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'76 MG Midget and '78 Spitfire 1500 engine swap?

The basic question is, can I swap a 1976 MG Midget engine into a 1978 Triumph Spitfire? To make matters worse I'm in California with all the smog requirements, fortunately both cars are already California cars from the factory.

The longer story is a did a very clean rebuild of the MG engine (about $2,500) then ran into smog pump problems and sort of lost interest in the car. Body is a bit worn and the interior trashed anyway.

Just picked up the Spitfire which has a decent body and mediocre engine.

I would love to see that engine run that I worked over, if it fits the Triumph that would be great.

An alternative is to complete the MG and get what I can sell it for. I'm too tall for the MG but fit the Triumph so the MG has to go.

Thanks in advance for comments/opinions.

Rick

Reply to
Rick
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Hi Rick, I can't pretend to be an expert on the US spec engines, but the engine in the UK versions is essentially the same between the two cars. The Midget was modifed to take the Triumph 1500 engine from around 1975 as that engine had already been modifed to meet US emissions standards. As such, I would expect most of the plumbing to be similar - the basic engines should be identical by year, though there may be slight anomalies because of changes made between 1976 and 1978. Hope that helps, Cheers, Bill.

-- Rarebits4classics .......just what you've been looking for

PO Box 1232 Calne Wiltshire SN11 8WA United Kingdom

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Reply to
William Davies

The short answer is yes. On UK cars the only difference AFAIK is the exhaust manifold (header to you). The engine mountings may be different but they should just bolt on. Not too sure about all the emmissions crap you get in Cali...but hey you can always move states...Engine and box are the same....maybe just valve and cam diffrences oh and they have different makes of clutch slave too but they are interchangeable. Jonners

Reply to
Jon Tilson

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