Again i must appologise to all those who are waiting to grab a kit off me, i am very sorry for taking so dam long,,, However there is only one of me & i struggle to squeez time on the CNC machine inbetween fixing normal customers minis & daily life in general

so,,, as you can see, we`re nearly there,,, won`t be very much longer at all now

I have a fairly big list of people who have allready pre-ordered a kit so if you want one then please don`t hesitate to e-mail or PM me as i will have a price pretty soon now too

Now please excuse me but i have to get to bed now cause i`m riding my down hill mountain bike tomorrow, then surfing at Byron bay all day saturday & then racing Down Hill bike at Brookfield for the first round of the state series on sunday, so i will need my beauty sleep to be ready for all that hey???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Matt is there a link to more details on this? What body mods are needed?

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

No body mods needed at all in a moke or a clubby, but you will need to trim out one little piece of the front left hand bonnet crossmember underneath for it to fit a roundy.

I have a faily comprehensive detailed account of the mods to the engine in here-->

http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/TheMiniMan/page2.html

I am in the process of making "Build Guide Video CDs" showing a full engine build , the whole process showing all the mods needed, showing as many of the avaliable options for inlet systems, exhausts, Turbos, injection system, oiling--> breathing, oil drains, oil fillers,,,, radiator brakets, L/h engine steady braket, etc etc etc ,,,, videos & photos of all the bits & machining etc etc etc required to do the job.... Obviously that will take a while to do nicely so i don`t expect them to be ready in time for the launch of the kits for sale, but there`s enough info to get one running in that web page above & you can allways e-mail me or pohone me to clarify things until the Video CDs are done

cheers Not long now

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

well your a busy man congratulations on your hard work and persistance i bet it pays off

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Thanks dbr11k,,, but the amount of time & money i have spent on these conversion kits & the small amount i will be charging for them i doubt that i will even make my money back let alone make anything out of it

It`s more for the masses to experience some decent power with quiet sofisticated smoothness,,, all i get is a few kits for myself & the satisfaction & the big smile knowing people are enjoying something that i made for them & there lovely little minis

& the big beauty of this conversion is that there are basically no body mods & no Dept of Transport approvals, no suspension geometry hassles , no gear ratio dramas, none of the crap than plagues nearly all jap engine conversions... so the shell can remain std & the whole thing can be returned back to stock quite easilly if need be at any later date

Can you just imagin someone building a pristine condition, almost concours, clean as a whistle, absolutely stock std, lovely little morris 850,,, but underneath lies a fire breathing 200hp turbo injected MiniMan Twinky donk,,,,yeah,,,,, Now "THAT`s what i`m talking about girlfriend

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Excuse me Matt, you are going out to enjoy yourself when you have ALL that work to do?????

Matt,

very nice bit of gear and well done for making the effort (love those billet covers), even though you may lose money in the process. However, I am a bit perplexed by some of the comments on Jap conversions. My ssuspension geometry is standard, not sure what you mean by gear ratio issues as the ratio's seem find too me (wheel radius between my mini's wheels and a starlet were pretty negligible), and while it took a while (18 months) to complete I have had 2 years of turnover first time driving pleasure.

As for the power potential, I am sure it is there, as the most limiting factor on A series engines was the head as far as power output is concerned, but as with the g13B, the next thing to go bang with Mini's is the gearbox, and this occurs on much less than 200bhp. Taking the C52 gearbox for example, these are pretty much bulletproof, as demonstrated by my driving it for 2 years with 180hp (atw) going through it.

I agree that this will make for a very neat installation (i.e. not cutting) and I think it is a work of genius (for which you should be congratulated) just that the comparisons are not there when it comes to generating consistant large hp applications, hence the jap engine installations.

Cheers

Matt

PS. Let the creaming begin...

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225hp atw on 14psi. 1/4 Mile no idea. Take one 1971 Mini Clubman, one Starlet GT Halfcut, Simmer over a warm MIG Welder, and Voila Minstar! www.mpdesign.id.au

Hey Now Smokey, i can assure you all that riding & surfing is extreamly hard work & without that excercise i wouldn`t be fit enough to be able to physically perform my mini repairs duties

but yeah, it is fun too

If any of you Brisbane people have nothing to do this sunday then drive out to the very end of Upper Brookfield Rd & become a spectator to one of the worlds most extream sports, Down Hill Mountain bike racing is certainly very physical, if you havn`t actually witnesses this stuff before then you`re in for a shock... It`s very hard & very fast... Just take a little esky with you filled with cold drinks... & it doesn`t cost anything to spectate & they will have burgers & sausages & drinks for sale as usual.

Team MiniMan usually have 2 or 3 riders up on the podium at most races

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I've seen Matt race before - he's all right for a old bloke It's good fun to spectate, just make sure you get somewhere where you think people will stack

Matt, just remember.........PEDAL!

Seriously, it is good to see that you are almost done on the progress for the Twinky conversion.

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

Jeez Matt,

I think 'dramas' 'crap', 'hassles' and 'plagues' are not words I would associate with a Jap conversion.

As Matt said, no geometry changes here, can use stock Mini components back and front.

I think a Jap conversion may be a little more expensive, but there would be more benefits in going this route I believe and they would outweight the costs even with the body mods and DOT approvals.

None-the-less, congrats with your endeavors and I hope they bear fruit!

Cheers,
Tricky

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

Well done Matt...you really should be recovering your costs and making a bit of profit as well though....

I can see your conversions changing hands for much dinero in the future because of the sweetness of the conversion and the bang for your buck.

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"Show me the Mini!"

hi are you shipping these abroad? I put a link to this thread on my local club site... looks very nice.

Hey Mat this is all looking great

How much are the Kits going to be, just for fitting the Twinky, not turbo'd at the moment.

Hey I also looked at your other pages, and I used to have a Moulton too Mine was Blue.

Dicko.

Hey thanks for all the lovely words people, I appreciated greatly.

& yeah well,,, i wish i could make a pile of money but all i`m getting is a few kits for myself & the satisfaction of seeing people with huge smiles enjoying their smooth, quiet, reliable new found horse power

sorry to archangel007 & minstar,,, i didn`t mean to open a can of worms at all & certainly didn`t mean to offend the jap engine conversion fraternity, it was purely meant to show the differences in amount of work needed to convert to jap engine , """Compared""" with the relatively little amount needed for a Bimmer Twinky cyl head conversion... no subframe mods, no gearshift mods, no panels cut out, no axles to be made, no major wiring & dash/instrument cluster swaps & no speedo calibrations & no Dept of Transport hassles.

It was also aimed at showing how there is way more involved with returning a jap engine converted mini back to stock std,,, The Bimmer Twinky s just a cyl head swap really.

The suspension geometry "hassels" & the "crap" needed to go through to sort & the "plagued" with dramas was aimed at all the dodgey conversions i`ve seen over the years,,, (i`ve seen lots, what worries me is that there is obviously plenty more out there that i haven`t seen) &yours may well be all lovely, i certainly didn`t aim any bad words at yours in particular,,, please forgive my generalisation???

gear ratios & suspension mods issues are needed to be sorted with regards to the "average" jap engine conversion tho ,

Firstly--> gear ratios to address the 5th gear wonderfullness that i hear soooo many people dream on about... The fact is that most jap cars run very large diameter wheels/tyres (13" & 14") compared to our pissy little 10" things, that "supposed" 5th gear overdrive lovelyness just doesn`t quite become the highway low rev cruiser that they all rave on about hey? Most Jap diff pinion gears are actually part of the gearbox mainshaft & to address this issue correctly would necessitate the manufacture of a mainshaft/pinion & crown wheel assy to re-gain the same final drive ratio as the donor jap car with way taller 13" & 14" wheel/tyre packages

2ndly--> suspension geometry issues are needed to be sorted as the major subframe modifications entail the re-fabrication of the front Tie-bar/radius rod locating/mounting point (on the "Average" jap engine convertad subframe) & hence it`s location & also it`s rigidity to withstand the torsional & lateral forces applied to it while cornering really need to be sorted correctly & "Some" of the frames i`ve seen over the years tend to be just simply a few round pipes welded to the frame to hold the engine in place with very little regard to the front frame members actual job. Not to mention the larger & very much heavier 13" wheels/tyres combos i`ve seen jap engined minis run with...

I`m sorry if it seemed to you guys that i was having a dig at all Jap engine conversions, it certainly wasn`t meant that way,,, it was mainly to show the "Average" joe/Jane that there is way way way more involved with a jap engine conversion than just fabbing up a frame to hold the donk in place,,, as compared to a fairly simple cyl head swap

Again, please forgive me for sounding derogatory,,, i have made my own jap engine conversion subframe & also my turbo charged alloy V8 subframe & i`m definately not against them in any way, i`ve also helped many other people fab up their own frames for jap engine conversions over the years, so i`m not new at all this, i`ve done my homework,,, hence the Bimmer Twinky conversion,,, it`s what i call """The Best Of A Bad Bunch"""

My blatant generalising was only meant to show Average Joe/Jane, (those who have no distinct mechanical or fabrication experience) that this Bimmer Twinky conversion is simply far cheaper & easier to complete,,, with absolutley no hassles with Dpt of Transport,,,, no being "Plagued" with dodgey suspension subframes twisting & cracking,,, & next to no effort returning it back to a standard car--> as "Compared" to a jap engine conversion... by no means was it a dig at you or anyone else who owns a jap engine converted car, just a dig at the bodgey ones i`ve seen, so please excuse & forgive my lack of tact when typing that post

what diff ratios & what size wheels/tyres & Brakes are you guys running with your jap engine conversions by the way???

As for the mini gearbox being weak,,, well,,, when all the Jap gearboxes are 30+ years old & well worn out & you throw 180hp at them i bet you come to the same conclusion that the mini gearbox weakness "Mith" came from. they are well strong, just that some people have given them a bad name being lazy & not re-building them when they re-build their engines & just stuffing a new faster donk ontop of a 30+ year old 2nd hand worn out gearbox &/Or they have re-built them poorly---> simple as that,,, they take a hell of a lot of grunt & for a hell of a lot more time, (when built correctly) way way more than "some" people give them credit for... I pity those people because they have obviously either had bad experiences --> OR they have been misslead by in experienced people.

Suzi boxes were dieing very early in the piece, (& still are) which brand of jap box is next to get a bad name for "weakness" when they are 30+ years old & 180hp is thrown at them???

The fact is that a well prepared & well built mini box will easilly handle 160hp all day every day & for a very long time,,, However there is something called "fatigue" that will "Plague" nearly any 30+ year old gearboxes tho, no matter what the brand, & we can`t all have D9 bull dozer gearboxes fitted to out tiny little cars just for the sake of making them last 500 years, it would take 500hp to turn the dam things

ok, i`m done & again sorry for seeming anti jap engine, i`m certainly not. As mick (9YaTah) put it--- "Dam good value & bang for buck",,,, just need to add """smooth, quiet, reliable, efficient, refined & sofisticated"""

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Oh!!! & Gr4h4m.,... yes i`m more than happy to send over seas,,, i allready have a few pre-orders from England & the States & one from Japan at the moment

& again sorry to all those who Pm`d & e-maild me as i havn`t costed it all up yet,,, all i can give is a "Guestimate" of about $1800... plus a cyl head, plus extractors/manifolds..

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.