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Site updated
20 March 2011

MG Midget 1500 5 Speed Conversion

What did it cost?

Yes, you could whizz out and buy, off the shelf, all the parts to do this conversion. I could have done that too apart from;
A: I wanted to play
B: I didn’t have the money

Firstly the gearbox. Reconditioned boxes are £250-£300. Why? The box goes on for ever. I can get a full Sierra car for £100 or just the gearbox (AND I don't have to remove it myself) for £40. Guaranteed to be good to boot.

The clutch driven plate cost me £13. I actually used the original clutch cover because it was fine. It is a standard MG Midget part in any event.

The M12 bolts to fit the gearbox to the adapter cost me £2 as I also used 2 of the original Ford ones. You could actually save this £2 if you counterbored all the adapter plate holes!

The M10 cap screws to fit the bellhousing to the adapter cost £2.50 for the 5 items.

The 20mm square tube which I made the crossmember inserts from cost me nothing as it was lying around. Even so, a 21’ length of this costs about £5-6 (metal is cheap). You need just 10’.

The new Sierra gearbox mount (I could have used the one which came with the box) cost me £8.

And the adapter plate... The casting cost me £20 but I had to buy the pattern. I do hope to recoup the pattern cost by selling some adapters. The pattern was £150..

Miscellaneous bits of angle iron and bolts, say £5 and that all added up, makes for one very cheap conversion.