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Overdrive/5 speed options for 1500 Midget?

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RossL

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The only 5 speed kit I see for the 1500 (1978) Midget is the Moss kit.

Are there any other options available (5 speed or OD)?

Anyone have experience with the Moss Kit?
 
Remember, you asked if there are any other options...

Here's one - find a Datsun 210 GX with a good motor and the 5 speed trans.
Here's another, find a Datsun A12 with dual SU carbs and a 5 speed.

I had to kick myself hard last month when an A12 with dual SU's came up on Craigslist here for only $100 and someone else got to it first.

These motors will mate right up to the 5 speed and not much has to be done to fit it into your 78 Midget.

However, if you really want to keep the original motor then your options are limited. I wonder if BillM has worked out an adapter yet?
 
RickB said:
Remember, you asked if there are any other options...

Here's one - find a Datsun 210 GX with a good motor and the 5 speed trans.
Here's another, find a Datsun A12 with dual SU carbs and a 5 speed.

I had to kick myself hard last month when an A12 with dual SU's came up on Craigslist here for only $100 and someone else got to it first.

These motors will mate right up to the 5 speed and not much has to be done to fit it into your 78 Midget.

However, if you really want to keep the original motor then your options are limited. I wonder if BillM has worked out an adapter yet?
Click to expand...

Trying to keep the car as original as possible. It's a 2 owner 42000 mile car that's been in the current owners possesion since 1979
 
Spitfire's had your engine and a laycock overdrive option. Don't know if there would be room but that may be something to consider.
Agree with Rick though. You could swap engine and trans for a Datsun with not many mods and have more power and a 5 speed plus probably more reliability.

Kurt.
 
Before installing OD or a 5 speed I humbly suggest that you think really hard about the kind of driving you intend to do in this car. Unless you're spending a LOT of time on superslab highways at 65MPH++, the stock gearing will be just fine.

An OD or 5 speed conversion is a lot of work, and it's relatively expensive. Don't do it unless you're convinced beyond doubt that the majority of your driving will be at higher speeds, or that you'll need a lot more top end speed for some reason (are you racing Porsches?).

The stock gearing is perfect for the car, *unless* you have some unusual need for more top end speed, or sustained speeds above 60ish MPH.

Save that money and purchse some wire wheels or a leather interior (or both!).

Good luck, let us know . . . :thumbsup:
 
If you do not already have 3.7 gears, you could do that to drop the rpms just a bit.
 
RickB said:
I wonder if BillM has worked out an adapter yet?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Further development has been passed along to me. I planned on getting it sorted soon, however; seeing I am currently between income streams it has been delayed.
 
Having driven my 1500 a little bit. 1st is synchonized and it does not seem like a bad gearbox. Seems pretty low in 1st so there is lots of room to increase the final drive ratio. Diff gear would be your cheapest and easiest option if you want higher gearing.
 
Agree that if you don't have the 3.7 diff in your car that that would be your best option. Diff change is a few hour job. If your car does have the 3.7 then I can't see any reason to worry about a 5 speed.

Kurt.
 
If it's a '78 it should already have the 3.7 in it.
If you are feeling the need for the OD then you must already be driving it over 60mph on a regular basis.
What are your current RPM's at 60, and at 70mph?
I'd expect you are going about 4000 rpm at 70 right?
Maybe the Spitfire OD unit is the best idea, it's a Spitfire drive train after all. That would preserve originality.
 
You could scour the UK and see if anybody has the 39/11 gearset. I got the last set that Vicky brit had a few years back I think. It works out to 3.5454:1(3.55) and gears it higher. That would give you about what an OD would give you. Especially if you already have the 3.7
 
NLA on the 3.55 anywhere. I have the last new unistalled set known of and no, it's not for sale.
 
+1 on the Spitfire OD transmission. It's the same trans as you already have, basically just with an extended shaft and a Laycock J-type electric planetary overdrive unit hanging off the end.

The only reason the 1500 Midgets didn't have overdrives in the <span style="font-style: italic">first </span>place, is there isn't room for it to fit over the crossmember, and BL didn't want to put the money into re-engineering the transmission tunnel. That and politics: it's always politics.

IMHO, using the Triumph overdrive is just doing what BL <span style="font-style: italic">should </span>have done from the beginning. It <span style="font-style: italic">does </span>involve some irreversible minor surgery to get it to fit: you have to cut the crossmember under the tunnel, and extend the inspection hole forward. The trans then attaches to a reinforcing member bolted or welded under the crossmember like a subframe. Not hard to do, and not expensive if you can find the tranny.
 
recordsj said:
You can place a spitfire OD in it. Will take some modifications in the car to get it to fit. I have a 1974 with a 1500 spitfire engine/gearbox Laycock J type OD in it (a previous owner did the install)
https://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/midget/midget_overdrive.html
Click to expand...
Hi Jedi Warrior

(Wars do not make one great--Yoda)
I have a 77 Midget and I bought a Spitfire J type O/D tranny. I clicked on the link you provided a long time ago in a forum far far away, but it no longer works. Would you have any installation tips/instructions I could benefit from?

Thanks,

Guy
 
Yeah, I wanted originally to put a Datsun 5 speed 60 series in, but I have a 77 Midget in California and HAVE to use the 1500, not the 1300. Hence, I will use the Spitfire 4 speed with O.D. Wondering if anyone has detailed plans of how to including fabricating the new cross member and how this mounts to the tranny.
 
Guy, the thread you replied to is from 2011 - hence the dead links.

Looks like some info here:

Spitfire 1500 overdrive Gearbox into MG Midget 1500 : MG Midget Forum : The MG Experience

Hi, I have a chance to purchase an overdrive gearbox from a spitfire to fit into my midget 1500. The available box has no gear stick. I plan on using a steering column mounted overdrive switch so I don't actually need the original gear stick with the switch etc., so long as my mid
www.mgexp.com www.mgexp.com

a lot here:


and here


both those taken from here:

Spitfire J-type overdrive into Midget 1500. | MG Midget and Sprite Technical | MG-Cars.info

www.mg-cars.info www.mg-cars.info

keep us posted!
 
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