SOLD -
I'm clearing out my shop in preparation for my hot rod Mini build and I have a 1275 GT block, crank and a good rod change gearbox that have been in the way, so I guess I'm going to build it up and sell it on.
The plan is to build a ready to run package, with everything run in and ready to simply drop in the car.
If someone wants something specific I can easily change it at this point. I have all the parts in my cart at Spares just waiting to pull the trigger. Build time will be roughly 2 months depending on machine shop time.
Specs as follows:
1275 GT block that's never been bored
Rod change gearbox, new synchros, bearings and pot joints, 3:44 on a cross pin diff. Other ratios available
Stock 1300 crank turned 10 under and micro polished. New rod, main, cam and thrust bearings
12G940 head, ported, hardened seats, skimmed, 3 angle valve job
10.3 compression pistons, +40
Evo1 camshaft and lifters, 200lb dual springs, new 35.6 intakes and 29.7 exhausts, forged 1.3 rockers on HD shaft
New electronic dizzy, coil, starter and alternator
New timing chain, water pump
Lightened Verto flywheel and clutch assy
Almost new HIF44 carb on MiniSpares intake- carb has only been used on my engine test stand
LCB header, ceramic coated on request at extra cost ($200) otherwise painted with VHT
New aluminum radiator and hoses. Used aluminum valve cover or powder coated tin rocker cover
Engine painted in your choice of color, cam run in on my engine stand, ready to drop into your car and go.
Depending on final spec, cost will be right around $6K parts and labor, no core - Plus crating and shipping if not picked up from my shop in Kansas City.
SOLD
Wow. I'm not in the market for one but that's a great deal.
is the 1275gt an A+ block? Not super familiar with anything GT. May be interested, I just cannot get mine to run reliably and I think I may just need to pull it and refresh it. A drop in running engine might be a solution I could get behind instead.
No, this is a pre-A+
1275 GT was just before the A+ came out.
Well everything else I have is all pre A+ as well so that is probably better I suppose LOL
I did a light cleanup of the various parts so I could get casting numbers off of them and give a description.
Block is a Pre-A+ 1275/1275GT thick flange block.
Three cylinder heads to choose from, 2 - 12G940's, one normal, one SPi with no heater tap or water pump bypass, and one 12G1316 - which used on Sprites and other smog pump engines, air ports plugged, this is generally considered to be one of the better flowing heads.
Pic of the gearbox pre-disassembly which shows how clean it is inside.....always a good sign.
Pic of the crank showing the casting number 12G1505A which is simply the std 1275 crank with the 2" mains and 1-3/4" rod journals
Sold
So, I got the check in the mail and pushed the go button on a big order of parts for this engine build.
DHL says they'll be here on Friday and the future owner is coming to visit my shop this weekend and check things out.....if he can add it to his busy schedule. He lives in Fla but is visiting his father in Tulsa, and will come up if he can.
Monday the head will go downtown to the headshop for hardened seats, new guides and a valve job.
The block and crank will go to another shop on the opposite end of town to be bored and have the rotating assembly balanced.
No idea how long to get the parts back from the machine shops, the head usually takes 2 weeks but can take up to 4. The block guy says he's backed up 2 months but somehow manages to squeeze me in and sometimes gets it done in only a couple of weeks to a month.
We'll see...........
Parts came in from MiniSpares, so I spent some time cleaning the block, tapping all the 50 or so holes in it, and gathering all the rotating assembly parts. I also put the clutch and new flywheel together so I can send the rotating assembly to the crank shop to be balanced and have the crank micro-polished
I had gone to the local machine shop last week to see how busy they were and they weren't too backed up, today when I went to deliver the block and crank he said he wished I would have called first as he was now out about 2 months!
So I guess I'll get to spend some time working on other projects......
Well, the machine shop finally called about the engine block - just over a month since I dropped it off - and said it would be done early next week. Crank is back, polished, balanced etc. Block will be bored 40 over, surfaced, baked and tumbled, and pistons assembled on the rods.
