I have just purchased a 1275 metro vanden plas engine to stick in my 1974 Mini Clubman whilst my ‘real’ engine is rebuilt ( at a very slow pace over the next year!)
Now I know I have to change a few things on the Metro engine to get it in, the bellhousing, slave cylinder, engine mount points etc, but the pipework has confused me a bit, the metro engine head doesnt have the heater valve on the left like most Mini engines, what can I do about that?
Also I will be fitting my LCB & inlet to the engine along with a pipercross cone airfilter, the standar 1.75SU that came with the engine, an RC40 exhaust, and an uprated carb needle from Minispares (listed as **CUD1144 **NEEDLE BBW 1300 HIF44 KN PANCAKE on MInispares site) Do I need to change anything else, should the tappett clearances be left as standard, or do they need to change? what is it best to set them at?
Is there anything else that I will need to change on the engine to get it into the Clubman?
Also, the Metro obviously had larger wheels, so the gearbox, diff etc will be geared for those, but I am using it on 10" wheels, what will this do to the performance?
Regarding the heater, you can drill it out using a 10mm drill and then everything is back to normal… you can also then remove the sandwich plate between the head and thermostat…
The rest can just be dropped in, you will obviously need to swap the flywheel over if you’re going to run a diaphragm setup ( long clutch arm ) and probably also the starter motor… and of course you’ll need your radiator,fan etc etc
Would not worry too much about the final drive the VDP is a similar spec to the MG Metro, so will probably be running a 3.4 final drive, the thing you may want to do is take the speedo drives out of your original engine and put them into the metro box.
Many thanks for that.
To drill it I’m assuming you mean with the head off? Are you talking about the heater valve or the bypass hose? Because for the heater valve (at the right on the head as you are in front of the car looking at it) doesnt have the holes for the bolts or the hole for the heater controll.
Also, with the clutch, the original engine has long gone as it was an auto. the master cylinders for brake and clutch are the same as each other, tin pot type things, does this make a difference on what slave I bolt to the bellhousing/flywheel cover?
I also have an LSD, what benefits would that give fitting it to the metro 1275 unit?
As always, any advice & tips are greatly appreciated.
You won’t have a thermostat bypass if you junk the sandwich plate, so look at keeping it if you can. An alternative is to drill the odd hole in the rim of the stat. You’ll need a separate control valve if you don’t want the heater running all the time, and the hose will be a bit bigger, so there’s a bit to do either way. The top hose is different on 1275’s because of the different fitting angle of the stat housing. I’d expect the Hif to foul the bulkhead on a Mk3. Also, test fit all your Mini mountings & stabilisers before you drop the engine in.
I’m just getting around to starting work on my Mini again, house buying/selling, moving from Watford to Cornwall etc kind of stopped play for a few years.
I purchased a Vanden Plas Metro 1275 engine to put in my Clubman whilst my other engine is rebuilt (been on the shelf for about 20 years now!)
I think the clutch was cable operated on the Metro engine, I’ve swapped over the bell housing to start putting mini bits and pieces on it, is it as simple as that or should I have changed something else? Flywheel? Clutch? starter? My knowledge isn’t great for the engine side of things, so if things do need changing, if you could explain why, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Also, how do I know if it’s suitable for unleaded fuel? The engine is actually in the car, but I think I’ll need to disconnect a few bits and take it out as I’m not happy with the ‘auto to manual’ subframe spacers.
You have done the change to hydro on the clutch. It is in the subframe so you have done the engine mounts. Starter motor just needs to be the same as the original. Plus I gather it runs so that’s fine.
