BMC A-series engine

The Austin Motor Company A-series is a British small straight-4 automobile engine. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with three main bearings. The camshaft ran in the cylinder block, driven by a single-row chain for most applications, and with tappets sliding in the block, accessible through pressed steel side covers for most applications, and with overhead valves operated through rockers. The cylinder blocks are not interchangeable between versions intended for conventional end-on mounted gearboxes and the 'in-sump' transaxle used on British Motor Corporation/British Leyland front wheel drive models such as the Mini. The cylinder head for the overhead-valve version of the A-series engine was designed by Harry Weslake – a cylinder head specialist famed for his involvement in SS (Jaguar) engines and several Formula One-title winning engines. Although a "clean sheet" design, the A-series owed much to established Austin engine design practise, resembling in general design (including the Weslake head) and overall appearance a scaled-down version of the 1200cc overhead-valve engine first seen in the Austin A40 Devon which would form the basis of the later B-series engine.

All engines had a cast iron head and block, two valves per cylinder in an OHV configuration and sidedraft SU carburettor. Engines were available in diesel in the BMC tractor.

All A-series engines up until mid-1970 were painted in British Standard (381c) 223 "Middle Bronze Green". This does not include overseas production models such as Australian manufacture. "Factory/dealer warranty replacement" units were painted black, these were primarily distributed for the failures common to the "wet crank" primary gear system in early Minis.

The original A-series engine displaced just 803 cc (49.0 cu in) and was used in the A30 and Morris Minor. It had an undersquare 57.92 mm × 76.2 mm (2.280 in × 3.000 in) bore and stroke. This engine was produced from 1952 to 1956.

Applications:

1956 saw a displacement increase, to 948 cc (57.9 cu in). This was accomplished by increasing the bore to 62.9 mm (2.48 in) while retaining the original 76.2 mm (3.00 in) stroke. It was produced until 1964.

The 62.9 mm (2.48 in) bore was retained for 1959s 848 cc (51.7 cu in) Mini version. This displacement was reached by dropping the stroke to 68.26 mm (2.687 in). This engine was produced through to 1980 for the Mini, when the 998 A-Plus version supplanted it.

The one-off 997 cc (60.8 cu in) version for the Mini Cooper used a smaller 62.43 mm (2.458 in) bore and longer 81.4 mm (3.20 in) stroke. It was produced from 1961 to 1964.