I picked up the head a week or so ago, all new seats, valve job, resurfaced etc, just need to get the paint off cleaned up and then I can reassemble it.
Total machine shop bills will be close to $1300!!!! :-\
I need to get cracking on some of my other work too, the Moke is here for an alternator and a speedometer/fuel gauge repair along with new axle seals, an oil change and a few other bits and bobs. The quality of rubber parts from Mini sources has just gone to shit....they don't last long enough to get a car out of the shop before they split. I've had to go to the auto parts store and buy generic American ones to get some that last. The shifter boot I put on the Moke only lasted a few months so I have a new one from another source to try now.
Picked up the block, crank assembly and head from the machine shop - yes the valve job was already done, but I let the block guy put it in his "tumbler" to clean all the old paint off of it, came out terrific - as did the block. The tumbler is just what it sounds like, some kind of vibratory bath that uses heat and stainless bits to clean the block inside and out. They charged $60 to do this but it comes out looking like a fresh casting, I think it was worth it!
Before I can go any further tho, I need to finish putting the green car back together (I pulled the motor to fix some damn oil leaks) and once it's off the rack I need to move Clancy's Moke in for some work. Lots of little projects including changing over from the generator to an alternator, changing the oil and filter, replacing the axle seals and a few other odds and ends.
I still have a little work to do on the Inno, including finding and fixing oil leaks on IT too and a little electrical finish up. Then I'd like to put some miles on it.
So, this one will go on the back burner for a couple of weeks. I sure hope the weather holds so I can get it painted.....
That does leave a nice finish. Shame to cover it in paint but paint beats rust anyday.
Agreed, but the best part is that the internals of the block all look the same, including inside the water jackets - clean as a pin!
I think you mentioned that you use Noland's for your head machining but what machine ship do you have clean and bore the block and turn/balance the crank?
I had been using Precision Machine in Independence, but this time I went back to QCKC in Lenexa to do the block (they could do the head also but don't have a small enough mandrel to fit the guides, so I used Nolands for cyl head work) QCKC sent the rotating assembly to Manhattan to be balanced, but they micc'd everything first to see if it needed to be turned (it didn't) and they micro-polished the crank.
Everything is back now, if you and Jim want to come by and check out their work, you're welcome. Jim has my contact info or you can PM me here for it.
Since the weather has changed for the worse (high tomorrow of 35, low of 17!, low 40's all next week) I can't get any paint work done till it warms up a bit. I do have everything cleaned up and ready tho.....I still have a few transmischigan parts coming, they will be here next week, so I'll go ahead and strip it down and get it cleaned and ready too - then it's just a matter of putting it all back together and into the test stand to run.
I got a chance to see their cleanup operation too - first they put it in an oven and bake it to turn paint and oil into dust, then it goes into the tumbler where the tiny ss balls beat everything clean as a pin - using SS means nothing gets magnetized and trapped. Then it gets blown out with air and put into the jet washer. Once that's done they start all the machine work, and when that's finished it goes back into the jet wash for one final clean up.
It's been really cold the last week or so, much too cold to get much work done in the shop, but I have managed to get the head assembled and the block cleaned and ready to paint. I still have a few sheet metal parts to clean up, and I'll be disassembling the transmichigan tomorrow so I can paint the case too.
We're headed for a warming trend the next few days so I have to be ready as it may be the last time this year it gets warm enough to paint.
Once the paint is cured out I'll be into assembly and test run. Still a box full of parts to put in it....
IMG_20221118_152521R.jpg
IMG_20221118_162052R.jpg
No idea why it posted those pics twice, I only attached 'em once!
The block and head are taped up and ready to paint, I'll be taking the wire brush on an angle grinder to the rest of the sheet metal tomorrow, Mondy and Tuesday are the warmest days, so that's when I'll paint/
I'll try this pic thing again.....
Well, today will be paint day, if my luck holds we should be in the mid 50's this afternoon - it really needs to be at least 50 to paint according to the side of the can.
