Engine Swap/ New Project

[Phil210293]

Hello PHers, I'm new to these forums and trying to do some research for a Mini project, I'm 19 and wanting to build myself a really nice Mini in time for when I can afford the insurance on the thing
With some coercion, my old man is helping me, he's been playing around with TD5 and V8 Land Rovers since God Knows When, so no shortage of space, tools & time, etc. etc.
With regards to what I want out of it, 100, 120mph top end is more than enough in a Mini, but it's got to have the power to surprise any posers off the line
I'm here to ask for some advice from the mini community about what options I have, especially with regards to things like engine swaps; which ones will fit (keeping the standard nose is pretty essential, though if the worst comes to the worst..), any problems with cooling non mini engines, etc, any advice and hints & tips you can think to give me; I've built a couple of Rover V8s and spent plenty of time under Landies but other than that I'm a n00b, so I'm starting this discussion in the hope that it becomes a bit of a one-stop-shop for me (and others).

Thanks!!

[Richspec]

You need to get yourself over to 16vminiclub.com and get searching, just about any engine transplant can be found on there.

Rich

[Phil210293]

Cheers Rich, I'll have a look round.

[Phil210293]

Looking at it, a VTec engine seems like the brightest idea; Honda reliability, Mini Chuckability There's a few kits out there with all the subframe/rad/brakes/suspension in one convenient place, seems too good to be true; no back and forth to different places for different bits, no part compatability issues, no mucking about with custom subframes, would anyone with experiences of these share their knowledge/pain there would be no shortage of power, only thing is the old skool Mini soundtrack would disappear but I guess you have to make some sacrifices if you want to have a fast Mini. Please guys, I have no experience, so any wisdom you can think to share is appreciated.

Thanks!

[harley munky]

im currently in the middle of doing a watson 1.4 k series conversion to my clubby. cost me 1400 and that includes EVERYTHING i need including postage. wont be a beast off the lights like a z cars but i only wanted it as somthing different to use as i drive up and down the country for work in a 850cc mini at the mo and would like to beable to sit with traffic again .also insurance wont be asmuch as it would be with vtecs/r1 power

[AlleyCat]

Phil210293 said:

only thing is the old skool Mini soundtrack would disappear but I guess you have to make some sacrifices if you want to have a fast Mini.

Thanks!

you dont need to make those kind of sacrifices to get a fast Mini. you dont even need an engine from a different car.

but i guess its down to personal preference.

[Cooperman]

One thing worth considering is the way as the Mini becomes even more an established classic and the values increase more and more - and they will, the demand will be for original or 'period modified' cars.
Changing the entire front end for a different engine will kill the value and cost a lot of cash. On the other hand, improving the existing engine will enhance the value so long as the mods are done to what was available when that car was produced.
I was asked to drive and give an opinion on a Honda V-TEC 1.8 engined late Mini and, to be honest, it was not at all pleasant to drive. True it was fast, but it felt unsafe through tight corners and I'm sure there was distortion in the replacement sructure. My advice was to fit additional stiffening after speaking to an automotive structures engineer. The owner had paid over £11,000 for it. For that money he could have got, say, an Innocenti Cooper 1300 or, maybe just, a Mk.2 Cooper 'S' in need of some work. Either of those cars will increase in value and with some engine mods will give 90+ bhp and max out at 100 mph. That's quite enough for a Mini.

[nick1275]

ive driven and been driven in a 2.0 vaux mini, very very quick but to me it's mini-ness, and it understeers like the titanic

[Fatboy]

Cooperman said:

One thing worth considering is the way as the Mini becomes even more an established classic and the values increase more and more - and they will, the demand will be for original or 'period modified' cars.
Changing the entire front end for a different engine will kill the value and cost a lot of cash. On the other hand, improving the existing engine will enhance the value so long as the mods are done to what was available when that car was produced.
I was asked to drive and give an opinion on a Honda V-TEC 1.8 engined late Mini and, to be honest, it was not at all pleasant to drive. True it was fast, but it felt unsafe through tight corners and I'm sure there was distortion in the replacement sructure. My advice was to fit additional stiffening after speaking to an automotive structures engineer. The owner had paid over £11,000 for it. For that money he could have got, say, an Innocenti Cooper 1300 or, maybe just, a Mk.2 Cooper 'S' in need of some work. Either of those cars will increase in value and with some engine mods will give 90+ bhp and max out at 100 mph. That's quite enough for a Mini.

HI Cooperman,
Have you ever driven any of the crossflow conversions (7-port, 8-port, KAD 16v, BMW K), and what did you think of those?
It's the angle I'm looking at going down (BMW K), as I like the idea, but would like to know what a seasoned mini Tuner thinks...

[Furyblade_Lee]

If I was to do an engine conversion in the FRONT of a mini I think the K-series is a good choice, mainly because of its lightness. We use K-Series and Typr-Rs is some of the kitcars, front and rear, and a typeR is significantly heavier than a K-series when all the ancillaries are attetched. Like in the weight of a small child heavier, and that weight is sitting ON the rocker cover! If you go in a Honda-converted Lotus Elise you can feel the extra mass over the original K, its quite noticable. As someone said, minis can understeer and be a pig to drive with all that weight up front and little in the rear. I would love a ride in one sometime to see how they handle. Fast in a straight line would soon bore me if the thing was no fun in the corners. I saw an article in a mag testing a yellow clubman fitted with a Vauxhall red-top. It was a bh torquesteering apparently, and the owner-builder was fed up with it. I hope he got it sorted as it did look a nice car.

[Phil210293]

Cheers guys, this is all helpful stuff, the common opinion is that tuning is a better route than swapping; I would like to know what sort of effect this has on reliability, and also since I have had no end of headaches with carbs before, what are the later injected Minis like (and how difficult to get hold of), or can you get kits to fit earlier Minis with injection?? Thanks

[Cooperman]

Fatboy said:

HI Cooperman,
Have you ever driven any of the crossflow conversions (7-port, 8-port, KAD 16v, BMW K), and what did you think of those?
It's the angle I'm looking at going down (BMW K), as I like the idea, but would like to know what a seasoned mini Tuner thinks...

I've driven several 8-port x-flow head 1275 cars with the Webers and the Fish carbs. They were excellent and the benefits of not having those siamesed ports are very clear when you drive one with the 8-ports. It's important to have the engine set-up on ythe rollers really as tuning becomes more important with a very long overlap cam. One i drove was an ex-works Mini Clubman and i would say thatit waws not reallynsuitable nforn normal road use in traffic. That may have been the cam which was a full race cam and the tranmsmission was set up with a very tight limited slip diff which made the steering very heavy. It certainly would not run cleanly below about 4200 rpm, but it needed a RR session and I didn't get to test it afterwards.
I did drive a rally one and it was much better, but again more suited to special stages than to road use really.
I've not driven a KAD 16v or a BMW K equipped one so I can't really comment.
As I said, the Honda V-TEC one I tried was, in my opinion, poorly built with an insufficiently stiff front end to take that level of power, but it didn't 'arf go along!
My real interest is in the A-series engined cars as to me the ones with different engines are 'hybrids' not original Minis, but again, that's just me.