Bought a '59 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite

[McCoolidge]

for $200! The PO needed rid of it because of lack of storage. I just got the car, so I don't have any pics unfortunately. Its going to be a tear apart and rebuild project, so I need engine ideas, I was thinking an m10 with dual sidedraft webers, I really don't want to put original healey or MG bits back in it because of the lack in reliability.

[JasonC]

Haha, those thing are so ugly that they are cool.

[Wishno87]

you should try a rotary. im putting one in my 76 spitfire. in concept it should work great because the cars are really light (1800 in the case of my spitfire) so a lighter engine would help with handling and rotarys can be mounted fairly far back because they are rather short. probably not very reliable but a fun idea. i have a 12A and a 13B sitting in my garage but no fuel delivery parts for either:(

[Turf1600]

put a s14 in it

[McCoolidge]

you should try a rotary. im putting one in my 76 spitfire. in concept it should work great because the cars are really light (1800 in the case of my spitfire) so a lighter engine would help with handling and rotarys can be mounted fairly far back because they are rather short. probably not very reliable but a fun idea. i have a 12A and a 13B sitting in my garage but no fuel delivery parts for either:(

Funny you mention rotary, I considered it because we have a couple of 13B RX-7's, but I dont know if they are a practical engine to use, would it be better than an M10? more horsepower for sure.

[blunttech]

put a s14 in it

thats what id do too. that would be so badass

[Wishno87]

Funny you mention rotary, I considered it because we have a couple of 13B RX-7's, but I dont know if they are a practical engine to use, would it be better than an M10? more horsepower for sure.

they are not hugely practical to use. they get rather poor gas mileage for their size and tend to have problems with blown out apex seals. i think they would be better than an M10 though. they are lighter and the turbo II models have about 170HP stock. i dont know if the rear suspension of the Sprite would be able to handle the torque of the turbo one though.

[E30SPDFRK]

There is one near me with a fully boxed frame, chevy 327 v8 and a shortened ford 9" rear end. It has been sitting outside for about 15 years at a gas station and the guy said that I could probably have it for free. Its pretty beat though.

[ddavidv]

I wouldn't do a M10, or any BMW engine. They are all too large and heavy. You really aren't going to have room in that thing for something large unless you butcher half the car to make it fit.
A rotary makes good sense, but they have some quirks that need to be dealt with such as the height of the output shaft being unusual. The poor fuel mileage shouldn't matter in a car like this. However, the worn apex seals would be. Nice rotary donor engines are getting hard to find, and rebuilding them is expensive.
Optimally, you should be sticking something of similar physical size in there. Suzuki Swift GTi engine with a Samurai trans would be a good choice. Even an old-school Ford Cortina/Pinto/Capri 1.6 pushrod engine wouldn't be bad (not the later OHC engine which is too tall). Some Toyota or Datsun engines may fit, but for rwd you're looking at really old stuff that won't be easy to find.
My suggestion? Stick with the A series for now. You should have no trouble finding a 1275 out of a newer Sprite/Midget that will bolt right in there and have you running in no time. With the right combination of parts, they run well.
The reliability isn't so much the engine as the rest of the car. British cars are not well built. Never have been. Some good engineering but poorly executed. The rear axles in Spridgets are notoriously weak. Any huge power increase or engine swap will demand new axles at a minimum, and probably a whole diff/assy.
If you can keep the A series engine cool, it should not give problems. Upgrade the cooling system, keep the fluids clean (and in the car), and get your tuning right and you may be surprised how good it can be.

[willybustaE30]

id do a LS1 swap, there lite & a six speed to compensate for the tall gears in the rear end. we did that to one a few years back @ the shop.
we eventally put a ford 9' w/ low 3.0 ratio.
the car was sketchy but would almost kick anythings tail on the street.

there is a future project comin in "hopefully" 48 ford anglia.

[McCoolidge]

I wouldn't do a M10, or any BMW engine. They are all too large and heavy. You really aren't going to have room in that thing for something large unless you butcher half the car to make it fit.
A rotary makes good sense, but they have some quirks that need to be dealt with such as the height of the output shaft being unusual. The poor fuel mileage shouldn't matter in a car like this. However, the worn apex seals would be. Nice rotary donor engines are getting hard to find, and rebuilding them is expensive.
Optimally, you should be sticking something of similar physical size in there. Suzuki Swift GTi engine with a Samurai trans would be a good choice. Even an old-school Ford Cortina/Pinto/Capri 1.6 pushrod engine wouldn't be bad (not the later OHC engine which is too tall). Some Toyota or Datsun engines may fit, but for rwd you're looking at really old stuff that won't be easy to find.
My suggestion? Stick with the A series for now. You should have no trouble finding a 1275 out of a newer Sprite/Midget that will bolt right in there and have you running in no time. With the right combination of parts, they run well.
The reliability isn't so much the engine as the rest of the car. British cars are not well built. Never have been. Some good engineering but poorly executed. The rear axles in Spridgets are notoriously weak. Any huge power increase or engine swap will demand new axles at a minimum, and probably a whole diff/assy.
If you can keep the A series engine cool, it should not give problems. Upgrade the cooling system, keep the fluids clean (and in the car), and get your tuning right and you may be surprised how good it can be.

Would a 13b work? I have the whole drivetrain for one, if I could shorten the driveshaft and half-shafts could it work?

[Hick]

flip it for profit

[McCoolidge]

flip it for profit

I would, but in its current state it is unflippable, and its a sweet graduation present.

[damith]

Pictures Pictures Pictures pls.

I used to own a Austin Morris Minor 1000cc back home. heavy as hell, but shell was strong.
mine had the light green color as in this pic

[AndrewBird]

A/B series engines are not at all unreliable. I beat on the one in my MG all the time and have NO problems. It sees redline at least once every time I drive it.

IMO, if you're going to sell the car afterwards anyway, you would be a lot better off keeping the original engine and trying to make the car as original as possible. British car enthusiasts are worse then the guys over at s14.net when it comes to originality. Putting a rotary in it would drop the price by half, I guaranty it.