I got some primer on most of the small bits yesterday, today I'll do the block and head and get color on everything. I'm hopeful that I can get all the color on before about 3 pm, so it can sit outside and vent the fumes; when I bring freshly painted stuff into the shop it tends to stink up the place, and makes the bride wrinkle her nose in a cute but pointed way.
Dave, I just discovered if you upload an attachment and also hit insert that it will post twice. All that's needed is upload and wait for it to turn green before you post.
Yep, I figured that out after the first one did it.....thanks.
It's really cold in the garage these days - tho we do get the odd day where it jumps up into the 50's, it's mostly low 30's and low 20's at night, so the shop gets cold and stays that way, limiting how long I can work out there before my feet get too cold.
I'm mostly done with the Moke, just waiting on a shift boot (Thanks to Willie B!) and Clancy plans to come get it Sat. It's going to be in the 50's again on Fri so I'll do the test drive then and check out how far off the speedo is (thanks for that, MPlayle!). I do know the ign light now works!
So, with the block all painted and cleaned, today I'll get the cam bearings installed, then later it will be pistons, lifters, cam and then the crank. I think I have everything I need to finish the engine part of the build, then later I'll tear down the transmichigan and rebuild it.
Got some more work on this engine build done....
First after more cleaning, I got the cam bearings installed. It's pretty tricky to get these in just the right place as on two of them you have to align holes in the bearing shell with holes in the block to insure adequate pressure and flow to the bearings. 1st pic shows the front bearing installed and the holes lined up perfectly.
Next the pistons went in, then the crankshaft. I made sure there was the spec clearance on the thrust washers then bolted up the mains. Pulled the pistons up to meet the crank and put all the caps on, then torqued everything up while spinning the crank occasionally to make sure nothing bound up.
Next the lifters went in and then the cam. It all went together perfectly so I put the front plate on and cam retaining plate and snugged it up. That was enough for tonight, it's only 40* in the shop right now and my feet got cold.
Some more progress.....
I have a simplex timing chain in stock, but I don't have a single row crank gear, I do have double row crank and cam gears so I ordered a duplex chain today.
In the meantime I went ahead and cleaned the top of the block, put the studs in place and slid the gasket down. Then, ON with it's head!
I had already built up the rocker arm assembly, installed the new push rods dropped the head on and tightened it down.
It's really cold in the shop today so I decided to torque it tomorrow. With that done I'll be moving onto the gearbox rebuild, starting with the teardown tomorrow as it's supposed to maybe get into the 40's.
Well, I found my double row timing chain - it's one of the good Iwis chains too!
Of course I ordered one from Moss yesterday - I hope they can cancel the order since I placed it on Sat.
So today I torqued the head, adjusted the valve clearance and set up to check the cam timing.
You want me to move this thread into your garage section?
Yes please, I guess it makes more sense to have it there now.... :great:
Finished up the basic motor, now on to the transmichigan rebuild. Once that's done, I'll marry them up and drop it in the engine stand for the test run and cam break in procedure.
Working on the gearbox now, most everything looks really good so it should be a straightforward rebuild. The only issue I have with this one is that the drain plug is stripped, so I'm looking into helicoil kits or other ideas to fix that. Worst case I'll use the other gearbox I have.....at least the case.
I think it was Mini Spares, one time when I was looking for a drain plug, that had some sort of tapered drain plug to supposedly fix the stripped case issue. I remember at the time that it seemed like a really strange way to address the problem because you had to be sure not to tighten it down all the way to the head or you could crack the housing.
Seemed like a great way to create a much bigger problem at some point, like the first time the knuckle head at the oil change place cranked it in all the way not knowing you were not supposed to.
Maybe they have an oversized plug you could tap it out to?
http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx|Back%20to%20search (http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx%7CBack%20to%20search)
One of these?
I wouldn't do that, I'll either helicoil it or use the other case.....I'll need to pop the drain plug out of the other case so I can see what size it is - I think it's 5/8-16 or 5/8-18......
