Engine swaps in Classic Mini's

Engine swaps in Classic Mini's

Author
Discussion

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

193 months

Friday 18th February 2011
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Can anyone please tell me what engines are relatively easy to fit into a Mini, and maybe point me in the direction of any threads where this has been done? I know V8's etc are theoretically possible but I want more realistic options, with possible future additions such as turbo's/superchargers too. I am considering things like the Fiat 1.4 turbo unit, or maybe a focus 1.6 duratec.

The last thing is being useless with a spanner I would be after a drive in-drive out conversion, so I guess I'd be getting it de-rusted at the same time biggrin Say the Mini is in average condition, can anyone recommend a place to use and a ballpark figure for such a task? I appreciate this is going to be in no way accurate but at least it will give me an idea of what to save for roughly.

Any thoughts or opinions much appreciated.

Joe
smile

Rob Dicky

209 posts

230 months

Friday 18th February 2011
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Take a look here they do kits to fit Honda engines.

http://www.watsonsrally.co.uk/html/home.html


DougieMc

1,794 posts

228 months

Friday 18th February 2011
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Have a read of mine
The conversion was pretty easy but to make it into a Standard round nose etc etc was where the fun started


http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

193 months

Friday 18th February 2011
quotequote all
Thanks Dougie, I'll have a read of that later as I'm at work now. May I ask quickly now, does it have a rough outline of the cost, and what engine was used? Feel free to ignore the first question if you so wish smile

Rob, thanks for the link. I've been in a Vtec Mini, a 1.6 I believe which is why I am asking the question as to what other engines would fit in there. I have always preferred turbocharged cars for the road, NA for the track and as this would be a road car for London, I like the turbo idea. There's nowhere to rev out a Vtec properly in Notting Hill!

Thanks guys.

DougieMc

1,794 posts

228 months

Friday 18th February 2011
quotequote all
Its a 2.0XE Vauxhall Redtop
Costs I would say for the convesion would be around £2k for the kit then £500 for engine £1k for other bits but as you can see we built the whole car from scratch which added a few £££ on top

The guys on 16vminiclub.com are more than helpful


annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Friday 18th February 2011
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You can always fit a turbo'd A-series?

DougieMc

1,794 posts

228 months

Friday 18th February 2011
quotequote all
annodomini2 said:
You can always fit a turbo'd A-series?
Agreed loads easier
But if your wanting any BHP with reliabilty then you have to go bigger

With the RedTop 150BHP standard and easily tuneable to 200+ and still reliable then it was the best way for us.


Although a A Seried Turbo is Awesome fun its just not reliable when you go chasing power

xe mini

533 posts

166 months

Friday 18th February 2011
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Lil Joe you could always buy mine http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2499669.htm
Not a patch on Dougies motor but a solid clean car and i gauarantee you would spend a lot lot more doing a conversion from scratch.

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

193 months

Saturday 19th February 2011
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XE mini - Damn, that is one sweet lovely looking car and I would very much be interested unfortunately 5 don't have the funds right now. These questions are the beginnings of my research into whats possible/feasible while i do the appropriate saving. Thank you for the offer though, I can imagine you may well be losing a fair chunk of money in the cost to build vs. sale price area. I just wish I had the funds now. frown

I notice that your mini seems to have been extended a little at the front, is this to fit the 2 litre engine in? How does the heavier engine affect the handling characteristics? I guess this is why I was thinking of a smaller, turbocharged unit although having only experienced a VTEC I would be interested to compare a more torquey engine such as the one in yours and a forced induction unit to see which one I prefer. Yours certainly seems to shift, its a shame the video isn't better quality. Great noise too. smile

I looked at Watsons, they only seem to offer a VTEC conversion for a drive in-drive out price of £7k plus the car, which seems fair I suppose.
For some reason I feel a 1.6litre turbo unit would be ideal for a Mini, I don't know why?? Maybe a turbocharged Ford Duratec? Does anyone know where I can get figures on what various engines weigh ( don't say Google please, I was hoping for some kind of comparison chart or something nice and easy lazy) biggrin

Thanks for all the help guys. smile

DougieMc

1,794 posts

228 months

Saturday 19th February 2011
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Just added our full build thread to page 11 of my thread
Have a look whats involved
Cheers Dougie

Lil' Joe

Original Poster:

1,548 posts

193 months

Monday 21st February 2011
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Just read the full build, just astonishing what you have achieved. I too am not keen on the extended VTEC Mini's look so to fit that 2 litre in is amazing work. As for all the carbon, the hours you must have put in to have such a clean look beggar belief.

Still, at least I'll know who to ask for advice when I get underway with my little effort.

One question, at the point where you originally stripped it and had it sandblasted etc, was it in good/bad/average condition? What I most fear you see is buying a Mini and having it stripped to see that it is basically worthless. I expect some welding and replacing of parts but I've heard some real horror stories of people paying £5k for what looked like a minter only to strip it and find it was barely being held together.

Once again, top work and congratulations on car of the year. smile

DougieMc

1,794 posts

228 months

Monday 21st February 2011
quotequote all
Cheers
The thing with this car was we knew the history we knew the floor was sold so that was 1/2 the battle
I then got my mate who runs a bodyshop and another that does the Blasting to pop over and have a look and they say yep no probs thats worth doing
As my original plan was to buy a heritage shell and reshell it but when the guys said the original shell was good as a base then I would rather use it

Dougie

newminicooper

1 posts

82 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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Got a new 2002 Mini Cooper 1.6 wondering if I could put that Engine in a classic mini shell ?

annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Friday 12th January 2018
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Why pick such a st engine?

Easiest conversion is a k11 micra if something more modern is needed

timelord

318 posts

290 months

Saturday 13th January 2018
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I'd rather put that engine in a skip!

TheAlastair34

369 posts

135 months

Wednesday 31st January 2018
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i think the new 1.0 ecoboost 3 cylinder would be a cracking engine or any of the modern 3 cylinder turbo engines to be fair small and pack a good punch, only problem is the management system for them are expensive

annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Wednesday 31st January 2018
quotequote all
TheAlastair34 said:
i think the new 1.0 ecoboost 3 cylinder would be a cracking engine or any of the modern 3 cylinder turbo engines to be fair small and pack a good punch, only problem is the management system for them are expensive
The main issue is if they fit between the inner wings, technically if you cut the inner wings off for a flip front = IVA test.

Enforcing it could be difficult.

TheAlastair34

369 posts

135 months

Wednesday 31st January 2018
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annodomini2 said:
The main issue is if they fit between the inner wings, technically if you cut the inner wings off for a flip front = IVA test.

Enforcing it could be difficult.
Do the other conversions fit witin the OE wings? i would think another three cylinder engine might be a good chance of fitting

annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Thursday 1st February 2018
quotequote all
TheAlastair34 said:
Do the other conversions fit witin the OE wings? i would think another three cylinder engine might be a good chance of fitting
Micra K11 just fits.

There are OTS subframes available.