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Q & A: 1500cc Engine

Hello,

I have a '55 MG TF and have reason to think that the engine is the 1250cc engine and not the 1500cc engine. The car has been in my family for years and is now in my care. The brass plate on the block has been tampered with and the numbers cannot be read.

On the block is a casting number 168421 which matches numbers I have seen on other 1250cc engines. My dad never checked the numbers on the car when he bought it in 1979. Anyway, I am going to restore the car and may need to find an XPEG engine block. I am sure that is not an easy item to find. Any suggestions?

Is it true that the only difference between the 1250cc engine and the 1500cc engine is the block and pistons? The head, cam, etc are the same. Well, this is my situation. The car has the 1500 TF badges on the side, but I think the engine was changed before my dad bought the car. I would like to rebuild the correct engine when the time comes.

I would welcome your advice. Also, do you guys have a correct TF valve cover as mine is aftermarket?

Marty Ennis

MARTY!

Your suspicions are correct -- the 1250 block has a numerical casting number, the 1500 carries an alpha-numeric casting code ( I want to say it's an AEG prefix on the 1500, but I'm not certain). YET, in the end, this... read more