Geo 1.0 and Sammy 5 Spd. into Morris Minor PU.

Hopefully I will not jinx myself mentioning this here, but its basically a blizzard day and I am stuck inside.
Just made a deal on a Morris Minor pickup that HAS to be my very last car purchase.
I've been trying to reduce the number of builds in my future and concentrate on getting them done.
But $4.00+ gas is not going away and I need one car that is not a heavy 10 MPG truck,  or nearly a full on $7.00+ race fuel required car.
And an MM is also easy to get in and out of unlike so many of my other projects.
Only "1/4 Ton" rating but that is far more than needed 95% of the time.

This truck is a roller with no drive-train in it.
I have two options.
I have a very re-buildable 1098 A series and rib case trans for just stock bolt it in ease, or a 1.0 Geo 3-cylinder and Sammy 5-speed for ability to cruise the freeway at modern traffic speeds for long trip practicality.
In theory the Geo engine would have more power and a higher redline, plus OD fifth.
With a Midget final drive swap mileage should be similar to the original Geo 50MPG, minus the difference in Aero.

The question becomes just how hard will fitting the Geo/Sammy be?
I do not want to have to cut the body, a Geo conversion needs to remain fully reversible to original for my old age and resale.
The big hurdle for a lot of MM conversions is that the steering rack is mounted to the firewall so bell housings have to be notched.
I may be able to get around that by setting the very short all aluminum engine a little further forward?

So many MM's have been modified in so many ways I do not expect be breaking new ground here.
I know Geo 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 have been put into Spridgets, so the MM "Should" not be any harder.

Who, where, and when has this been done before?

You would find far more Geo parts than anything else.

Sounds neat, I say go for it. Are there any aftermarket Geo parts? Were those 1.0L common enough to have other cams and such?

Robot Cantina did that!  Another big hurdle will be moving your distributor or getting rid of it.

https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=404694

I would not bet on Geo parts being more available than Austin-Morris or BMC!

There are a few Geo hop-up parts available, cams and adju$table timing gears, headers.
Some pieces interchange with the 1.3.
But since this is intended as a DD mileage master I do not expect to use much of that.
The thread on the 1.0 Geo/Miata was, um, interesting.
Some useful info but I might do a few things a bit differently.
I have a base part of the conversion to turn my distributor 90° if I find that helpful.
The Morris has a fairly large engine bay so a direct drive from the cam distributor may also be possible.
The Geo engine is so light I may be able to simplify fit by setting it further forward than might be considered normal.
Initial intent is to go ahead and use the stock Geo FI, but if it is too much of a PITA I may just adapt a Weber DCOE.
Somewhere I have notes on making the distributor work without an ECM too.
I will do a mock-up with what I have to be certain the idea is reasonable.
If it passes that test I will rebuild the Geo engine.
I also have three different ratio rear diff's so should be able to find a suitable final drive.
Making the speedo work should be simple, just a bit expensive.

those G10s are just begging for turbochargers.

DD mileage master.
The only reason to consider the swap.
I drove a turbo car once, when the boost hit the mileage was like flushing a toilet.

Well, yes. You've gotta burn fuel to make power, and a crude turbo system will run rich under boost to control EGTs. The idea is that you stay out of boost when running for efficiency, but you can get into boost when you need power.

We've seen a mileage improvement on cars on the highway with aftermarket turbos, probably due to the slight positive pressure in the intake tract instead of pumping losses. So adding a turbo can certainly be the right choice for a DD mileage master.

"Rebuilt" XFI engine I have was pulled "Running" but had very poor mileage.
So once I have done the initial fit check I will refresh it again before final fitting into the Morris.

That turbo car I drove was a factory job rental.
No recollection what it was, very mundane and forgettable.

I

Ah well, I bought it.
Not supposed to buy any more projects but I really miss my old MM PU.
Need to figure out what I may bear to let go, or stop worrying and just let my estate deal with it.
That's why the executor gets his cut, right?

What about a Mazda B3 (Festiva) and a Miata 5 speed? 50mpg.....they last much longer than the Geo 3 cylinder

I have no idea what those are, or how large.
I already have the Geo 1.0 and Sammy trans.
Space is tight since I do not want to cut up the car I just rescued from being slapped onto a Tracker chassis. 
Pretty sure a fresh Geo 1.0 may last longer than I will.
There is still a good chance I just put in the 1098 I have.

EDIT: I am certain the Miata trans is much too large.

Miata drivetrains in Minors have been done a number of times, but go with what you know. 

A B3 is a SOHC 1.3 relative of the Miata engine. 

In reply to RichardSIA :

You could go really wild and toss a turbo Hayabusa motor in it.

My B3 has almost 300K on it and is still going......

In reply to TurboFource :

Pretty normal for a G10 also.

Suzuki engines are pretty stout

This engine was 'rebuilt' by the guy I bought the car from.
Head was done by the machine shop so I am hoping it is something simple, excess ring gap, or maybe rings all lined up with each other.
Good news that they are surprisingly inexpensive to rebuild.

RichardSIA said:

Good news that they are surprisingly inexpensive to rebuild.

And easy.

I've done rings, rod bearings, and replaced all exh valves in the car, and had it running before lunch.

As you know, the MM has that darn steering rack in the way of any engine swap.

The Fiat DOHC engines and 5 speeds have been done, and as someone who did such a swap into an MG Midget ( close in architecture to the MM) it was an absolute hoot to drive.

I would rather have the Swift 1300 DOHC attached to the gearbox since it bolts on.How hard they are to find I do not know but they are a sweet little engine.

Nobody in the history of the planet has ever reversed a well-done engine swap, so the "needs to be reversible" thing is not really a thing. If you don't like the finished product, you will never have the appetite to revert the build: you just get rid of it. In this light, I would consider the Miata engine and 5 speed to be the perfect swap. The rear end is going to blow up no matter what you do.

Below is a pic of the status on my friend Mustang's mid engine MM. Stuffed the drivetrain from a Honda behind the seats of the MM. Some fabrication has been required.

The Swift GT engines are still available if you know where to look but the 98-01 1.3 16v would probably be a better choice. More available, cheaper, can make GT HP with more torque, and more compact 

NOHOME said:

 

Nobody in the history of the planet has ever reversed a well-done engine swap

You can't say never. I have personally been involved in returning half a dozen small block V8 Jaguar E types back to 4.2 power. 

In reply to Trent :

Paid for by the same person that did the conversion? Or a new owner a generation later? Going to guess since you are doing the labour and not the guy that did the conversion, it is the later. 

Basically building a plane from a plane crash.

To clarify.
MM PU is just bought, I have had the Geo 1.0 for a few years now.
Engine rebuilt by the old guy* I bought my first Metro from.
And I do have one of those Swift 1300 DOHC engines but this is to be a Mileage Master to deal with the coming $7.00+ gallon gas.
The Swift 1300 DOHC is to go into the Tatum as I am not a fan of VW engines and it will be total overkill trickery.

*He is/was older than I am.

I am extremely onboard with this plan! Please share some pictures of the lil pickup and it's new source of motivation.

A couple pics.

Right side.

Left side.

Engine bay.

Not too much rust.

And, NO!
I am not "Keeping the patina".

That will be very cool Richard! (except the for the windup key on top.....)