Page 2 of 2

Re: Ford 3 cylinder engines

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 11:00 pm
by kelvink
ACourtney wrote:Come on Kelvin I know that you're holding back the punchline.

When we saw the engine on the Ford stand at Autosport two years ago we asked the Ford man how you changed the timing belt and he said "you don't need to, it will last the life of the engine" and when we asked him what that was he said "100k"


I was indeed holding that back as, to be honest I found both those claims rather staggering. That you don't need to change a timing belt for the life of an engine and that the life of the engine was expected to be as little as 100,000 miles!!!! And this from a guy who's job it was to sell the things :shock:

Re: Ford 3 cylinder engines

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 11:09 pm
by kelvink
Lukith wrote:I've personally never really been a fan of the A series engine and there doesn't seem to be much else you can put/ fit in these lovely little cars!


I'm not a fan as such of them either but I've had a few and they are actually pretty damned good engines really if you ignore the puddles they leave on your driveway and the run on when turned off. Though it can be entertaining guessing how long the engine will splutter before it finally stops at the end of the journey.

There's plenty of people who've fitted lots of different engines into Minis and most of them would go into a Midas happily too. It's just that most Midas owners are quite happy with the A series. I've got to say that really even I'm OK with them in mine too though I'd like something a bit more modern under the bonnet, 16 valves would be good :twisted:

Re: Ford 3 cylinder engines

PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:18 pm
by wolfie
there have been a few micra engines modded to run turbos which have made minis more pleasant to drive. I'm sure some smaller engines will appear soon with ever tightening emission laws especially in Japan and if they're japanese they'll probably be rev happy and pretty bullet proof

Re: Ford 3 cylinder engines

PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:18 am
by fozzza
kelvink wrote:
Lukith wrote:I've personally never really been a fan of the A series engine and there doesn't seem to be much else you can put/ fit in these lovely little cars!


I'm not a fan as such of them either but I've had a few and they are actually pretty damned good engines really if you ignore the puddles they leave on your driveway and the run on when turned off. Though it can be entertaining guessing how long the engine will splutter before it finally stops at the end of the journey.

There's plenty of people who've fitted lots of different engines into Minis and most of them would go into a Midas happily too. It's just that most Midas owners are quite happy with the A series. I've got to say that really even I'm OK with them in mine too though I'd like something a bit more modern under the bonnet, 16 valves would be good :twisted:


Personally I love the A series, its nice and simple like myself and even when they are past their used by date they still chug along. The amount of years they have been around for and the many different vehicles they were used in is a testament to how good they really are, I think the last one was the Austin Maestro and at the moment spares are still ok to get hold of. Yes they do leave their oily calling card where ever they have visited and do play up at times but I think that is part of the fun of them.

I think in the future with ever improved technology, engines will get even smaller and be just as powerful and may even be easier to fit in a Midas, at the moment I'm happy with my trusty A series but realize a newer power plant will be needed at some time to keep the Midas on the road in the future.

Re: Ford 3 cylinder engines

PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:05 pm
by benofbrum
I note that the guy installing a 3 cylinder engine in his Quantum 2+2 has just posted an update. He has got round the height problem by tilting the engine rearwards. Not really possible in a Midas, I suspect.