36 replies to this topic

[josh austin mini city e 82]

hi guys, had my mini 6 months now and after much debating i have decided i would like to do an engine swap/conversion. i am yet to decide what though, a R1 engined mini has always appealed to me, the only thing that puts me off is im guessing its quite a hastle to fit? or a b16/b18 engine? im guessing again quite a lot of hastle to fit. my other option would be to buy a 1275 and rebuild it. a friend of mine said he would sell me his rebuilt engine, but it very high spec, bored out to a 1410 which to me seems too much ? it has all forged internals, balanced and what not, fast road cylinder head not sure which, oh and its supercharged... it has a lot more too much to list. apparently putting out about 150+ hp ... the fact its bored out to a 1410 puts me off, just seems too much? then again i may be wrong.

personally i would like an rear engined R1, the idea of reving to 14,000 just makes me want one, and rear wheel drive. does anyone on this forum have a R1 mini? or just a bike engined mini?

[rotherham]

There's a section for bike engined minis ,have a look on there to get a idea of what's involved

Edited by Deathrow, 14 January 2013 - 04:10 PM.
There's an edit button ;).

[the.stroker]

http://www.theminifo...orum/89-z-cars/

As said take a look in here,should answer a few questions

[BritishRacingGreen]

rather than a bike engine swap, what about doing a bike head build? that way you still get something different but that doesn't require much structural modifications. have a read up on K head conversions if you're interested, specialist components and force racing do some nice conversion kits. you can get 160hp+ out of them NA without having to have a 1380, which means you don't go through blocks.

[jedduh01]

So you want to go fast?

How fast do you wan to go?

How big is your wallet = How fast you will be able to proceed. Enjoy!

[josh austin mini city e 82]

Ok ill have a look into them, is there a better bike engine conversion than an r1? From what iv heard that seems to be the one to go for. Has anyone got any info/help about this 1410 ?

[josh austin mini city e 82]

How fast? Well anything better than my 998, which is very slow -.- would like 80+ :)
K heads are expensive :-S but ill still l

[josh austin mini city e 82]

How fast? Well anything better than my 998, which is very slow -.- would like 80+ :)
K heads are expensive :-S but ill still look into it

[Pelvisgt]

The bike engined minis look like a lot of work but would be great,

If your friend has that engine for sale and it is what he says it is then that would be great as could just wack it in and be off !!

1410 is a large bore but has been done on here quite alot, just have to see how much he wants for it as it sounds like it would be worth a few bob nut be worth it !

[Pelvisgt]

It also depends on reliabilty and how often you use a car,

As that 1410 engine mini would be a high spec and may need keeping an eye on it,

rather than a VTEC conversion that when in place would be bullet proof as the honda engine would be near enough stock,

Bike engine I doubt would be good as an daily drive because of noise and wear on the chain but again could be wrong,

All things you have to think about and as said above it all depends on your money situation as any engine conversion will cost alot more than just putting a 1275 engine in as you have to think about all the fabrication to get the engine into the bay

[giacomo]

i'm in the same boat as you to a certain extent, had my mini since i was 16 and i'm nearly 21 and its a 998, keep mhmmming and arghhinng about a 998 turbo or a nice specced 1275, to vtecs and promotive r1, after alot of research i've just gotta choose between 1.6 8v vauxhall converion or a 1.3 swift gti. Allspeed do a few subframe conversions to go in your mini (honda, suzuki, rover, vuaxhall)

if its 16v your looking into have a look on the forum its given me alot of help and theres a fair few interesting build threads :)

http://www.16vminiclub.com/

[josh austin mini city e 82]

Money isn't the main concern at the moment, it's more time and effort than anything. The car would be driven daily, roughly 10,000 miles a year. I can get the 1410 off my friend for a good price, considering it has over £7000's worth of receipts.,.
Don't the Honda engines struggle to stay at a good temp tho? I can see them being a struggle to keep cool? I may be wrong.
Now I think about it the bike engine would be quite noisey .. And with it being a daily driver, hmm ill have a look at that website because I know the Honda engines need chassis reinforcement

[giacomo]

Money isn't the main concern at the moment, it's more time and effort than anything. The car would be driven daily, roughly 10,000 miles a year. I can get the 1410 off my friend for a good price, considering it has over £7000's worth of receipts.,.
Don't the Honda engines struggle to stay at a good temp tho? I can see them being a struggle to keep cool? I may be wrong.
Now I think about it the bike engine would be quite noisey .. And with it being a daily driver, hmm ill have a look at that website because I know the Honda engines need chassis reinforcement

your ears will notice the bike engine as a daily lol i dont know much about 1410's but for a daily i can imagine it'd have to be very high maintenance? i could be wrong though!

[Chriss]

I suggest a B16/18 conversion.

You can get a subframe kit etc and would also be quite reliable if done correctly.

[rids]

micra, fairly straight forward conversion good power mega reliable