Hmm.... you can build a new subframe in a couple of days....

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

You could machine this conversion in an 8 hour day .

Also machining the box down will gain a bit more room in the engine bay and I want to build this with as little new/extra parts necessary. Yes a simple sandwich plate and chain drive from the clutch to the box could work but that's just more things to break IMO .

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Ok I finally got off my ass and did a bit more. I took the gear box (rod change as remote will not work for this project) down to the machine guy and had the top section chopped off, a total of 49mm. As you can see from the pics the mini oil pick up is dead but the Suzuki pick up is at the opposite corner so no worries with that.
Machined rod change on the left , std remote on the right for comparison.


Then complete engine compared to an A series.

If anything theirs 10mm or less difference in height

The engine overhangs the speedo drive a fair bit but I knew that, just means I'll have to modify where the radiator sits.
I think it may be possible to build this for real (fingers crossed) now I just have to start checking measurements, spaces, adaptor plates and crank end extensions etc etc etc

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

did you check how far down the big-ends swing to see if they're going to hit the gears?

how thick are you going to make the new gearbox flange?

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

kudo's to you for having a crack at this.

I don't really get it though. I thought Mini boxes are the weakest link in the a series ( could be wrong about this but that is what I heard). Different is good, don't get me wrong.

D

I think the point of it is an engine conversion that doesn't require any subframe modification, etc?

I think the point is that it's just what he wants to do - we don't need a reason, justification or semblance of logic, sometimes we just want to do something because we want to

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I agree totally simon K. That is why I said kudo's to him. Not having a crack or trying to judge but just curious about it is all.

haha nice, couldnt have said it better!

Your all right;
The box should be able to handle the power no worries, so long as I build it correctly. Their are many mini's with more power than this will make still using A series setup's.
One major reason is I don't have to modify the std subframe or drive shafts which are both big cost savers and two less things I need to get engineered.
And yeah I want to do do something different .

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Which is the best thing of all. If we all did the same thing, it would become very monotonous. Kudos to all who push the normal boundaries.

Dicko

so you need something like this machined up?

Yep so far I've machined the Suzuki flywheel down to just the center so I could have a play around with it. The idea starts to stumble when the bolts come in to it, the UK boys have the same problem. The diameter in between the bolt heads is smaller than the mini crank so you either need to have six groves in the crank with a brass sleeve or something over them that holds the mini gears or get bolts with small heads, allen keys or something but will small heads loose to much strength? Plus the shorter the crank end the better because this affects the spacer you need between the mini flywheel housing and the Suzuki block. If this is to big it pushes the block towards the radiator too much which also affects the speedo pick up and maybe the engine mount.
What I need to do is talk to and engineer or a machinist and figure out what will be easiest and cheapest to do but still be able to handle 150hp or more because if this fails at 8000RPM it will destroy my custom made gearbox and then I'll be back at square one, out of pocket and an idea on what not to do This needs to be 100% perfect and will need to last 30+ odd years.

_________________
Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

yes, talk to an engineer, but it's not the bolt heads that do the holding, it's the bolt shanks acting as dowels, and the friction of the two mating faces



I wouldn't be at all concerned about destroying the gearbox - there are much more important issues

Sorry Simon, this is the engineer in me talking, based on some very good texts that I consult when I am designing stuff for the race cars.

NO, NO and NO. NEVER use the bolts as the locating device. That is what dowels are for. They are designed to very tight tolerances for the holes to prevent fretting, misalignment and have no threads to act as stress raisers. They transmit the load in single shear very well, unlike bolts.

ONLY use the bolts for clamping. End of story.


cheers
michael

_________________
the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates