4 replies to this topic

[miniracer1962]

Im thinking of converting my 998 mini soon I hope
I want to put an 1.4 Honda I vtec engine from a jazz in replacement or a 1.6 out of a civic
But only when my insurance goes down
Can anyone advise of the best way of going about this conversion the best easiest and cheapest way
Cheers

[Skortchio]

There isn't a cheap way, for the most part.
Unless you have excellent fabrication, welding and metalworking skills you could build your own subframe and ancilleries and are capable of doing all the bodywork, engineering and electrical work yourself.

A 1.6 civic will be a B or D series, both can fit under a standard length front without making it removable but it's a pig of a job. The most common approach is to fit a removable or flip front, this will however put you into the dreaded IVA territory which could result in a Q plate and loss of the historic registration (I'm saying no more about it but you should be aware).

Engine conversions aren't so much about the 'dropping a phat motor' into your car, but more about all the other jobs. The wiring, the mounting of engine ancilleries, the fueling, the driveshafts and FD, the subframe construction and adjustment, the bulkhead and crossmember alterations and the intake and exhaust fabrication.

Don't get me wrong, it can be done reasonably quickly and on a fairly tight budget (say £1500) but only IF you have either supreme patience for the right deals to come along or a great skill set and access to all the equipment you will need, probably both.
You can also do the conversion, the physical side of it pretty fast too with meticulous planning and lots and lots of preperation it's possible to do the job over a weekend. There's a thread on 16vMini of just that, but it was planned and checked down to the last bolt before being attempted.

There's few things more appealing than the idea of a 150+bhp Mini! I'm hoping to start a simliar project when space and health allow but after a lot of research and discussion I know it's not an easy job and if you're working on your first conversion it can be an exercise in anger management when things 'just' dont' quite fit.

TL:DR : If you have the money, it's fast and easy - you pay someone to do it but don't expect change from £7.5k!
If you don't have money, you can do it but it will be slow.

[miniracer1962]

cheers pal
very informative its very appealing too me as cost and time arent an issue but love doing the jobs myself
probably going to have a crack at it either this winter or next if i can collect the parts from now till then
yer i dont think im made up of that much haha so option 1 i think

thanks for the info anyway

[BenH]

Have you thought about a vauxhall conversion? the 1.6 8v can be done in a weekend and can see 140bhp at the wheels with carbs cam and exhaust 5 gears and very reliable.

Dont get me wrong the honda/vtec conversions are brilliant and id love to have a go myself just wasnt sure if you new what else was out there

[BenH]

Also what the guy above said is spot on, You need to save money back for all the little jobs you forget, these jobs take the longest and are the most frustrating, you could easily lose a day trying to get an alternator bracket fabbed up and working right especially with the limited space!
Also give yourself the first few months for road testing and finding all the niggles! well worth it tho and cheaper to insure for me than a 1330