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MG MGA - new to MGA group

Hello Group. As you can see I am a newbie. Last fall we bought 2 1/2 1500's that were in dry storage for 20+ years. Completely apart, every nut and bolt almost except the gearbox & rear end. Along with the 'find' we got 7 motors, only trouble is the motors are not MGA. All are 1500's but some are Nash Metro's & one Volvo and who knows what else. My question is, how do we start to figure out what we really have here and what parts could be used on an MGA block? Some things are obvious, the carb & intakes are not correct, not SU's. Is there any place or site that lists crossover parts or is this maybe something I should be contacting a Metro group about ? I'd really like to restore rather than part them out but my first learning curve has got to be these motors. Please feel free to contact me off group if you like at BOW1949EXU at gmail dot com. Thanks Brad
BOW Brad

Welcome! You have quite a task ahead of you. Start with mgaguru.com There's a wealth of information there, go to his expanded tech section, probably a good place for you to start.

Good Luck!
George G.

Brad

As George says...

Also over here in the UK a chap called Neil Cairns (Google his name) knows a lot about all MG engines. Might be worth a browse through his articles including this one: http://www.mg-cars.org.uk/imgytr/pdf/enginehist.pdf

Steve
Steve Gyles

Exciting times for you Brad! If it were me and knowing what I know now I would start off by buying three books 1. The BMC Service Parts List 2. the MGA 1500 Workshop Manual and 3. Original MGA by AD Clausager.

The SPL would be especially useful with you having the cars in bits as it is full of exploded diagrams of the car and parts.

Ask yourself what you want to end up with at the end of the restoration and if want a car you are proud to own and for which you wish to maximise the resale value you will need to think about originality which is where book 3. will be indispensible.

I personally wouldn't bother with the engines initially but start working from the frame up. I don't think the NM 1500 blocks had a tachometer take off anyway so you may decide to look out for a true MGA engine while the work proceeds.

But whatever you do you will find plenty of sympathetic help on this forum so good luck with the work!.......................Mike
m.j. moore

WOW, three good hits right off the bat !! My intension is to build the two cars as drivers and projects, I already have a 'trailer queen' in the TC EXU. I'm not sure yet that I don't have a (the) correct motors as such. Three of the motors are painted Metro green and have two steel fan blades (so I'm told) these are candidates to be sold. The others will need to be ID'ed. We would like to keep any crossover parts (originals only) as spares ie the heads & cranks for example. Mike mentioned the BMC SPL, how is that available ? The others from swap meets and ebay, I assume. Thanks fellows for your prompt replies. Brad
BOW Brad

Welcome to the group Brad, you will find these guys invaluable, they are very helpful and we have fun also.
I'm new also and they have helped me immensely, good luck.

Cheers Jack.
Jack New Forest

There's a very nice original SPL for the 1500 on ebay motors right now. Do a search for it on ebay, but at $135 I wouldn't buy it. There are reprints available but I'm not sure of a source for these. The mgaguru web site has the 1600 SPL in pdf format, but I think you'd want a hard copy. Maybe someone else here can recommend a source.
George G.

you will find the SPL and workshop manuals free here
http://clancy.ch/MGA_Owners_Pack.html

I am about to move all the MGA stuff to a new site as I have registered morrisgarages.ch as a domain! I just need to select a design and pay someone to do the grunt work


dominic clancy

BOW Brad, --

Where are you in Alabama? I happen to be in Alabama at the moment, near Huntsville now, soon to be heading through Birmingham en route to Columbus, Georgia. I might drip in to checkout your stuff to help determine what you have and what you might want to do with it. --

You can find a lot of BMC, MG and Morris engine codes here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/be100.htm

Barney Gaylord, 1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
Barney Gaylord

Hi Brad - welcome to the world of MGA - That is a brilliant offer from Barney - he will sort out what's what amongst your stuff - I guess we would all like to come over too as most of us love poking around old MGA stuff - usually at autojumbles though.If the Metropolitan engines are no good , You could always fit an MGB engine which are usually fairly plentiful if you don't mind a slight deviation from original. By the way , I have an original MGA 1500 service parts book(loose leaf type) going spare that is 99% complete (just the title page missing)and fairly clean with just a few pen and thumb marks . I bought it off ebay when I got my 1600 but then found a 1600 one . It's yours for $20 plus postage if you want ( which is what it cost me 12 years ago). Postage is likely to be more than the cost of the book though from here in UK.Good luck with the restoration(s) - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

Hello again group, many thanks to everyone that chipped in with notes. Since my first note, we have confirmed that three of the motors are Metropolitans, one is a correct motor of one of the a's and one is a 1622 motor. The other three are not ID'ed yet, there were actually eight not seven. Do any of the above manuals offer a conversion reference to Metro parts that were also used on the MGA ? I would hate to sell them if they contained usable A parts. Thanks again. Brad

PS Cam, yes that would be helpful on the 1500 book, could you, when you get a minute, find out the cost of postage. Please drop me a note at BOW1947EXU at gmail dot com.
BOW Brad

You could try and get hold of a Service Parts List for the NM and compare the part numbers with those in the MGA SPL assuming that NM retained the BMC part numbers. But I would first see if there is a NM club whose members you could approach for information.....................Mike
m.j. moore

The engines are pretty much identical, the main difference being the lack of a take-off from the camshaft to drive the rev counter. This is trivial to machine into the block when reconditioning an engine, as the boss is cast into all blocks. The head on the NM may be different, having smaller valves IIRC, but again easy for the engine shop to adjust when doing the head.

The place for NM parts is KIPmotor. You will find the diagram you need here

http://www.kipmotor.com/Catalogs/MET-engine.pdf

the 1622 engine is the best of the bunch that is still originally an MGA engine. It is very like the MGB engine for its power curve.
dominic clancy

I'm pretty sure the Metropolitan used the same cylinder head as the 1500 MGA. Check the casting numbers on both.
George G.

Hi Brad - I have tried emailing you but it just bounces back - tried in both upper and lower case but no go.
my email is camcunningham at btopenworld dot com
I have been to the post office this afternoon and as predicted the postage is about the same as the book costs -$21 airmail.
Cam Cunningham

The Metropolitan head has much smaller valves to go with its single carburetor. It is a rather dramatic upgrade to install an MGA engine with dual carbs in the Met.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 29/02/2016 and 07/03/2016

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