Moss Motors, Ltd

 A client wants me to install one on his 1275. Anybody have any experience with these? The engine seems to be in good condition and compression is 150 striaght across.

       THANKS,
 Jody Tallahassee, Fla.

 

I think the boost is fairly limited by the pulley ratios so there wont be much engine taxing. Moss claims a 50% torque increase. And its all over at 5700 rpm so it will live.

  They use a HIF carb, which there again might be ok with low boost. Carburetors and boost are sometimes uncompatible at high boost pressures.

What would be nice would be a cam that would have more exhaust timing, some forged pistons and definitely some decent head studs and i would use a MLS head gasket also. maybe a larger crank pulley also??? 10K would cover a real nice dedicated lump with the blower....

plus your labor....of course!!.

Hey Jody

I have driven our Sprite with the blower and its quite breathtaking, the car has been supercharged for a couple of years (it was our development car) and hits the SoCal show circuit regularly. Sounds like your clients' engine is the perfect mate for our kit. BTW I have our TR6 blower kit on my personal car and it rocks!

Sincerely,

Rob Mullner, Moss Motors

 

 

 

I just bought my sprite and want to add a supercharger.  Seems like the Moss set up is the way to go.  I spoke with some people at Moss, but I was hoping to find someone who has been running one for a while.

 I have a 1275 motor now with apparently 6000 miles on it.

any help would be appreciated.

thanks in advance. 

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

Is any one out there with a moss s/c in a mk II sprite.  HELP!!!

It is going in now and it looks like it won't fit under the hood.

 also, any tuning tips would be appreciated.

 I have a call into Kelvin at Moss.  any other ideas?

 

thanks  

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

Hello Todd,

 I have a kit on my square body Midget. There are also running installations on Bugeyes, so you should be covered. Do you have any structural modifications which would change the engine location? I have not heard of any clearance problems. Here is a little piece about my car when we first got it running.

http://www.ignomini.com/automobiles/midget/midgetdyno.html

Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions.

Cheers,

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Robert Goldman
VP Business Development
Moss Motors, Ltd.

E-mail: rgoldman@mossmotors.com

Robert,

 

thanks very much.  the carb clearance seems very close.  also the belt doesn't appear to fit.

lastly, I am trying to find out a part number on the metering needle(apparently I need a second one after the first one is modified while dyno tuning?

 I called Kelvin at moss two days ago and Keith Taber yesterday-no return calls -they may be on a short schedule this week.

 Is there someone else,(you?) that my mechanic can call.  the installation is happening today  my cell is 909-223-4704.  

 

thanks very much. 

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

Todd:

Sorry to miss your call. I'm out sick this week. Unfortunately for real, not just for convenience.

I'll give you a call on your cell #

 

 

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Kelvin Dodd
Global Sourcing Engineer
Moss Motors, Ltd.
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Disclaimer: Working on automobiles is inherently dangerous. Moss Motors, Ltd. is not liable for injury or damage due to incorrect installation or use of their products. All products are sold with the understanding that the safe and proper installation and use of the products is the customer’s responsibility. Follow factory workshop manual procedures and instructions, but use current shop safety standards and common sense. Some tasks will require professional advice or services which Moss Motors cannot provide.

Robert and Kelvin, 

thanks for you help.  They fired the engine today.  Also, Mark Lewis has been checking in.  This may have been a case of too many things at once.(S/C, oil cooler, cam, clutch,flyweel paint,etc.)

lots of bugs to work out.  We are pretty excited about the final product.

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

The supercharger is very appealing! My 1275cc is slightly modified. 1380cc w/ flat tops ,

GT7 Longman head, a HIF6 SU carb and header along with a few other mods.

My compression is 10-1.

Can I fit a Supercharger to this engine? I've been told by a friend that the higher compression

makes it an unsuitable addition to this engine.

 

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1960 sprite

I never could find anyone else that had one except Robert at Moss.  Apparently, there is at least one in a bugeye, but I don't think that the S/C's are "plug and play" as advertized.  I spent alot of money (mechanic labor and parts) and my time and I don't think it was worth it.  

 The kit is supposed to fit, but my mechanic had to modify everything from radiator hoses to the alternator bracket to get the belts to fit. I think that the install  time including problem solving was more than 20 hours spread over 2 months trying to get things to work.(this was a mechanic who also owned a mini with a S/C on that car.

