hey, i'm doing a 4age mini conversion now. the engine will be mounted in the frame very soon. i'm using a flip front. i will post pic's once the engine is in the car.

The MR2's used a slightly different box the gear change mechanism comes out the front but yes pretty much any transaxle will do.
Turboing a nonturbo or factory supercharged engine in SA is very difficult to get legal. I originally wanted to turbo a 4agze and put in my car but wasn't allowed so went for the 4efte.
I still think a small light engine in the back is going to make a much better handling car.

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

I love the rear engines Zcars jobs.

http://www.zcars.org.uk/mini/index.htm

FOr anyone who hasn't seen these insane machines.

They do bike engine kits, and a rear mounted civic type r engine kit.

In NSW at least I know the bike engine kits would not get anywhere really due to emissions laws here, and the fact bike engines are not emissions tested. I dont know about other states

I called an engineer about the possibility of a rear engined mini, he told me i would be looking at $16,500 for an engineers report for it. Pass or fail, $16,500. I told him a company in england did a kit for it, and i could probably obtain technical drawings which would make it easier for him to calculate what he needed to, he didn't care. $16,500... He was pretty reasonable with other stuff like brake conversions, i think he charged $120 bucks to approve a set of honda's on a customers car. I think such a modification (and i can only speak for NSW here) is so drastic the car becomes an ICV (independantly constructed vehicle) and therefore becomes a 2008 car and has to comply to ALL 2008 ADRs and other stupid rules.

_________________
--Insert legal disclaimer here--

ok guys.. went and had a chat to the engineer..

Here are his aswers ( all with respect to laws in SA)

Engine choice:

I can put what ever I want!.. There is no capacity restriction as such.. but SA is taking on thse national regulations which limit the capacity of the engine depending of the car weight.. so for a mini.. he estimated 3L!
As Ben said, turboing a NA or a supercharged car is not recommended, so he recommended best I stick with a stock turbo'd car and then tweaking it afterwards
I told him about the 4SGTE and the FWD SR20 off a bluebird.. he said the car would probably fly but he recommended I stick with something which has got an alloy block to keep things lighter.
Also, he said when we get into 2L territory, engine + gearbox might not actually fit but I will have to check this.

Suspension/frame :

I can do what ever I please. . as long as it passes the brake and lane change tests!.. He said people in the past have even designed their own suspension.
wheel track is not an issue since it is going to undergo the tests anyway
I told him about the MGF frame and he thought it was the best option since the suspension is designed for a mid engined car and I'm not trying to location suspension components

What was interesting is that he mentioned the later model MGF's came with celica engines, so fitting 2L engines in this frame can be done

wheel size:
I can put what ever I want He said increasing wheel size would help getting the power down to the ground, but going too large so that I have to cut front inner wheen arches and re-weld etc would be too much work.. but I do like the look of mini's with 15" wheels!

Other concerns:

He said since I am planning to dramatically change the weight distribution of the mini, a lot of suspension and brake tuning would be required ( dual master cylinders for the back and front etc)

Coil overs are allowed provided the mounting points are strengthened ( I think the MFG subframe comes with the hydro-pneumatic thingo's)

When he tested the twin engined mini, he said it was very noticable the weight at the back and how it affected the handling of the mini. taking the weight completely off the front would make this worse and the car would tend to spin out during braking while cornering so put as much weight as I can to the front ( same issues are present in the MR2's)

Engineering costs wont be too bad... its a bit of a longer engineers report plus usual track testing.. certainly not $16 grand worth!!

so.. this leaves me a LOT of options as to how I go about things.. more research I must do

Any more engine ideas are most welcome!

Pubs

You south australians are lucky !!!

4.2-litre direct-injection midmounted V8 from an r8 audi? lol

The honda k20 engine is alloy with cast iron liners i think?

Couple of guys on this site talking about rear mounting cosworth engines, could be worth a peek? http://www.passionford.com/forum/showth ... p?t=258927

_________________
--Insert legal disclaimer here--

That is very interesting makes me more eager to start another project
I am going to pick up a round nose shell on the weekend which will suit nicely.

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

the MG F frame will be a good choice.
the early ones use the hydragas system (i will use this), later ones don't.

_________________
Rover 214 atm ....

Ben,

let me know what engine choice + suspension system you choose.. it would be awesome if I can get a start on it as well so we are both doing it

I'm still completing body work on my starlet mini... other than that it is ready to be registered

How bad were they at regency with your clubman??

KLAS, why did you say to stick with the hydragas suspension setup??

Cheers

pubs

I'll use a 4efte just because I have a couple spare and they can be made to make enough power. Suspension wise MGF rear sub frame fitted with either coil overs or fit rubber cones.
My car went straight through Regency no problems just make sure every thing works and is neat and tidy. They also don't like cable ties for any thing other than holding cables so if you are using any for other reasons make proper clips and brackets.

Are you going to bring your car up to Minis at the Mill be good to see it?

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

LOL.. Stuart also told me to stay away from cable ties. As you said, the only things that are held by cable ties are wires.

When is mini's at the mill?

Cheers

Minis at the mill is 2nd november

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

because i like it, it's different, my frame is fitted with it and i don't have to worry about springs and shocks
and i can allways change it later if i want to

_________________
Rover 214 atm ....