I know its popular to put the 12A or 13b in the Spitfire but has it even been put in a a early 70s or mid 60's sporty MGs? Just wondering, or do they weigh to much?

 

http://www.cool-screens.com/Rotary-MG_Home.html shows a Midget converted. The Spit is actually a safer car for the extra speed. (if you beef up the suspension) I've raced both and the Midget even with the suspension redone can't corner like the lower Spit. One word about the lever shocks used as stock. Get rid of them and go with standard shocks. (JC Whitney used to sell the conversion kit, although I haven't looked for it lately.) The engine compartment is much easier to get to with the Spit's forward opening front end vs the standard hood of the Midget/Sprite. A word of caution if you're not a fairly short person: The Midget's leg room gets really tight when you add a roll bar.

 

go with the mg i am about to finish a 62 AH sprite (same body as a MG midget) it was a lot easer than i thought. i have a turbo II 13b mated up with a 1st gen trans (because it is a lot shorter. also had to mod the shift linkage) have 1st gen rear end works but will prob go with a narrowed 9in ford or toyota. also ditch the ecu rx7store.net has some great prices and they come with a harness. i just put my fuel cell in im just waiting for the ecu i cant wait. if you have any ? or need pics email me good luck

 

wow i didn't even think of that conversion as an option....i love the spitfires

 

i have had many AHs and MGs i am 6 foot i fit in there fine. the sprite or midget is lighter than the spit. the spit is more stable at higher speeds (wheel base is different but if you were worried about that, why do a swap?) but what ever. Any disputes i have a buddy with a spit with a 12a needless to say he is building a sprite right now with a 13b. either way you go it will be a lot of fun if you get one old enough it will smog exempt goodluck

 

The engine compartment is pretty easy to work on on a Midget also. I fasten the fenders with a dozen Dzus fasteners. All I have to do is pull 4 hood pins and twist the Dzus's and the front end is gone (like in the pic in the paint booth).

You can get the weight down pretty easy on a Midget, not sure if you can on the body-on-frame construction of the Spit. The other problem is trying to get the Spits IRS to take the extra power of the 13B. You can spend a lot of $$ fixing that problem, where the Midget uses a solid axle that is easily swapped.

And lever shocks are not as evil as some may say. You can not get a system with much lower unsprung weight than the levers, and you can revalve the shocks yourself and try differnt weights of oil to tune them. They will benifit from some bracing of the arm, but they do work.

BTW - I'm 6'3", 265lbs and fit well in my RX-Midget (but I can't fit in a Miata - go figure!)

More info can be found in RX-Tuner.
http://www.rxtuner.com/farticles/RotaryMGMidget.pdf