 Even now, the carb is so slow close to the hood, that I think it is spring the hood when I hit a bump. I haven't confirmed this

We put in an APT cam, oil cooler, etc. and dynoed my 1275 at about 89 hp with the S/C.(chassis dyno)  I don't have a baseline, but I expected 110 to 120 hp.

 Two different well known so cal. mini/sprite engine builders told me to spend the money on the motor. I think that is the way to go..

 I can say that Kelvin and Mark Lewis were helpful but I feel like I was the crash test dummy on this project.  My car is a early late 63. pre door handle, disc brake car.  It may fit better in the bugeye and later cars.

 

todd

 

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

 just to clarify, I meant to say that I expected that I would get to 110 to 120 hp with all the changes.  I expected that a stock 1275 would be in the 75 hp range. 

 

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Todd Launchbaugh

I do not visit this forum very often, but I have a Moss SC kit.  And I've seen and talked to two others that have the kit.

I've lost count of the miles, but originally I had it installed in my 1970 1275 Midget (late 2006?).  The motor was stock with only a few thousand miles on a ring/hone job and a stock cam.  I put many miles on the car in that configuration.  I then swapped to a different cam and exhaust header, but retained a stock head.  I also ran a smaller pulley (not the one offered by Moss).  In that configuration the engine was putting out almost 97 hp at the rear wheels, but I was having some detonation problems.  I switched back to the stock pulley and kept driving.  

 One hot day I was driving fast for an extended period of time (5200 rpm ... I won't say how fast that equates to), anyway I noticed the car was a little low on power after this stunt.  However, I had another 1275 waiting in the wings to be rebuilt so I kept driving.  I stuck the entire drive train in a bugeye project and continued to drive.  I had another high rpm incident that again caused a loss in power (about a year later).  This time I did a leak down test.  Based on the % leak down and the hiss I hear coming from the timing chain cover vent, it seems I have several broken rings in # 1 and #2 cylinders.  So... I've rebuilt by spare 1275 with a compression ratio of 8.2:1 and a ported head, and forged pistons with modern rings.  I'm still contemplating using 1.5 ratio rockers, but I'll wait on that for the time being.  I'm also going to try the Moss pulley.

 

Long story short... is it bolt and go?  Yes for moderate power gains on a healthy engine.

Can you bolt it onto a high compression 10:1 engine?  I wouldn't.

Can I get more HP for the same money?  Certainly, but that HP is going to be in a much higher RPM range and may not be as enjoyable.

If I had it to do over again, would I?  Probably not; because now I've become interested in fuel injection (after helping some other people with their fuel injected cars) and I want to do a fuel injected turbo engine.  However, I've had a bunch of fun with the supercharger and I think it is going to be even more fun with the new engine I've built... If I can ever find time to install it.

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BritishCarForum.com

Heybug,

10:1 compression is too much for a supercharger. Also, my engine builder (who builds high capacity vintage racing engines) wasn't comfortable with head gasket sealing area beyond .060" overbore.

We consider the stock boost level completely safe with a standard engine. However, with a boost upgrade all bets are off. At a minimum, we recommend forged pistons. My engine has about 7,000 miles with the blower on it. I'm running 8.5 psi on 8.8:1 compression under an alloy head. The aluminum heads are costly, but their heat rejection properties give much more margin than an iron head. I do have forged pistons, but they're running on stock rads and crank.

Somebody in the thread mentioned running a larger crank pulley. I don't see much reason to do this. Without dramaticaly lowering the compression (and hurting around town driveability) 9 psi is all you're likely ever going to be able to run on pump gas. This can be achieved with a smaller blower pulley alone.

By the way. We measured a stock 1275 Midget at 43.7 rear wheel horsepower on a Mustang Chassis dyno. In its original supercharger configuration with 9.0:1 compression, 7.5 psi of boost and a stock aluminum head, my car made 95.4 hp on the same dyno. Since then the head has been reworked by Shawn Brown at Flowspeed, a proper LCB header installed and the boost raised to 8.5 psi. Material removed from the combustion chambers brought the compression down to its current level. The car has not been back on the dyno, but I've been thinking about having another go. I can e-mail the actual dyno printouts to anyone who wants to see the evidence. Just send me your e-mail adress.

Cheers,

Robert Goldman

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Robert Goldman
VP Business Development
Moss Motors, Ltd.

E-mail: rgoldman@mossmotors.com

Hello,

I have a 79 MG Midget 1500cc, and I read in the latest issue in the magazine about a supercharged Midget. I checked your website and only found one for the 1275cc. Do you know if one for the 1500cc engine is going to be released?

Thank you,

Mike