37 replies to this topic

[madazv8]

Engine is about ready to put into the frame.  Couldn't get my head around the clutch arm return spring mod, it doesn't seem to make sense.  I may end up just using a throttle return spring and somehow anchoring that to the subframe, if I can't figure it out. Anybody got a pic of their own setup?

 

Note to anybody,  when fitting the throttle bodies completely unwind the clamps on the connection rubbers.  Just being loose isn't enough and you will fight with it for ages until you realise. Doh.

 

Going for 90's style look on the car,  so blue hoses are in.  Going to revert to the black vacuum hoses though as they look rubbish in blue.

 

 

Attached Files

•  blue pipe.jpg   74.14K   3 downloads

[madazv8]

Been a long time...

 

Busy at work etc,  but have managed to get some proper consultation with the auto engineer here in NSW which is paramount before getting too deep into it. Converting pre 1980s minis here is fairly ok as they had limited to no requirements. My import 1994 mini is a little more tricky. Easy enough to keep the catalytic converter, but the charcoal canister and purge valve is proving to be a pain.  The R1 engine, thus ECU, do not have a control for this.  I initially thought I would wire it up to ignition live and plumb the valve into the airbox (which I will have to fab).  Seems this will not fly, as it is not the way they work and I can't demonstrate with evidence a working example of this. 

Charcoal canisters need vacuum to strip the hydrocarbons off the charcoal. So, OK, plumb it into the vacuum lines on the throttle bodies,  but the problem there is that if I do it on ignition only it will mess up idle if the valve is open.  The purge valve normally only opens during cruising throttle and is closed at idle and what. I could run an aftermarket ECU like Haltech, but we talking millions of quid and mapping on top. 

Thoughts at the moment are plumbing it into the throttle bodies and run the purge valve on a relay, and have the live feed triggered by a switch on part open throttle somewhere, maybe on the pedal assy.  It would be momentary, but activated enough to be essentially effective as intended. 

 

Other feedback is the requirement for a "drive by" noise assessment.  I'll muffle the heck out of the exhaust, but hopefully the reverse gearbox and chain drive don't make too much dB.

[madazv8]

So the final thing I had to do was seal off the AIS ports on the head.  It was suggested in the build manual to tap them M8 with a ratchet tap wrench.  E-bay to the rescue, and a cracking little tool to have. Well anyway,  that was never going to happen,  the ports seem to be about 6.5mm, drill size for an M8 tap is 6.8mm.  Never mind the difficulty in tapping it straight while pushing upwards.  It turns out that the ports come out of the head relatively easily.  Vice grip pliers on the port allows you to wiggle side to side,  while a small pry bar or screwdriver from the back exerts the necessary push to have them pop out.  Once you have them in a vice it is easy to drill them out.  I don't know what material these are, but it's horrible to work with.  Will melt any poor quality drill bit in seconds. Similarly when tapping,  they are very hard to tap.  Barely even an 1/8th of a turn at a time.  I did just use a Middle tap,  so maybe a starting tap first would help.  Once done they are easy to simply knock back in with a flat punch.  To seal them off I lathered the thread of stainless bolts in copper anti-seize and used a brass washer.

 

Attached Files

•  AIS ports.jpg   78.85K   0 downloads

Edited by madazv8, 27 December 2024 - 11:43 AM.

[madazv8]

At last the engine is "in" the frame.  Felt pretty chuffed with myself doing this on my own with no lifting equipment whatsoever (I'm not strong).  discovered a couple of things, which are probably obvious,  but easily overlooked.   The cable guides and especially the clutch cable retainer should be removed first,  they get in the way of stuff.  It is really surprising how little space there is, the bike engine is tiny.   You can see the Pro-Mo subframe is stripped of all the top rail and the reverse gearbox is not fitted yet. 

 

EDIT:  Some months later.  Just noticed the build manual states that the reverse box has to be mounted together with the engine !  My bad.  The tilt back issue mentioned below is still real.  The subfamre either needs another hole for the fouling bolt to clear,  or the diff should be out.  Dunno which.

 

 engine in subframe.jpg   82.71K   3 downloads

 

 

I guess I have fallen on the unlucky side of tolerances today.  The motor is pushed back as far as it can go,  but there is just no way the reverse gearbox is getting in between the motor and the mount.  Looks like I will have to take the grinder to the front lip of the mount,  probably only 1mm needed. Can't do anywhere else as even the timing chain cover is hard on the subframe. When dry fitting before I put in the bottom bolt,  it seemed the distance between the sprocket cup and the bolts was too much and I would never be able to line the holes up..... will wait to confirm this once I have done the clearance and can actually get the damn thing in place.

