sprint engine in an 1850

[D16PJM]

Hello,

just think out loud what is needed to fit a sprint engine into an 1850.

The engine in my car is puffing a small amount of smoke similar to a valve guide sill, it has been laid up for a few months but thought i see the odd puff before i put it in the mother in laws garage.

rebuild what i have or go for an upgrade.

anyone know any reliable garages or someone that can do the work, i know its not going to be cheap.

Pete

[Aleco]

Hi Pete,
I'm no expert between the models so take what I write with a pinch of salt.
To be honest I really don't believe it's worth it, running gear alone you'll need the front sub frame, Engine, gearbox including mounts, drive shaft and rear axle including brake set up. You'll spend a fortune to create a car that's not worth a great deal more than an 1850 and no where near what a sprint is worth.
I think it's been covered before in a number of threads, have a look in the forum.
If you fancy a sprint, sell the 1850 and buy a sprint and save a load of money and aggro.
My two pence worth!

Probably not the answer you're after but I hope it helps.

Alex

[D16PJM]

Thanks for the reply, you are right so best bet would be get mine looked at.

any rebuild work is out of my capability

Pete

[cleverusername]

Thanks for the reply, you are right so best bet would be get mine looked at.

any rebuild work is out of my capability

Pete

I am in the process of converting a 1500. Alexo is right, it certainly isn't for the money, it is more for the challenge of whether I can do it. The problem is the Sprint has uprated running gear to deal with all that extra grunt, so you can't just drop the engine in.

If you a bit more power you could drop a TR7 lump in, I think the 1850 running gear could just about take it. The other option would be to tune the 1850 engine when you rebuild it, I am sure that it must be possible to get a bit more out of it.

[cliftyhanger]

The other issue is that just buying a used engine is a heck of a gamble. Far too many are sold as "being told it was OK when I bought it (10 years ago)"

Probably best to just get your sorted. But getting the head off it may be tricky, if you are paying somebody make sure they have knowledge of the engine, or better still use somebody who does teh work on a regular basis. Otherwise you will have a car that is half stripped and teh garage gets stuck...

[MIG Wielder]

Hi Pete, In my opinion, I would try and make a judgement of how bad the problem is first. If it is just a puff of smoke on starting and it passes the MOT smoke test ( assuming its an early car ) I wouldn't worry too much.
If the engine has not run for a while it may be that the piston rings have become sticky; if so soaking the bores in Redex or similar for a week may free them off. But look out for lots of nasty dense smoke when you first start up.

The next question would be; How much mileage has it done ? The 1850 unit is a long lived unit when it comes to bore wear. Mine has done nearly 90,000 now and it is still fine.
How is the oil pressure ?
Can you do a compression test with and without oil in the bores to determine whether any compression loss is bore wear or valve gear.
Have you got a good 20-50 oil in ? Thinner oils do smoke more on slightly worn engines.
Is there a lot of gas blow-by if you carefully remove the oil filler cap ?
There may be signs of general wear which will justify an engine overhaul.

If you need to remove the cylinder head I do have an 1850 head removal tool that may help.
HTH,
Tony.

[D16PJM]

Hi Pete, In my opinion, I would try and make a judgement of how bad the problem is first. If it is just a puff of smoke on starting and it passes the MOT smoke test ( assuming its an early car ) I wouldn't worry too much.
If the engine has not run for a while it may be that the piston rings have become sticky; if so soaking the bores in Redex or similar for a week may free them off. But look out for lots of nasty dense smoke when you first start up.

The next question would be; How much mileage has it done ? The 1850 unit is a long lived unit when it comes to bore wear. Mine has done nearly 90,000 now and it is still fine.
How is the oil pressure ?
Can you do a compression test with and without oil in the bores to determine whether any compression loss is bore wear or valve gear.
Have you got a good 20-50 oil in ? Thinner oils do smoke more on slightly worn engines.
Is there a lot of gas blow-by if you carefully remove the oil filler cap ?
There may be signs of general wear which will justify an engine overhaul.

If you need to remove the cylinder head I do have an 1850 head removal tool that may help.
HTH,
Tony.

Tony all the above info is great, yes the car has been sitting for around 6 months before start up so may be the issue, oil was replaced before it went away and now you mention it that is when i noticed the first puff of smoke, car has 80k on the clock.

Pete

[SiC]

Not all 20w-50 is created equally. The Granville stuff I put in my MGB felt as thin as modern engine oils when hot. Way thicker than the oil I got from Moss.

[cleverusername]

Not all 20w-50 is created equally. The Granville stuff I put in my MGB felt as thin as modern engine oils when hot. Way thicker than the oil I got from Moss.

The rating is a measure of viscosity, at two different temperatures. Thin or thinkness has no meaning, one 20W-50 oil will have the same viscosity as another 20W-50. That doesn't mean oils of the same grade are all identical, a more expensive oil may well have additives to stop it breaking down as quickly or reduce wear. However oils with the same rating can't have different viscosity.