21 replies to this topic

[jayare]

The temp senders on MPi's are in the thermostat housing rather than the inlet manifold as SPi's are. They are both cheap (linky!). and prone to failure, so it would probably be worth swapping it for peace of mind. Running with a faulty one will cost you more in a couple of hundred miles due to excessive fuel consumption than the cost of replacing it!

Do you have the MPi fuel tank with pump, fuel lines, etc.? These are required for the high pressure fuel system - the carb parts will not work. If you have the whole wiring loom from the MPi it will also save a fair bit of wiring.

If you have a rev-counter in your car, that may also not function correctly as the MPi ones use an ECU signal which is at a different frequency per engine rev than the coil gives on a carb or SPi car.

Bean has recently done exactly this conversion on Reggie - may be worth a PM to see if there are any pitfalls!

Good luck with the conversion,

JR

[LukeH]

The temp senders on MPi's are in the thermostat housing rather than the inlet manifold as SPi's are. They are both cheap (linky!).. and prone to failure, so it would probably be worth swapping it for peace of mind. Running with a faulty one will cost you more in a couple of hundred miles due to excessive fuel consumption than the cost of replacing it!

Do you have the MPi fuel tank with pump, fuel lines, etc.? These are required for the high pressure fuel system - the carb parts will not work. If you have the whole wiring loom from the MPi it will also save a fair bit of wiring.

If you have a rev-counter in your car, that may also not function correctly as the MPi ones use an ECU signal which is at a different frequency per engine rev than the coil gives on a carb or SPi car.

Bean has recently done exactly this conversion on Reggie - may be worth a PM to see if there are any pitfalls!

Good luck with the conversion,

JR

hi

thanks for the reply. My original post perhaps wasn't very clear as my mini is already an MPI so I already have the necessary bits. I am simply swapping a broken mpi unit for a new one.

Thanks for the heads up on the temp sender.

Cheers

luke

[LukeH]

For those that care to know, I have almost finished the engine swap now. All that remains to do is reconnect brake servo, radiator, fill up with fluids and start it (fingers crossed) + change ball joints and reconnect the driveshaft’s.

The job took much longer than I had anticipated and was fairly difficult to do. The sheer volume of wires and obstructions in the engine bay made it quite a difficult task. We had to remove arch liners to get access to bolts to remove the horn, ecu etc... the radiator had to come out, the brake servo, the horn and the list goes on. I also managed to break 2 ball joint splitter tools whilst trying to split the nearside top ball joint so a quick trip to my local motor factor and I had that sorted.

All-in I have spent nearly 16 hours on the task so far and I think there is another 4+ to go. Hopefully the engine will start first time but I won’t hold my breath. Luckily I have lots of spares on my old engine that I know work i.e. coil pack, alternator, starter motor etc...

Wish me luck and thanks to everyone that posted comments and helped out.

Luke.

[Prawn]

a mini with arch liners? I've never seen that before!

[LukeH]

a mini with arch liners? I've never seen that before!

Just spotted your post. Yeah my MPI has got arch liners fitted which to be honest I thought was standard on them as my other mini is a 79 so I didn't know any different. They fit quite well and have certainly helped keep the rust away I think.

Luke.

[daemonchild]

a mini with arch liners? I've never seen that before!

Just spotted your post. Yeah my MPI has got arch liners fitted which to be honest I thought was standard on them as my other mini is a 79 so I didn't know any different. They fit quite well and have certainly helped keep the rust away I think.

Luke.

Good luck with the engine startup procedure. Well done on getting where you are.
I've got the same drop-in process to go through in a month or two.

I was looking at these arch liners. They're not cheap items... but if they save a new front every ten years....

[LukeH]

a mini with arch liners? I've never seen that before!

Just spotted your post. Yeah my MPI has got arch liners fitted which to be honest I thought was standard on them as my other mini is a 79 so I didn't know any different. They fit quite well and have certainly helped keep the rust away I think.

Luke.

Good luck with the engine startup procedure. Well done on getting where you are.
I've got the same drop-in process to go through in a month or two.

I was looking at these arch liners. They're not cheap items... but if they save a new front every ten years....

I've been driving the car eveyday for last two weeks and apart from an oil leak caused by loose diff housing bolts, it's been faultless! The engine swap took a full weekend and then it took me a further 3-4 days to sort out new ball joints, bleed brakes etc but it's sorted now.

Good luck with your engine swap, plan carefully make sure you have all the tools you need and remove eveything that you think is in the way. It will save you time in the long run.

Considering the amount of grit, dirt and mud on the arch liners I would say that they are worth the money (I don't actually knkow how much the cost).

Edited by LukeH, 25 October 2009 - 09:33 PM.