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Looks an interesting read............



The A-Series Engine - Its First Sixty Years
by Graham Robson
Published 20/10/2011 by Haynes at £30.

"Built from 1951 to 2000, BMC's A-Series engine was a remarkably successful, versatile and invaluable power unit that far outlived its original projected life. Not only did it power road cars as varied as the Austin A30, the Mini and the MG Midget, but it also found use in world-class race and rally cars, record-breaking special machines, light commercial vehicles and even tractors. This fascinating illustrated book chronicles the full history and achievements of this remarkable engine."

A book review by Michael E. Ware:
"Is it really 60 years since the introduction of the first A-series engine? It’s an engine my car owning grew up with, firstly in an A35 van, then two MG Midgets and a Morris Minor. In his introduction the author Graham Robson says “…this book not only covers the life of the engine itself, but also the story of the corporations that embraced it. It’s a story, too, which tells us who the dominant bosses, engineers and sporting personalities actually were…” It does just that, it’s no dull bore and stroke history, its alive with people and the way the companies evolved at the same time. It is estimated that some 13.5 million units had been made and of course many, many of these are still in use today. Firms are still making spares for them whilst other earn a living tuning and maintaining the A type for enthusiasts all over the world. There is a chapter on racing and record breaking. Plentifully illustrated with black and white, mainly press pictures, this is a most interesting book and one which deserves to be widely read."

More reviews:
http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/books/a-series.htm

£19.20 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857 ... ROKL5A1OLE

great, just ordered a copy!


i actually know a guy who worked at bmc, who sat a couple of seats away from the guy who originally designed the a series.

to him it was just another job, one of a long line of jobs he had done for bmc and he didnt really attach any real importance to the job - i bet he had a quid for each one they ever made!

Would be interested to read other reviews. The posted one seems a bit unconvincing. I'm not sure any such book can claim to be "the full history" if it doesn't cover "bore and stroke" history aspects.
Robson is now completing another book on the works Escorts. I'm sure that new book (which follows a previous title in several editions and then two further works in the "Rally Giants" series) was mainly prompted by prolonged and recent criticism - some quite severe - on the specialists' forum of original errors and glossing over of things like re-shells.
To give credit, he has previously admitted that he has often merely repeated what he has been told. Having been told it by legends and major "works" players doesn't mean it is always right and cross checks should be mandatory in any "full history".
I really wonder whether anyone has more than one book in them if it is to be THE definitive work on such a motoring/motorsport subject. The prolific list of titles that have appeared from this author causes me to question whether any can be a definitive work. A bit like some novel writers who churn out prodigious quantities of new books.

Remember such books often have to appeal to a wider general audience than purely the 'hardcore anoraks' otherwise they would never get published in the first place or would be priced out of reach of many due to the low potential sales return.

That's not the point.
Most reviews are too effusive and should only refer to a "full history" when it is just that, not some lesser summary seeking general consumption. Even Doug Nye, against whom AAGR can only be considered a lightweight in content (as opposed to quantity), has recently freely admitted to compromise in that respect in the interest of making a living. I firmly believe real "full stories" are only possible from amateurs and not prolific professional authors or recycled journalists.
This is not a general interest forum: it is one of a couple that are THE place for the expert on the model. I believe every relevant book on the model that is claimed to be a "full" story must be judged against works like Graham Rood's Works Tigers book or Peter Robinson's (limited period) MN Championship books.

Each to their own but I'm sure this book will tell me all I really need or want to know about the history of the A-Series!
I will let you know.........

Looks good to me. I can't wait to read Rich's copy

I did a review of the book for the February issue of CooperWorld and I have to say that I found the book a very good read. Not a technical book but more a history book about the engine. It's definitely worth the money and well worth reading. If you're a member of the Mini Cooper Register, you may well have read my review already.

Robert Young

LMM76C wrote: To give credit, he has previously admitted that he has often merely repeated what he has been told.
I really wonder whether anyone has more than one book in them if it is to be THE definitive work on such a motoring/motorsport subject.

Anyone that writes anything historical is always going to be subject to the eronious information he gets from the people who were there, or innacurately recorded information at the time and we're all subject to that to one degree or another, even if it's just a story in a pub about our school days. I just have to question when any tome or even magazine article of limited and 'specialist' appeal would ever be truly complete if a writer had to wait around infinitum for the absolute 'truth' to pop up ? I'm continuously finding things I've written to be eronious in one respect or another even in very small ways but if anyone that commits anything to the written word didn't take that risk we'd have very little to read, I doubt there's a queue of writers itching to fill a book about A series engines.
On the other hand you don't want fact based reading to come out like a red top tabloid littered with bullshit either do you , there is a line !
That's why I think web based reading has so much potential because theoretically the writing can be corrected and added to over time when new information comes to light, good case in point being Mark's very own website or Paul C's British Vita website which constantly evolve.

Alec Issigonis wrote to BL boss Donald Stokes 18th April 1968:
"The greatest need in combating increased production costs over the year is the development of a new engine for a small car of the Mini type. The present A-Series engine offered a quick way of getting the car into production in 1959, but has now outlived its purpose both for weight and cost compared with European competition."

However these proposals were kicked into the long grass by British Leyland who were not interested in technical excellence or innovation at a time when they wanted Austin-Morris to return to financial stability and profit.......

The Alec Issigonis 9X engine from 1968

Pictures of BL's OHC A-Series engine for the Mini in 1975 which featured belt drive to the overhead camshaft, single or twin-SU carbrettors and retained all the familiar A-Series features, such as the starter motor, alternator, distributor and spark plugs on the same forward facing side of the original cylinder block. There were also inline versions developed for BL's rear wheel drive cars. 11 prototypes of all sizes were built and completed 3,200 hours on test beds and 2,200 vehicle miles.
The 1275cc OHC A-Series produced 84bhp @ 6750, torque 80lb/ft @ 4,500 (against 59bhp @ 5300, torque 69lb/ft @ 3000 for the pushrod engine) in standard form.
There were also 970cc and 1097cc versions produced and tested but the project was eventually canceled due to the mounting losses of British Leyland which had become nationalised during the engines development. Lots more info on what could have been in Graham Robson's interesting book..........

The A Series didn't really need replacing - not in 1968, or in 1978. Yes, the small OHC engines around at the time like the Fiat and VW units were smoother revving, but the A Series had remarkable torque and part load economy. Vizard proved 35 years ago that with the right combination of bits, a 1275 Mini could easily do 60 mpg. The A Plus went some way towards that.

Graham Robson is rather arrogant - I buy his books secondhand from Amazon and will do the same with this one!

618AOG wrote:The A Series didn't really need replacing - not in 1968, or in 1978. Yes, the small OHC engines around at the time like the Fiat and VW units were smoother revving, but the A Series had remarkable torque and part load economy. Vizard proved 35 years ago that with the right combination of bits, a 1275 Mini could easily do 60 mpg. The A Plus went some way towards that.

Graham Robson is rather arrogant - I buy his books secondhand from Amazon and will do the same with this one!

But this wasn't a full replacement like the earlier Issigonis 9X engine but an OHC update of the A-Series so 'remarkable torque and part load ecomomy' would have been retained with all the advantages of OHC. IMHO the 'didn't need replacing' type decisions contributed to the steady decline in Mini sales from the 1971 sales peak. Many small car buyers were soon defecting to quieter smoother OHC competitors and 5-speed gearboxes more suited to modern motorway driving. Also had it not been cancelled, the later Metro as launched in 1980, would have been a far better car with the OHC A-Series and of course the opportunity to add a 5th gear was also sadly missed........

Most of the development work done on the X9 unit was actually done at Downton so "prying eyes could be kept at a safe distance.

mab01uk wrote: Many small car buyers were soon defecting to quieter smoother OHC competitors and 5-speed gearboxes more suited to modern motorway driving. Also had it not been cancelled, the later Metro as launched in 1980, would have been a far better car with the OHC A-Series and of course the opportunity to add a 5th gear was also sadly missed........

I can only agree with you there. I knew several previously loyal BL car buyers including myself who considered buying a Metro in the 1980s until they realised that it had the same outdated mechanicals as previous offerings. (Allegros bought new which gobbled oil and chewed up gearboxes from day one.) Instead we bought VWs, Nissans, Fiats, Toyotas to name just a few.

I'm not knocking the "A" series as such and am happy with it in a "classic car" for leisure use but wouldn't put up with it even 30years ago as a "modern" unit when there was SO much better on offer from the competition.

Although I love tunning the old A series, It should have been updated in the 70s.

When they eventualy came up with a new engine some 22 years ago( The K series), it was very ahead off its time.

Not with out its faults (head gasket and thermostate location), but very light 96kg.
a Toyota engine today is 130+ kg and 2.0 Honda vtec is 150kg.

The K series have a very good torque for a 16v engine, much better than the terrible japanese 16v engines of the 80s and 90s. lots of HP but no torque.

I have a 700kg 1997 Lotus Elise with K series (feels light just like the Mini)
The new Elise is 900kg+ what the hell went wrong

Interesting extract below from an AROnline 'Mini Development in the 1970's' article obout BL's research into the OHC A-Series engine:-

"In April 1982 the Mini was given higher gearing to make it more economical, but this did nothing for acceleration, and the car lost a little of its buzzbox characteristics. The fact that the ancient A-Series engine could cope with up-gearing was a tribute to its remarkable torque characteristics, even in its tamest form.
And that brings us to the subject of why the A-Series engine was never radically re-engineered to modern standards. Was it a matter of cost or were there other reasons?
Back in the 1970s BL had embarked on projects to develop overhead camshaft versions of both the A- and B-Series engines. The reason for this was that MG used both engines and as they exported to the USA where stringent anti-emissions legislation was in force, it was paramount that BL’s existing engines were made more efficient to enable them to remain both legal and competitive by using the more efficient emissions friendly overhead cam layout.

In the end the OHC B-Series evolved into the O-Series engine first seen in 1978, while converting the A-Series to the overhead cam layout proved to be a technical cul-de-sac. The immediate problem of continuing to sell the MG Midget in the USA was solved by replacing the 1275cc A-Series engine with the 1493cc Triumph engine also used in the rival Spitfire. But an OHC A-Series could be used in the ADO88 and other BL cars. In the event eleven prototype overhead cam A-Series engines were built in 1975 using Cooper S blocks in capacities of 970cc, 1097cc and 1275cc. The engines used aluminium cylinder heads.

The engineers obtained the following performance figures for OHC Minis:

970cc: OHC 59bhp @ 6750rpm, 51lb ft @ 5250rpm
1097cc: OHC 72bhp @ 6500rpm, 64lb ft @ 5000rpm
1275cc: OHC 84bhp @ 6750rpm, 80lb ft @ 4500rpm

The above figures look very impressive, and a bluff-fronted Mini Clubman fitted with the OHC 1275cc engine and twin HS6 SU carburettors could reach 100mph. It would be easy to accuse BL of another missed opportunity. But a look at the comparative figures for the existing overhead valve engines reveal another story. For a direct comparison first we will use the three Cooper S engines and then the standard tune single carburettor engines seen in the mainstream production Minis.

Standard OHV Mini engines:

970cc: OHV 65bhp @ 6500rpm, 55lb ft @ 3500rpm
1071cc: OHV 70bhp @ 6000rpm, 62lb ft @ 4500rpm
1275cc: OHV 76bhp @ 5800rpm, 80lb ft @ 3000rpm
998cc: OHV 38bhp @ 5250rpm, 52lb ft @ 2700rpm
1098cc: OHV 45bhp @ 5250rpm, 56lb ft @ 2700rpm
1275cc: OHV 54bhp @ 5250rpm, 67lb ft @ 2500rpm

Converting the A-Series engine to overhead camshaft simply pushed the peak torque further up the rev range and actually caused more problems than it solved. One of the great virtues of driving a Mini is its remarkable ability to pull top gear at low revs, something that was exploited by Austin Rover and later Rover when the car was up geared.
An overhead cam A-Series engine would have been torque shy where it mattered in everyday driving and that was indeed the case with the 100mph OHC Mini Clubman. The modern solution for the lack of torque where it matters would be to add more gear ratios, but BL’s engineers decided that a reliable revised transmission in sump gearbox was not feasible. Therefore the decision was taken to opt for the A+ programme. BL had already burnt its fingers with the OHC E-Series engine. The E-Series had been intended to supplant the B-Series, but its lack of torque resulted in the old B-Series going into the Marina and Princess, and even the O-Series was a disappointment. BL would not make the same mistake again."
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mi ... ry-part-2/

Mab thanks for posting and you are very correct books have to be written to appeal to non-anoraks as well.

Graham Robson is an enormously respected writer and his reputation as a motor industry researcher is firmly established. I have read both Graham’s BMC books and to me they are very educational and revealing. His book The Cars of BMC is a must read in my opinion the definitive book on BMC cars. His book on the A-series is also excellent take my word for it.

We could all pick holes in works about things we are conversant in or knowledgeable about and educated on. I believe we are all expert in different ways.

I have read both books:- John Parnell’s Original Mini Cooper & Cooper S and David Vizard’s Tuning BL’s A-Series Engine many times and have found error or omission if not mistakes.

With my anorak removed and on reflection, I believe no book could ever be 100% correct in its context.

I should say I know Graham and have both my books signed in person.

Alan

618AOG wrote:The A Series didn't really need replacing - not in 1968, or in 1978. Yes, the small OHC engines around at the time like the Fiat and VW units were smoother revving, but the A Series had remarkable torque and part load economy. Vizard proved 35 years ago that with the right combination of bits, a 1275 Mini could easily do 60 mpg. The A Plus went some way towards that.

Graham Robson is rather arrogant - I buy his books secondhand from Amazon and will do the same with this one!

The long stroke 1098 cc is a much more smooth running engine, why was it not developed? Graham Robson is a true gentleman, wish I knew 50% of what he knows about BMC stuff

Alan

my favourite pushrod mill....