 

 reverse gearbox fitting.jpg   36.35K   1 downloads

 

 grind here.jpg   39.48K   0 downloads

 

 RG distance.jpg   47.58K   0 downloads

Edited by madazv8, 31 May 2025 - 11:57 AM.

[madazv8]

Finally the subframe is complete - minus the diff.  Wasted a whole heap of time trying to get this all together with the diff in place.  Note to anybody doing this.  NO to the diff.  Put it together and then offer the diff up from underneath with the assembly in the air (dangle the long diff bolts in place before you mount the top frame). Additionally,  tilting the engine back and sliding the reverse gearbox into place was never going to happen, there is simply not enough room.  The timing chain cover on the 5PW only allows a small amount of tilt before it is hard against the subframe and you will waste hours trying. I put them together first then offered up the bottom mount on the subframe and it all slotted together nicely from there.  Thankfully my worry that the dimensions were wrong, was wrong. Now I know how to do it it's pretty easy,  although hopefully I won't be doing this again !

 

Been driving the Mini for the last few days,  really love it,  sad to put it out of action for x amount of time but at the same time excited to get it running with the R1. The A-series will get a refresh/modification eventually,  as ultimately this is something fun to do, but probably not something that is sustainable long term. 

Attached Files

•  fully fitted.jpg   87.83K   3 downloads

[racerlike]

Nice looking work there and good to see people are still using this kit. I seem to remember having trouble getting everything assembled but most of that was due to the thickness of the powder coating making the already mm perfect fitment just that little bit too tight

[racerlike]

Nice looking work there and good to see people are still using this kit. I seem to remember having trouble getting everything assembled but most of that was due to the thickness of the powder coating making the already mm perfect fitment just that little bit too tight

[madazv8]

Bit the bullet and bought myself an engine crane, as I wasn't going to make any more sensible progress without the frame lifted up.  Now got it resting high on a set of axle stands.

 

The diff is in.  Wasn't too hard of a job with the help of a trolley jack.  It is pretty tight back there, and I am particularly concerned about the amount of clearance available for the pot joint to the rear water pipe. 

 

 diff clearance.jpg   41.41K   2 downloads

 

I always intended on fitting an external oil cooler,  I just hadn't figured out how to go about it.  Thanks to a recent post on a FB page I realised that if I remove the standard bike water/oil cooler I am presented with essentially the same arrangement as the original oil filter.  This means that a readilly available sandwich plate can be fitted with a "CAP" instead of an oil filter.  Multiple companies make these, but I actually found that flea bay had cheap ones (fraction of cost) that also have 1/8 NPT threaded holes to allow for pressure gauge & temp gauge senders.  It is a machined alloy component,  so not particularly worried about quality in this case,  and it actually turned out to look really good. This one is fitted with 10AN fittings for oil lines.  You also need to source a male to male M20x1.5mm adapter which is easier said than done.  Mocal were the only people I found making that. And for a cap,  they all do the same thing.

 

 remove oil cooler.jpg   30.19K   2 downloads

 

Just noticed the burr in there when uploading this picture ! Well I guess it's been there for over 20 years,  so I'm not touching it.

 

 sandwich plate parts.jpeg   75.37K   2 downloads

 

With this all done,  you don't need the coolant pipe from the rear main pipe to the cooler any more,  so that can be blocked off,  along with the return on the other side of the engine.  If I had known I was doing this before, I would have cut this off, welded it up,  and shortened the metal main pipe by 10mm.  This would have given the required clearance for the pot joint.  I may end up doing this if it doesn't clear.  The original instructions are to bend the pipe 15mm,  well I personally wish the instruction was to shorten the pipe.  You have to weld the pipes coming out of the head anyway,  it would have been good to do that at the time. Will see how we go...

 

 rear water pipe.jpg   33.89K   1 downloads

Edited by madazv8, 10 January 2025 - 12:39 PM.

[madazv8]

So after much hunting I eventually found the M20 male-male oil filter adapter I needed for the oil cooler sandwich plate (pic before was M20 to 3/4).  Mocal make them,  ebay is your friend.  Just found out that you can get them from Yamaha as well.  Dry fitted everything and it's damn tight.  I'll take pics next time as I seemed to have forgotten yesterday. The 10AN lines suddenly look huge when you are dealing with a mini subframe.

