Hello all,

I've lurked around here for a while, but don't think I have posted before.

I bought a moke at a clearing sale 15 years ago for $20. It came with some new bits and pieces, a grill and what not, and is straight.

It has sat in a disused pig shed at my now ex in laws farm since I bought it. It's time to bring it back to life.

I've read through quite a few of the Starlet conversions. I actually drive a normally aspirated Starlet as my daily, and love it, so the idea of a 4EFTE appeals to me.

I am a light vehicle mechanic, but have spent the last 5 years working for a large Diesel manufacturer as a trainer (until I was laid off last week).

I have a few questions to pose to those who are more versed in these matters than I am.

1.) Is there a definitive "clubhouse leader" as far as subframe design is concerned? In the threads I have trawled there a few different methods of execution, I guess I am trying to work out what is best going to suit me.

2.) Has anyone completed this conversion in a moke? Is there any reason to expect that there would be a moke specific problem to overcome?

3.) I had a few minis a youngster, a 64 850 and a 7? 1100, one was dry suspension, one hydrolastic. I'd actually like to look into fabbing a custom suspension setup and using hubs from something like the Starlet or another more modern vehicle. Has anyone here done something similar?

I hope I'm not asking too many questions for a newbie. Thanks for any response.

Welcome.

Mokes have more upright firewalls above the cross member. The grill is also closer to the engine than even a round nose. The only easier bit on a moke is the clearance above and in front of the engine.

So, I think you'll end up extending the front to fit an engine conversion. That would be an easy job but too long and it'll look odd.

Most old mokes these days are well rooted where the floor meets the firewall. There is a channel there that the tail of the front subby mounts to. Most mokes have that channel rusted right. Also, most have had a bodgy weld repair where the floor sides meets the box section. There is supposed to be a triangular shaped inner sill part there but it's difficult to replicate and many repairers don't bother. Without these features the strength and rigidity of the shell is severely compromised.

If you have a car with these symptoms, I recommend NOT giving it 3-4 times the factory standard power then sharing the road with my family.

M

Hi Howie,

Welcome to the fold.

I am doing a Starlet conversion into a Morris 1100 and so have probably encountered similar problems to yourself. The same-but-different thing. Most of what these guys have done is really handy because of the similarities, but then I'm breaking new ground when I come to the different bits. I think you'd have even more crossover with a moke, but are the engine bays smaller?

I thought about trying to use the starlet suspension in mine but came to my senses when I thought about how long it would take. I'm now up to (HOLY CRAP! - I just checked and it FOUR YEARS!!!) and counting...

See my thread here http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic ... 93&start=0

Anyway, good luck, I'm sure you'll find many a helping hand here.

Cheers
Madmorrie

Hi Howey and welcome

Check out this thread of an NA starlet engined moke in Perth , http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic ... light=moke

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Thanks for the link. I understand what you mean now. The problem I have is that I have been thinking about this for too long not to have a go now.