Ok so i have had a thing for Minis since i was mini and me and my freinds all have a thing for being different when it comes to cars (an example of this is my mate wanting to put a Rotary in his calibra) so my idea is to put a busa engine into a mini, this would give me crazy power to weight ratios and would also give me a RWD mini as when you do the conversion the engine is mounted in the boot, i have found a kit from the UK that i could get shipped over and do some of the work myself as i am quite handy with a spanner, the people im looking at gettin the kit from is called ZCARS there web site can be found here http://www.zcars.org.uk/mini/specifications.htm,
Here are my questions--
1.does anyone know of any other companies that make kits similar to this?

2.does anyone know of someone who has done a similar conversion in australia?

3.will the car still handle very well with the egine in the rear or will i need to do some weight distribusion?

4.What kind of suspension would u guys recomend for this kind of conversion?

5.What kind of brakes would be best to use?

sorry about the long post and thanks in advance for the help

Goodluck, only advice I have is when your doing the brakes... get BIG ones!

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1972 Leyland Clubman, 4EFTE 1330cc Turbo, 220Hp on 17psi
(1/4 mile: 13.8s @108mph @168Hp)

I have heard of 2 that have been done for the road in Oz, and they supposedly had to have a complete emissions test $$$$ in order to comply the bike motor for use in a car.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

a nieghbor of mine has done it for a clubman (kit lotus) car he said that they cannot be registed anymore no more bike engines he could be wrong but thats what he said

seriously???? oh damn i hope not, i will try and find some more info on that

Australia doesn't do emmisions tests for bike motors as their small capacity..... This creates a problem because all cars to be registered need to be emission tested. Or if they are a engine transplant then the engine needs to be emission tested (OK if it comes from a different car) But if you flog a motor out of a bike you will need to know that you can get it's emmisions tested in your State, at a workshop autorised by the Department of Transport and R.S.

This has caused headaches for people in the bast (I have heard of people paying $3,000 for a day of emmision testing for them to say it was too high and they needed to bring the emissions down

I don't want to discourage you but you will need to try and get a firm answer out of the RTA in your state before building a mini that will never hit the streets legally

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-doing a Degree in Mechanical Engineering,
and a few conversions:
13B Extend in a 1600
4EFTE in a mini ute (all slowly)

emmision testin ay, yeh i heard it can be rather $$$$$$, im startin to think a turboed vtec may be the go, but then again it isnt unuique i will get onto the RTA and see what info i can get

With the emissions tests I think it depends on car. Cause I know my car has had emissions test done. Same with a mate of mine with a Super 6 commodore motor in a Torana he also doesnt need emissions testing done.

Im not sure whether this is because the cars they came from had already been complied or not so yeah. I would have a long talk with RTA and Licencing before attempting anything. You might be better off doing the VTEC Turbo conversion as they would already have been complied.

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Torque Steer is a very evil thing. Fun..... but evil.

West Aussie Mini Boys Represent...!!!

ok thanks gti_mini i will get some more info on emision testing tomorow and i will also find out if i can get a motorbike engine engineered

3. I think the zcars kits put fuel tanks and radiators in the front to weigh it down a bit... lots of examples in miniworld over the last few years

4. I think z-cars do the suspension radius arms, driveshafts etc. as part of the kit, so you'd be getting them too (maybe you could option them out). However, I asked them for a price on just their radius arms with rear brakes and they said "about a grand"... in pounds

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

The 2 PRB clubmans that were built using bike motors were built by the Mackie brothers from Sydney, they have both since sold the cars last year and moved onto lotus Elises with supercharged Honda engines. They had to have the cars tested for the ADR of the time which was ADR39/01 and that test was available from the RTA in NSW at the time and the testing of ICVs is a bit different as they are considered to be new cars.

When you fit a vehicle like a mini with a new engine from something else your engine emissions are set by the age of the engine and most states will require your engineer to provide proof of compliance. The only palce in Australia to have the facilities for full testing is Toyota and it will be expensive to have a bike engine tested but if you are keen on it find an engineer first and talk it over and then ask your state rego authority what they are going to need

Jon

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van

z cars do make a rwd honda engine car now.. which is apparently a much more refined drive compared to the motorbike, and has some nice power.

just a thought..

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Potato

thanks heaps for all the help guys, if im gonna go with a honda engine it will be a fwd, but i would still love to do the bike idea, will be very original and thats the main thing i like about it, i will let you know what info i can come up with tomorow

and a VERY good thought at that.

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But he's thriving and striving and hugging the turns.

BUT from what I understand... If you are putting a engine in the rear of a mini... You are no longer just doing a engine swap... In the eye's of the RTA your car is now required to meet all rules subject to Kit cars.. & go through all the extra testing...

Cheers

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Baracade
Relationships! The only time you get to sleep with the enemy!
1972 US Export Moke in Bundaberg QLD