 

Measured up the clearence for the pot joint,  and I definitely need to shorten the rear metal water pipe.  Diff back out and pipe off for welding.

 

Fairly productive day today.  The A-series is out of the car.  I lifted the body off the subframe and dragged the old unit out.  Now time to start detailing and getting the wiring all tidied up.  At the same time can start swapping the driveline over to the pro-motive subframe.

 

The front of the shell is strong enough to lift the body up. 

 

 ready for lift.jpg   112.6K   3 downloads

 

Hiked the front up pretty high,  then used axle stands and a beam of wood about mid-door to hod it up, as the engine crane is obviously in the way at that point.

 

 lifting body.jpg   109.57K   6 downloads

 

Here are the two subrames side by side.

 

 both subframes2.jpg   110.25K   10 downloads

 

Plenty to do in the engine bay to get it detailed and tidy up the wiring.  Also need to figure out how I will place the Yamaha parts,  rectifier, ECU etc.

 

 engine bay before.jpg   110.83K   10 downloads

Edited by madazv8, 26 January 2025 - 03:06 PM.

[madazv8]

Been a while....

 

So it was clear that the pot joint was never going to clear the rear water pipe,  so out it came and 10mm was removed then re-welded. EDIT: I think it was more, as I am about to put 10mm back into it. See later posts.

 

All the useless air-con wiring has been removed.  Took me a while to build confidence in what I was looking at,  but once you shake the fear the wiring isn't so bad. 

I then decided to remove the rest of the air con unit which was hiding in the passenger cabin.  It's pretty amazing they managed to package so much into the little mini. Now got a complete air con system and wiring to sell,  although I doubt there is a big market for that. Many people will think I am mad for tearing down an immaculate SPI like this.

 

 air con out.jpg   110.74K   0 downloads

 

Removal of all this leaves some serious holes in the front box section,  whatever that is called.  Will make up a plate and use the bolt holes to clamp it all shut.  Otherwise this is straight into the cabin. Not exactly a functional firewall like this.

 

 holes.jpg   112.62K   1 downloads

 

Taking a break from wiring, I stripped down the old subframe running gear and suspension.  The first challenge was that I couldn't get a thread to take on the cone compressor.  I could actually feel the compressor tool pushing into the cone,  but no thread.  A torch seemed to confirm the nut on the cone was "gone".   Thankfully I have Hi-Lo trumpets fitted,  so I just wound them in to the max then drifted out the top arm.  Guess where the nut was.....inside the trumpet !

 

 find the nut.jpg   44.83K   1 downloads

 

Once it is all out I was able to assess the condition.  My hope was it would be simply bolt off and bolt on to the pro-mo,  but 30 yrs of DIY said no.  The drivers side hub nut was finger tight ! as were the drive flange nuts.  As a result the bearing has spun in the hub,  and it is toast.  New hub ordered.  The outer CV joints were awful. One was super sloppy,  one was bound up and super tight. One if the inner pot joints was full of engine oil,  seeped in through the plug in the bottom of the pot.  Top arm shafts had imprints from the needle bearings and are shot. Ball joints are all over the place and need shimmed,  but I have 4 replacement units already. I have new tie bars and bottom arms to fit... so basically almost everything is being replaced.  Sometimes feels like I am generating parts, and not putting parts together...

 

 front parts.jpg   50.25K   1 downloads

Edited by madazv8, 31 May 2025 - 12:02 PM.

[madazv8]

Got some time to actually put parts together today.  The diff has been out since I messed around with the rear water pipe.  Got the water pipe back in with new o-rings,  then it dawned on me.. what the hell did I do.  The hose between the rear water pipe and the block is now badly miss-aligned. That was a really dumb modification,  I didn't think ahead.  I got the hose on,  but it's certainly under a bit of stress.  I'll see what I can find as am alternative,  as I really don't want to have to get access to that if it goes pop.

 

The diff fought me like hell to go back in,  not sure why,  the bottom plate mount just didn't want to line up, got there in the end.  Hopefully that is the last time it comes out.  So I was then able to fit up the chain. with the joined chain you need to remove the reverse gearbox and the diff sprockets, then re-fit them with the chain around them.  Obviously disable the tensioner during that process. Diff sprocket must have got moisture on it at some point, as it was a real battle to get it off,  even with a small amount of surface rust on the splines.  All back together with copper grease.  I noticed the edge of the tensioner is really close to the chain.  is this the clattering noise people hear when the tension isn't right?  I decided to grind a bit of material off that corner to give me a mm or so more clearance.