Edit: it's 5/8-11 actually
Helicoil should do the trick fairly easily.
Ordered the helicoil kit today, in the meantime I'll go ahead and get everything cleaned up, the cross pin diff installed, synchros changed and so on.
I also need to paint the case if it warms up enough one of these days.
Motor is ready to be married up to the gearbox, clutch is all put together etc. Unless I find another surprise it should go together fairly quickly.
Quote from: MiniDave on December 08, 2022, 10:39:01 AMhttp://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx|Back%20to%20search (http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Gearbox/DP2.aspx?15&ReturnUrl=/search/classic/drain%20plug.aspx%7CBack%20to%20search)
One of these?
I wouldn't do that, I'll either helicoil it or use the other case.....I'll need to pop the drain plug out of the other case so I can see what size it is - I think it's 5/8-16 or 5/8-18......
Edit: it's 5/8-11 actually
Yeah that is the one, and I agree real stupid idea. I was just wondering about a standard oversized plug, like you can get for just about any sort of late model car. Does not look like they offer one, so helicoil it is I guess.
So today I got everything cleaned up, all those thousands of threaded holes cleaned out with a tap and hard nasty gaskets scraped off.
Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50's and sunny, so tomorrow and Sunday will be the final paint days. I'll probably wait for the helicoil kit to come in before I do the assembly, it's a lot easier to clean out metal chips from an empty case than one full of gears.
Speaking of drain plugs, this one had an odd solution (better than what MiniSpares suggests) to fix the stripped hole, there was a sort of rubber plug that threads into a clip that fit inside gearbox. Strange, but effective.....
Here is the drain plug they used......
Yesterday's weather was cold and damp so no painting.....it was this same this morning but about 3 pm the sun burned thru the fog and I hustled everything out into the back yard and gave it all a coat of paint...it was still only about 40* so as soon as the paint flashed of I took it back in the shop to cure - it's about 60's in the shop and this paint dries really quickly, but it will take a couple of days for it to cure out and harden off so I can handle it.
With the case turned over I noticed there were still some threads left in the drain plug hole, but I'm sure it's not enough to hold the plug and not leak so I'm still going to helicoil it.
Lots of parts in one of these gearboxes! And I don't even have the cluster disassembled.....
Got the helicoil done and the drain plug draws up nicely....I even poured some oil in and let it sit for a couple of hours to see if it was going to leak - it didn't, so Yay!
If anyone has a stripped out drain plug and would like to use the tool, let me know. I did have to go buy the correct sized drill bit as one didn't come with the kit.
It's not difficult, although it might be a bit tricky doing one on the car, only because of recovering the aluminum chips.
For those who have never used one before, there are plenty of tutorials on the web, but in essence you drill the hole oversize, tap the threads with the tap in the kit, then wind in a stainless coil that makes the threads back to the original size. Works a treat.
Tricky parts are making sure you drill the hole perfectly straight and in this case, you have to shorten the insert a little (2 1/2 coils) as the hole isn't that deep.
That alternative drain plug looks like a drywall anchor and a toilet stopper mated. Ugh!
That is what I thought......interesting use of a drywall anchor :13:
I guess it must have worked though, sometimes you just got to get by I guess.
Actually, that is a legitimate "emergency" drain plug replacement. There are several styles available including that one.
Check out some of the ones on this google search:
Expansion drain plugs (https://www.google.com/search?q=Rubber+expansion+oil+drain+plug&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj-t-vP4_n7AhV82MkDHdpaCx8Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=Rubber+expansion+oil+drain+plug&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEAgQHjoHCAAQgAQQGFCaFFj_JWDILGgAcAB4AIABY4gBtgeSAQIxMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=OhuaY_6yJPywp84P2rWt-AE&bih=616&biw=898&client=firefox-b-1-d)
The "emergency" being that someone stripped the drain plug threads out of the case? :grin:
These threads are so big it must take a huge amount of torque to strip them!
this emergency plug looked like it had been in there a very long time....at any rate it's all better now.
