7 replies to this topic

[Angus1991]

Hi everone,
I joined tmf a while ago so i could read through peoples builds and get some ideas as what to do to my mini.

I have sorted out all the body work and primered just needs topcoat, but i will stop waffeling and put some pics up of what im against lol. Im attempting to fit under a standard roundnose but its about 1" to far out the front.








As you can see there is no room what so ever! I think i will have a play over the weekend and i reckon i can get another 1/2" back. Only other option is recess the steering rack into the car, has anyone done this?

I do not want to put an extended front on so i have made it a million times harder i just not sure if its possible?! I was thinking about putting a remote filter which would give me more room but i dont think i can get the manifold much further back.



Heres one of the sprockets, the only real problem i have seen is where the gear change rod thingy lol comes out of the gearbox. So i think i will have to run the chain around it so it makes a triangle shape using a tensioner. Any ideas/help is appreciated!

Angus

[R1mini]

The problems your encountering now are the reason why people use the earlier R1's, the stacked gearbox and high gear change give just about enough room for the diff, but even with the more favourable shape of the R1 it is extremely tight in the front of a standard roundnose mini.

It's a pity because the ZX9r is an excellent engine, especially E series onwards (better gearbox) and is available very cheaply, of all the bike engined cars I been in the ZX9r was the most impressive overall, not in outright power compared to a Hayabusa of course, but how it drove on part throttle and pulled through the gears.

I personally would add the 90mm's and make your life much easier, or a clubman front is a possibility

Cheers
David

[SamMason]

Welcome to the forum, looks like you've set a fair task for yourself!

I'll be interested to see how you get on with it, as I want to do a bike engine conversion myself, one day..

Just a suggestion for you, if you can get that extra 1/2" & have whats left sticking out the front? I mean using a fiberglass flip front & cutting small sections out where they're needed? I don't know what rules & regs' that would have to get through.. So you'd need a little research into it (if you like the idea!). I was only drawing off of a picture on my Mini calender - a Clubman with a flip front & a small section removed for the exhaust to clear it..

[mini*mad]

i do agree that the extended front end does ruin the look a tad but it may be an idea to get one,
fettle with how tight you can get it and shorten it down as much as you can get away with!

[Angus1991]

I think im going to have to bite the bullit and use an extened front, its anoying because i didnt want to ruin the shape not really a fan of the extended front. My idea was to make it a wolf in sheeps clothing, its an italian job and i wanted to keep it standard on the outside.

I hope i havent upset anyone butchering this limited edition but i was not a fan of it and the guy before me had completely bodged it! Filler over rust on many of the panels so its has taken 2 years to get to this stage so i thort id go all out.

I could try and raise the engine more over the diff but at the expense of a bonnet bulge, but i reckon thats more of a give away.

Will take some more pics over the weekend, its not going to be a quick build as i have had a broken leg for the past 10 months so doing stuff takes a lot longer but i will try and keep regular updates. Trying to get some white gloss cellulose this weekend from the motor factors for "painting my boat" lol so will see how that goes.

Angus

[SukiDawg]

Such a short chain run will put immense strain on the chain. If you look at the pro-mo kit they have a long chain - Z cars rear ends use a longer chain too.

The reason for this is - If you think of each link in the chain as a little spring - the longer the chain the more little springs you have in line - so the more it can stretch when shock loaded. High shock loads are common on bike engine cars - for example while accelerating driving over a pothole - wheel temprarily leaves the ground and speeds up while out of contact with the ground It then lands again going at a higher speed than before, putting a huge load spike up the driveline as it slows back down to the speed it started at.

You said you would install a tensioner on the loose side, are you planning to solid mount this tensioner? To have a chance of the chain surviving, it may be a good idea to have some compliance in that tensioner to compensate for the short chain run. Only problem is going to be that the spring rate of the tensioner mount will need to be close to the spring rate of the chain - i.e. chuffing stiff. Even then - it is the tight side of the chain where you really need to extra compliance, so a compliant tensioner is only going to be useful if the rotational inertia of the engine is low enough to allow it some influence.

In short - longer chain run would be your best choice.

[R1mini]

Despite it looks, this chain setup with or without a tensioner is longer than the promotive chain setup by about 25%, still making the chain as long as possible is definately preferable. The tensioner will need to be solid, ie not spring mounted

The ZCars setup using the smaller 1 litre engines have decent space between the sprockets, the Hayabusa and similiar engines the teeth are virtually touching each other, very similiar to what you see here. I believe they use 630 chains on the larger more powerful bike engines and the 530 on the smaller engines.

Going under the engine via a modded sump was the best I could come up with using this engine, and as you say, you would then likely need a bulge in the bonnet

Good luck
David

[Angus1991]

Hi

Havnt been able to do much as the leg has been playing up, shame because i havent been able to drink either while everyone has been partying.

Just been working on the body and primered everything will put some pics up anyway.











Better than nothing i suppose lol but i do have a few q's if anyone could help, i am using the original mini diff not really sure how long it will hold up but i wont know till its been driven. I will seal it and run it in oil just looking out for a good container to cover the diff. I have had a sprocket made up to fit the diff but the problem i have is the bolt heads stick out further than where the bearing will sit. I have taken a pic to show what the problem is, have any of you had this problem?



Will be ordering the bearings this week and possibly a chain, has anyone used the cast pillow bearing blocks or could i get away with pressed ones. This is what i had in mind.



Not sure if it will be able to take the power, either that or i make two halfs out of steel or alloy to clamp the bearings. what are peoples thorts before i go spending anything?

Angus