sccsiouxland

My uncle who's been holding our '79 MG Midget for a forever and a half (motor ceased up before well before I could drive) says it's gotta go and me and my brother are wondering if we have half a hope at getting it back on the road/auto-x track. We plan on taking the motor and tranny and accompanying stuff out of a 2.3l Ranger and getting oem replacement (we have checked for availability of replacement parts with decent sucess) for everything else that's f'ed which we plan to be quite a bit of stuff. We don't plan on doing a whole lot of restoration (likely we will gut the interrior)that isn't necessary for the car to work, I'm pretty sure any rust on it is only surface and if/when it's all said and done we'll get a decent paint job but that's then. We also have a storage unit that could be cleaned out and used as shop. I realize that this won't be easy and won't get done ANY time soon but it's worth a shot isn't it?

the 2.3 is mighty tall but may be made to work. i may be biased, but a rx7 or miata drivetrain would be pretty cool to swap over.

Would you interested in selling it........

from a self professed car wierdo.......

2.3l= low geared trans, but would still be fun.

I agree with Jamie- miata drivetrain is easy to come by, and would suite you better.

Rotary!! Light weight and rediculous power on a ported engine. Just my two cents.

I originally proposed using a zx14 or Hayabusa motor just for fun but i like rotary idea, a lot

and 1/10 the reliability of a Ford Taurus motor. I like projects but this is why I won't shove a rotary in the miata- I like to drive it.

even rx7 ones?? I thought they got a lot better through the years...

Stay away from the turbo motors and you should be ok. The problems I have been having with the Deuce come from it being a 36 year old car, not from the motor itself.

Sounds like that would be a fun project. Have any pics?

Any idea how much it would weigh if you put a rotary in it?

Well right now it weighs tid bit over 1,600 lbs with the 1,500cc in it. We've been considering rebuilding this engine as these things break like the sun rises and I can only imagine that'd be even more true with me and my brother's probably ghetto rigging in it. Sadly the diffy is straight out of a R/C car and can only safely take a few hp over bone stock so basically nothing above the break-neck lash of 65 flywheel horsepower is an option without replacing that. I know auto-x isn't real reliant on power but would the 1,600 pound weight make up for having a 12.2 second 0-60?....if i do get this thing out to the lot Marcus can't say $h** about not having power

Sounds like someone is going after the orr award for least HP.

That would be a fun project car and it sounds like you are doing the research, which will all pay off in the long run. Enjoy.

1600/65=24.6 lbs per hp
2000/90=22.2 lbs per hp

sounds close to me...

Not to mention the weight difference in the drivers.

the miata's got 90?! at the wheels or flywheel? whp of the midget will be closer to 55. But if it will be similar to the gbm then it'll definitely be autoxable.

closed to it to the wheels. i think rated at 115 or something like that.

I would race it--- RWD= way more fun than FWD