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ANY Minx guys around

Hillman

Gold Level Sponsor
When I joined this group my only Rootes car was a Minx drophead (hence the forum name). After getting an Alpine roadworthy, the Minx stayed in storage for a few years. A few years ago I sold it to a local guy. He chiseled the price and I sold it to him so it would be seen in public. Yesterday we went to a show about an hour away. Since he didn't bother to check his oil or rad level (or fix the guages that died after I sold it to him) he put a rod through the pan.

I'm pretty sure that one of my SI Alpine engines will bolt in but the exhaust header may need work. My understanding is that the Minx vs. Alpine was a different cam, head and (of course) manifolds.

He is whining about several grand to rebuild the Minx engine And (AH that I am) I'm considering offering him an installed Alpine engine for a couple of K. I think i can fabricate a header that will fit but not be all that efficient.

Any thoughts
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
The minx uses a iron head on the alpine style bottom end. The cam and distributor drive are different, same goes for harmonic balancer (no dampening) and intake exhaust manifolds fit the iron head not alloy.

If you drop in a whole alpine motor should be fine.. use the late style cast header and attach Y pipe to it.. that said.. minx should have enough room for the alpine headers if you have.

If you have a whole long engine it should be fine.. if you have a short engine there will be a fair bit of swapping parts.
 

Hillman

Gold Level Sponsor
Thanks for both the public and private reply. I'll try it with the early headers that I thought wouldn't fit.
 

Hillman

Gold Level Sponsor
Time flies when you are having fun. Pulled the engine out of the Minx today. A huge hole in the lower block where the rod went through. Put the Alpine engine on a stand, removed pan and measured thrust washer clearance. In the neighbourhood of .028. Spec is .002 - .004. Is the wear likely to be on the washers or the crank. Obviously they need replacing, but is stock likely to be right or is it more likely that the crank is worn also requiring oversize?

AFAIK, the crank has never been reground and everything internal came from the factory.

Ideas welcome.

Al
 

V6 JOSE

Donation Time
Hi Alex,

The wear will be mostly on the thrust washers, since their surface that contacts the crank is babited and thus softer than the crank material. That doesn´t mean that the thrust faceson the crank can´t be also worn, but your crank man should be able to inspect that when you take him the crank. Since your crank was still well inside the tolerances, I would venture to guess that the thrust faces on the crank are still good.

If your engine spit a rod, I would have the crank magnafluxed to assure that it isn´t cracked. You didn´t say if the journal that had the bas rod, was damaged too, like it would with a severe rod knock before it threw the rod. If the crank isn´t cracked, is made of forged steel, but has a damaged rod journal, your crank man can weld it up and it will be fine as new. Cast cranks can be welded up too, but they don´t look as pretty as a steel crank weld.

Jose


Time flies when you are having fun. Pulled the engine out of the Minx today. A huge hole in the lower block where the rod went through. Put the Alpine engine on a stand, removed pan and measured thrust washer clearance. In the neighbourhood of .028. Spec is .002 - .004. Is the wear likely to be on the washers or the crank. Obviously they need replacing, but is stock likely to be right or is it more likely that the crank is worn also requiring oversize?

AFAIK, the crank has never been reground and everything internal came from the factory.

Ideas welcome.

Al
 

Hillman

Gold Level Sponsor
Thanks Jose. The engine that thru a rod is scrap (in my opinion). The one with thrust washer issues is a spare I've had in heated storage for years. It ran ok when pulled. I have no plans to disassemble it but will probably plastigage the mains as well as new thrusts. I guess I'll see if Rick at SS has any stock size, they have to be better than worn ones
 

John W

Bronze Level Sponsor
.002 - .004 sounds like new specifications. Since the engine ran great before removal, maybe the tolerance for replacement is above .028?
 
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