 

 chain tensioner.jpg   110.53K   0 downloads

 

 

Finally,  assembled the drive train and suspension on the RHS.  Goes together like a dream when it is all new, and the subframe isn't in the car.  I remember how long it took just to get the top arm out when I was switching from the nasty spring to cones. A lot to be said for dropping the subframe to do any work.

 

 RHS assy.jpg   110K   1 downloads

 

Need to wait to do the other side, as I want to ceramic coat the headers,  and it looks like they need to be factored into the assembly. 

[madazv8]

Got some time to actually put parts together today.  The diff has been out since I messed around with the rear water pipe.  Got the water pipe back in with new o-rings,  then it dawned on me.. what the hell did I do.  The hose between the rear water pipe and the block is now badly miss-aligned. That was a really dumb modification,  I didn't think ahead.  I got the hose on,  but it's certainly under a bit of stress.  I'll see what I can find as am alternative,  as I really don't want to have to get access to that if it goes pop.

 

The diff fought me like hell to go back in,  not sure why,  the bottom plate mount just didn't want to line up, got there in the end.  Hopefully that is the last time it comes out.  So I was then able to fit up the chain. with the joined chain you need to remove the reverse gearbox and the diff sprockets, then re-fit them with the chain around them.  Obviously disable the tensioner during that process. Diff sprocket must have got moisture on it at some point, as it was a real battle to get it off,  even with a small amount of surface rust on the splines.  All back together with copper grease.  I noticed the edge of the tensioner is really close to the chain.  is this the clattering noise people hear when the tension isn't right?  I decided to grind a bit of material off that corner to give me a mm or so more clearance.

 

 chain tensioner.jpg   110.53K   0 downloads

 

 

Finally,  assembled the drive train and suspension on the RHS.  Goes together like a dream when it is all new, and the subframe isn't in the car.  I remember how long it took just to get the top arm out when I was switching from the nasty spring to cones. A lot to be said for dropping the subframe to do any work.

 

 RHS assy.jpg   110K   1 downloads

 

Need to wait to do the other side, as I want to ceramic coat the headers,  and it looks like they need to be factored into the assembly. 

[madazv8]

Got some time to actually put parts together today.  The diff has been out since I messed around with the rear water pipe.  Got the water pipe back in with new o-rings,  then it dawned on me.. what the hell did I do.  The hose between the rear water pipe and the block is now badly miss-aligned. That was a really dumb modification,  I didn't think ahead.  I got the hose on,  but it's certainly under a bit of stress.  I'll see what I can find as am alternative,  as I really don't want to have to get access to that if it goes pop.

 

The diff fought me like hell to go back in,  not sure why,  the bottom plate mount just didn't want to line up, got there in the end.  Hopefully that is the last time it comes out.  So I was then able to fit up the chain. with the joined chain you need to remove the reverse gearbox and the diff sprockets, then re-fit them with the chain around them.  Obviously disable the tensioner during that process. Diff sprocket must have got moisture on it at some point, as it was a real battle to get it off,  even with a small amount of surface rust on the splines.  All back together with copper grease.  I noticed the edge of the tensioner is really close to the chain.  is this the clattering noise people hear when the tension isn't right?  I decided to grind a bit of material off that corner to give me a mm or so more clearance.

 

 chain tensioner.jpg   110.53K   0 downloads

 

 

Finally,  assembled the drive train and suspension on the RHS.  Goes together like a dream when it is all new, and the subframe isn't in the car.  I remember how long it took just to get the top arm out when I was switching from the nasty spring to cones. A lot to be said for dropping the subframe to do any work.

 

 RHS assy.jpg   110K   1 downloads

 

Need to wait to do the other side, as I want to ceramic coat the headers,  and it looks like they need to be factored into the assembly. 

[madazv8]

Sorry about the triple post.  The current 'server down' issue really stuffed me up.

[racerlike]

That rear hose is the only real Achilles Heel in this conversion. It’s a total nightmare to access if it leaks which mine did after the hose clip chewed its way through. Many many months off road (due to lack of time mostly) and many failed attempts at getting a hose to fit back on properly.
Think I used a reducer the first time when the engine was out but I tried all sorts of hoses to fit back on while the engine was still in situ.