ok.. while I was at the track test.. guess what turned up..

a twin engined mini!.. thats right.. two A series motors. The guy had put a front subframe at the back and stuck another A series..

The conversion was extremely clean.. you couldnt' tell there is another engine at first glance

I stayed behind at the track to see how this thing performs.. it actually handled very well..

which gave me an idea..

no.. its not to put another starlet engine at the back.. (although that would be a bit insane!.. in a good way)

it was to install just a single engine at the back .. I know this topic has been covered before.. but I am serious about this...

I already have a body shell ready to do surgery on

I havent confirmed with the engineer but.. the way I see it.. if he is going to allow a twin engined mini to get away.. why not my idea!

Imagine the space under the bonnet to put whatever you wanted! .. a good sized radiator, a proper servo brake cylinder.. the works!.. and all that traction from a RWD.. not to mention the ability to fit wheels bigger than 13"!

I do have to mention that I now have access to a proper workshop with everything you can imagine and the guys I work with are crazier than me and they are all fitters, turners etc.. and they have vowed to help me so I have help

This is where I need your guys input:

Engine choice:

I can stick with the 4efte.. good potential for its size. Or I'm looking at something bigger.. 4AGZE? B16A? sr20det (from a GTiR..there seems to be few halfcuts of these for sale)

Suspension:

Obviously I was thinking of putting a front subframe at the back.. but this limits me in several ways:
- drive shafts/ CV joints would become the weakest link due the mini hubs.. especially with all that traction
- I would have to modify the car shell a fair bit to fit the front subframe in.. which is no big deal really..

Please feel free to shoot me down from my pipe dreams. Any advise on any of the above matters would be highly appreciated!

Cheers

Pubs

3sgte rear engined mr2. But I reckon you would prolly exceed some capacity limitations.

Great idea.

There is a thread on 16vminiclub by a guy who used the early model mr2 motor (or maybe it was a suzi gti motor).

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

Hey buddy,

It's an awesome idea..

Tricky (Archangel007) and myself are currently in the process of building my mini with a 4G92 1.6L mounted you guessed it.. in the back Not sure what the regulations are like down in SA but in QLD we're limited to 2.0L naturally aspirated or 1.6 force inducted... which is why I went with a 1.6

There is/was a Moke somewhere in Oz with a 4AGE 20V Toyota engine mid-mounted.

http://autospeed.com/A_108267/cms/article.html

Cheers,

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Hi pubs
So your car passed and registered then?
I have been thinking about a similiar project 4e or 5efte
I know the guy with the twiny so I think also that if that passes so would a RWD mid engined car.
I have got a rear subframe from a MGF which I am going to use these are very similiar to a metro frame and quite a few people in the UK have used them.

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

Two mini engines is just plain silly




I'm replacing them with two Suzuki G13b motors

_________________
Too many cars, and too little time.

SR20 DET??? Nissan is my pick

Thanks for the input guys.

I am going to check over with the engineer what our max allowable capacity for an engine transplant is.. Ben do you know this?

The part i'm struggling to get a grip on is which suspension set-up I use..
I can stick with the original mini front subframe but hubs are the problem

Ben.. you mentioned the MGF rear subframe... that is a good idea indeed! .. correct me if i'm wrong but.. the MGF had the engine at the back right? so conversion should be easier.

I did a google search on it and the frame seems very similar to the mini frame.. so hopefully should be able to fit it all in..

I'm guessing this frame will give increased track

If you have some pics of the frame, would you be able to email them to me by any chance? (I'll PM you my addy)

Mr. Spraycanmansam, what route are you heading in interms on rear suspension?

Cheers

Pubs

ok.. I did a bit of searching around..

Went to 16vmini site in UK and some guys have done their beloved vaxhaull conversion in the rear using a MGF frame.

The track seems enormous!
and these are fully inset modern wheels..
dont know what the engineer will think of this



The frame looks very good though.. these guys get rid of the original suspension and put on coil-overs



One way to avod this I thought would be to chop the frame in half and shorten it track wise and get rid of those suspension towers!

This is certainly one good way to do it..

Another thought I had was to just get a half cut of a MR2 and make a tube frame to use all toyota suspension bits and pieces which bolts on to the exsiting mini rear subframe mounting points. This obviously would be a bit more difficult than the MGF solution..

Any ideas welcome....

pubs

Also with the one in the picture you can steer the car from outside, I guess you have to be a fast runner...

But seriously I would go the MR2 route, as the engine configuration is already suited to mounting rearward. As for the frame I would go custom though this is a lot more work and you would have to be ultra perfect in relation to fabricating the rear suspension mounting points which the use of an existing subframe gets around. As for CV's and driveshafts. The Mini CV's have worked well for me for 2.5 years, replaced bearings once but these had been on the car for 5-7 years. The tyres will smoke up before you break the CV's unless you use huge tyres...

Cheers

Matt

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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

HI matt,

I am leaning towards the MR2 route.. I'll just have to make a ultra precise jig thats all.. measure 10 times and cut once. Some CAD might help in the process too

with respect to CV joints, I am planning on fitting 14" or 15" wheels and modifying the guards etc so the vehicle keeps its original height

Obviously bigger wheels means higher torque on the drive shafts so I would prefer to do do it right once and forget about it. They way I look at it is, if I did put mini CV's and they started going bust later on, I would have to go through a lot of fix it up properly..

Other than this option, I would really like to suss out any nissan engines I might be able to plonk in there.. like one off a GTiR or a Pulsar SSS..

Any thoughts on that?

Cheers

well.. I got a quote from a MGF wrecker for a complete rear subframe including discs, brakes, suspension etc.. $2500!!!!!!

Surely this can't be right for a hunk of metal! my whole 4EFTE halfcut didn't cost that much!!! and that had all the suspension intact!

The MR2 option is looking more and more sweet

The pics above were of a an MGF subby and he was mounting an MGF engine into it.

Try Brickworx on MGF rear frame.

They've been bringing in MGF cuts for a while now.

_________________
1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Thanks for the info guys

No the guy in UK put in Vauhaull engine in there.. probably because its dirt cheap to get parts over there!
I heard the MGF engine is a bit of crap box.. but who knows..

I'll inquire from brickworx for the frame