I also got the new header stripped and painted with high temp paint. It may not last a huge long time but it looks great for now! :13:
Also, the chinesium radiator came in this morning too.
Now all I have to do is put it all together and get it running..... all
I like this adapter they have.
https://www.creativespridgets.com/ordering/thermo-adapter-plate-nda2h-gnpr6
But a little expensive maybe at $85.
Oh, that's actually a great idea - to adapt my EFI setup I drilled and tapped the heater tap hole in the head to 3/8 pipe.
I got a good start on putting the gearbox together. Put all new synchros in the cluster, installed it and the bearings, then the laygear and the center oil pickup. It sounds simple enough but these things can fight you a bit....and doing this much took about 4 hours today.
Next I'll shim three places - the pinion bearing retainer, the side bearings on the diff, and the intermediate gear. Then it's just a matter of putting the rest of it together. I have the shift sleeve and seal kit, and new side cover seals and pot joints to install too.
I took a careful look at my spare gearbox and it's not good. There are broken pieces, bearings broken and I don't know what all. It's a rebuildable and usable core, but that's about it.
Got the transmichigan pretty much done, still a few things to button up but it's moving right along.....
Hit a snag.......none of the primary gears I have are correct for this engine/trans combination. I need a 29 tooth primary gear with the stepped bushing inside for an A+ 1275 crank.
I have the earlier 24 tooth for a pre-A 1275 and a 29 tooth but for a 998 but 998 cranks don't use the stepped bushing.
Trying to decide if it would be quicker to just get one from MiniSpares, given the Xmas rush it might slow shipping down a bunch.....he was hoping to pick it up just after Xmas.
If you are in a pinch to get it done, I believe I have a used one in my engine spares.
I would have to check it to make sure it is the correct one. Probably take at least three days via USPS.
I would just need it replaced at some point.
I was going to say Guessworks has these too, but it looks like he is out of stock:
http://www.guess-works.com/Shop/Parts/display.htm?id=199
thanks, but it looks like I got lucky....a local guy had one and needed the early 1275 ones I had, so we did a swap - fits perfectly so I'm good to go!
It needs a bit of clean up but it's the correct one.....
I had to change out the bearing race in the clutch cover (drop gears housing) for the end bearing on the first motion gear. It's a bear as it's in a blind hole held in place with a snap ring.....even getting the snap ring out is a challenge!
I think most guys just heat the housing and smack it on a piece of wood, but I had no luck getting the race out so I resorted to using a dremel tool to cut thru the race so I could pry it out of the hole. I bought a $10 corded dremel-esque tool from HF to cut the race and .....well it took about 2 hours as this thing is so under powered. Getting the race out once it was cut also was a bear because you can't get a tool under the lower edge to pry it up.
I finally got it out and got the new race installed, so it's good to go now.
Tomorrow I plan on getting it all buttoned up and maybe even into the engine stand for its first start up.....we'll see how far I get as it's really cold in the shop these days.
More progress tonight, should be ready to put in the engine stand tomorrow, and running by Tues or Wed. Still have a few things left to fettle before I can fire it up, but it's getting close.
The engine is mounted in the stand and ready to crank up oil pressure, but it's -6* today so I'm going to wait till Monday when it will be back in the low 20's to fire it up - it's just too cold in the shop right now to do anything.
We've got 'ol pressure......
It's alive!!!!
Video later today after I retorque the head and reset the valves......I had to adjust the oil pressure down a bit, it was idling at 80 psi. I set it to run 60-65 when warmed up, it now idles at 50 psi warm.
Now onto your hot rod mini? After the Inno electrical gremlins of course.
The owner picked up his new engine today.....he says there is nothing wrong with the one in his car, but it was time to refresh under the bonnet anyway, so he decided to go for it. This one should have about 20% more power than his old one, so there should be a noticeable uptick in performance.
Inno electrical and oil leaks next, then onto the hot rod, I'll need to get the shell up here so I can start cutting it apart......still need the motor to show up too.