I recently picked up a '58 Austin A35 off of eBay. Got it from a great guy, had it brought from Ohio to M***achusetts and really haven't done much to it other than to begin removing parts and pieces for resurrection/restoration. I need some advice on what might fit in the engine bay without a whole lot of chopping. As the body shell is just SO nice, nearly rust and rot free, and the unibody rails and suspension mounting points still intact and perfect, I'd rather not do a tube front front clip/rear tub/Mustang II anything to it. Just slide a drive line into place and see what happens later. (OR . . . be talked into a full-on g***er-style ride; I'm completely lost here !) Has anyone ever worked on this year/make/model before and done an engine/transmission transplant? Any advice/knowledge/points/tips/suggestions/etc. would be a HUGE help as the car is a blank slate right now. I can get a Turbo Bird L4, Buick V6, Rover V8, Chevy V6 and a Rotary right away if those might be good choices. If anyone has any other choices that seem better, I need to hear form you. Some photos below, Thanks in advance. TC
I'd stuff the biggest thing I could fit between the tires and still turn. What kind of room do you have to work with ? That would be the determining factor since you prefer not to cut anything
What was the original engine, 948cc BMC 4 banger like the Morris minor and MG/Austin Spridget? I think the head on those was 12 1/2" long, nothing will fit without cutting. A 2300 pinto will look huge in it! If it was the same as the larger 1600 MGA and magnette, a pinto 2300 should fit. Ive seen MGAs with small block Ford and Chev, Buick/Oldsmobile/Rover 215s. If it shares parts with a Magnette, anything that will fit in an MGB will fit
I'd love to do something like a small Hemi in there!! Leave it as stock-looking as possible, widen the wheels, full tube ch***is, and have a blast!! My advise to you - if you cannot weld; if you have never built (I mean built, not glued on a trinket from AutoZone) from the ground up; sell this to someone who can/has. The ch***is on this car was flimsy with the 6 1/2 horsepower it had stock. Any more, and you're just asking for fracture. And those brakes?!?! The Brits didn't NEED brakes, they have hedgerows to run into. Which explains the 6" drums on an Austin 7... Yes, this car must have a complete ch***is built for it, or restored to ugly - I mean stock. Cosmo (Yup, NOT feeling that warm fuzzy tonight, just layin' it onna line.)
I have about one foot eleven inches/two feet in length and one foot four inches in width between the "frame" rails. About two feet in width at the upper part of the engine bay and two feet four inches in height from the "frame" rails to the hood. I can drop an L4 into it with inches to spare, maybe a V6 as well. There's a steering link cross bar running side to side just forward of the fire wall and about ten inches up from where the transmission center line would be. This with no cutting at all, anything bigger would mean finding a way around the steering cross link potentially being in the way. Any other empirical knowledge would be a huge help ! Thanks, TC
I'd go the g***er route............straight axle with big honkin' motor.........or maybe just use the stock engine (4 cyl?) but with zoomies ..........
Holy **** that's tiny. My Harley has a bigger engine bay lol. You could squeeze a vanguard in there I bet. There's a 3 cylinder diesel for sale on CL I saw the other day. Can't remember where though.
This sounds like the Morris set-up. Does it have a weird lever action shock with one arm that is the upper A-arm? If it does, you're screwed! I looked long and hard at a Morris (had 2) trying to find something that would fit where the 948/1098 cc BMC engine was without cutting and building a ch***is.
An austin healy sprite 1275 should bolt in, although you will probably want the matching ribcase gearbox too. It might be worthwhile looking at some pommy sites to see what others have fitted into them.
How about a Triumph motorcycle engine? Or even stranger a 2 stroke snowmobile engine like a Rotax? Lots of power no weight.
"Does it have a weird lever action shock with one arm that is the upper A-arm?" Yup, the front end has Armstrong lever shocks. Just measured out my 231 Buick V6 and it come in at one foot 11 inches in length to the front crank pulley, a little less width at the upper headers, and ten inches wide at the oil pan. It'll fit the engine bay, but the header will foul the steering box. I could run the headers out through the fender wells with some cutting and welding pretty easily.
Same engine was used in Austin Marina, MG Midget, Austin Healey Sprite and Austin Mini, up to 1275cc, made up into the 80s. Suspension likewise shared with Midget and Sprite. Later ones had disc brakes and possibly R&P steering (not positive on the steering). If you can find a rusty Spridget cheap you could be in business.
I've got an early MG Midget front suspension and brake ***embly coming in soon, and a located a good late model 3.9 MG Midget rear end, complete from drum to drum. Both front and rear are bolt-ins for the A35. Of course the Midget rear isn't the strongest in the world, but the only week point is the spiders, the axles and bearings are over-built. I can baby it no matter which engine goes in, at least until I get everything set up correctly and operational, then have a Mustang rear narrowed to fit, I've got a couple of Mustang GT traction-loc rears around to use for it. The Rotary is beginning to look like a good choice, VERY high revving so highway driving won't be a problem at all, compact, super easy fit, and very low torque so the strain on the Midget rear end would be less than it would be with the stock MG drive train. A ch***is swap using an aftermarket T-Bucket ch***is would be a nice sure thing, just not wanting to go that far with this body shell. It's neat, small, different, but not my dream date. THAT would be an old Valiant done full G***er-style.
For laughs you should find a Vtwin or V4 shaft drive motorcycle engine and trans. Only problem would be no reverse gear but there are workarounds for that.
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