Starter motor issue

[davidpidge]

So, today I tried to swap the existing 948 engine in my traveller for a 1098 engine and box.
It was not a straight swap as i had been led to believe! We had to cut the floor, the gearstick conflicts with the handbrake lever amongst other problems.

We got the engine and box in however to a point so tried to fire it up to check it ran. The starter motor spins up ok but doesnt engage with the flywheel. We activated the starter motor out of the car and can confirm the gear does move back and forth. Question is, can the starter motor from the 948 engine/box be used with the 1098 engine/box?

Cheers
David

[firedrake1942]

Very odd, it should be a straight swap. What year is the car ? 1956 ? Should not be an issue. I have a 948 engine with a 1098 box and flywheel. The older starter works fine.

[davidpidge]

The old smoothcase gearbox has a longer gearstick that comes out the floor much further forward. It is a 1956 car. Not sure if it's the original engine and box as I think the engine is a gold seal replacement.

[myoldjalopy]

Well, it would have been a straight swap if your car was a 1000. But your picture shows a split screen car. So, with the long gearstick, likely you took out either an 803 box or a 948 box that had at some time been sensitively 'married' with an 803 box to avoid chopping the floor - the 803cc split screen models had a different transmission tunnel to the later 948s and 1098s as the box has no remote shift mechanism. And different gearlevers, as you have found out. And carpets....

[ManyMinors]

I agree. You must have an earlier car with an earlier gearbox. The 948 and 1098 are a straightforward swap. It is the old Series11 803 unit which has the long gearstick.

[philthehill]

David
In your original post/thread.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=69024
You quote that you are swopping a 948cc engine and 948cc smooth case gearbox for a 1098cc engine and gearbox.

A 948cc engine and a 948cc smooth case gearbox is a straight swop with a 1098cc engine and 1098cc ribbed case gearbox.

Unfortunately I have to say that insufficient/incorrect information regarding the engine and gearbox has resulted in you having to undertake additional work.

If your original post had included the fact that your supposed 948cc smooth case gearbox was the earlier 803cc smooth case gearbox a completely different set of advice would have been given from the start. All advice is given on the facts provided.

Going back to the question re the starter motor - the starter motor from the 948cc engine can be used with the 1098cc engine.
When fitting the 1098cc engine did you use the thick rear engine plate?

Phil

[davidpidge]

Sorry I didn't mean to make it sound like I was blaming anyone for the confusion. I made an assumption that it was a later gearbox as it didn't occur to me that someone would swap in a 948 engine and not bother to swap the gearbox.

It's been so long since I've had a minor with newer gearbox that I didn't notice the long gearstick and it's position.

The other problem is i used to have a splitscreen saloon with a 1098 engine/box which must have been modified to suit but as there were no obvious signs of any mods I didn't think we'd have to do any in this case.

I'm not sure if the new engine has a thick back plate. I will measure and compare when I get home. Is it possible that not having enough battery power (we were trying to jump start off a civic with a dead battery in the morris) to properly spin the motor is the problem?

[myoldjalopy]

David: " The other problem is i used to have a splitscreen saloon with a 1098 engine/box which must have been modified to suit but as there were no obvious signs of any mods I didn't think we'd have to do any in this case."

Any later split-screen (which yours is - deduced by the radiator grille) that has a 1098 engine and a later gearbox in it will either have had the transmission tunnel chopped and replaced with a later one to fit the remote shift mechanism - or had a later gearbox 'married' to an 803 casing to deliberately avoid having to chop the car and maintain original appearance inside the car. It is relatively straighforward to 'marry' an 803 and 948 box but not so easy an 803 with a 1098 box as that involves a fair bit of engineering and structural changes.
If your 803cc engine has been swapped for a 948cc, then the likelihood is that the smooth case box with the long stick is either a straightforward 803 box, or a 948 box with the remote shift removed married with the 803 casing to avoid chopping out the early transmission tunnel. Possibly it is an 803/1098 combination but less likely due to the extra engineering work involved - and, anyway, it wouldn't be logical to do this and then fit a 948 engine.
The problem with fitting later engines and gearboxes to a splittie is that the transmission tunnel, gearlevers and handbrake levers are all different and, unless you do modify the later box to fit, then you have to chop the floor, fit a later transmission tunnel, later handbrake lever and new carpets to get it all to fit!

[davidpidge]

That all makes a bit more sense. I didn't realise there were so many different combinations available!
We already chopped the floor a bit to get the gearbox in...then we noticed the gearstick would conflict with the handbrake.
I think I'll just move the existing handbrake back along the tunnel and get someone to make a plate to cover the hole around the new gearstick position.
Luckily I don't care about aesthetics and it just has to function!

[davidpidge]

It runs! Bad earth! Classic.