have no interest in.
Apparently the Block is an A series and has been bored out to 1340cc. It is actually that mustard yellow colour which is the same as my 89'
998cc.Were the A series 1275's yellow too?? Will there be any problems runnin an A over an A+??
John
The A+ don't have cam follower covers on the side.
But non-Cooper S A-series didn't have cam follower covers either.
Best identififer for an A+ is that it has vertical and horizontal strengthening ribs on both the front and back of the block. Older A series don't have these.
And that the A+ has a different distributor mounting clamp.
Hello John,
Then the block has been painted afterwards. (Or it's neither an A series nor a 1275 block...)
No, IIRC the color coding is the following:
- A series 850, 1000 (and 1100??): olive green
- A series 1275: black
- A+ series 1000: yellow
- A+ series 1273: red
They are interchangeable with some simple details required. The dizzy is different as has been mentioned already, so this should stay with the block The idler gear is different (A series smaller bearing diameter than the A+) Clutch arm is different. Starter motor is different. When changing from A to A+ or vice versa, you need to stay with the flywheel that suits the starter or modify the electrics to change to the new starter, too. Alternator mounting ist different, but this can be overcome by changing the bracket.
HTH Michael
Hey Michael, thanks a lot for the information is indeed helpful. With the Distributor, is it just the Bracket that is different? or is the gearing different?
Im hoping that all the bits i have are the correct ones... I would list them out but most of them are at my mates as im low on storage at the moment... Ill try and do that over the next couple of days as i would really like some opinions.
Im still not sure which colour to paint the thing either, from what you have listed it should go black really.... but the Stage 2 Head i have is Blue and has a good finish on it so i dont really want to change that. I know it really doesnt matter, but i want to get the Bay looking as nice as possible... any suggestions??
Also can anyone suggest a good book to help with all of this... in paticular the re-build, i dont really want to make any expensive mistakes, so the more help the better!!
John
Hi John,
From memory, being not absolutely sure: The gearing is most probalby the same. At least the gearing at the cam is the same, so it should be a matter of changing the gearing from cam to dizzy. But - the distributor housing is different, I believe it's the diameter. So they are not interchangeable. (As I have never tried to achieve this on my own - I might be wrong. Please correct me if I am, someone)
In case you don't want to change the head's colour - use the same on the block, too. My personal likeing is that the block and head should have the same colour. Same may say the different colours clearly tell that an uprated head has been fitted, but I just don't like it. For originality, you should go for black. Personally, I like green or red paint most.
Buy the Haynes manual. This is one of the best books avaible.
HTH Michael
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