4 replies to this topic

[gou]

now then i've been trying to get a post on here for months and every time i tried the computer just crashed but i've got me sen a laptop now so i'm good to go.
i bought this van around august time last year and was intending to put a metro turbo engine in but after loads of reading up on it i basically came to realise that i'll end up spending loads of money on a 20 year old engine with 4 gears that will most likely blow up after a week.

so i've now come to the idea of using the 1.4 16v mpi from the metro gti for all the right reasons really: reliability the main reason, 5 gears, smooth driving/running and the reasonable price of insurance compared with other engine swaps. i'm still looking into this conversion but at the moment i'm thinking of buying a subframe from 16v mini shop and a donor metro and just getting at it. i think the only big problem i'm going to run into is trying to fit the hole thing in the front of a standard round nose van. i'm not keen on flip fronts or extended front wings, but i'll consider both of them if they're going to give me less head aches in the future when it comes to working on the engine.

so far the van has got a new passangers side half of the floor welded in and the other side will be getting sorted next. its all stripped out, well what was left of it. i havn't done much to it recently because i've been quite busy with other stuff but i havnt lost interest so hopefully after another week or so once i get another one of my cars sold and out of the garage i'll have the money space and time to do some more.

my idea for the out side is a pretty much standard as far as body work goes, obviously i'll have to have sportspack arches and i'm going to change to back lights to like land rover lights, 3 seperate 2" round ones. a single piece back door and hopefully deseamed sides if i can get away with out having a flip front, leaving the roof gutter thou. interior will be a custom steel dash and probably just a pair of recaros from an rst and a good wireless.

heres a couple of pics of how it was when i bought it

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[superted87]

Hello mate,

well this is the place to go for advice mate. I am restoring a van and doing a k series build with Blakie , using a 16vminishop frame and also a std roundnose so your perfect source of help and encouragement. fancy a race??

There are a few ideas that i have had regarding this method of conversion -

1. if you want a nice neat conversion in a good timespan, spend the money on the frame. buy both it and the adjustable arms from allspeed(same as 16vminishop). best to ring allspeed direct and see what the score is. if you have ages then build your frame yourself. it is considerably cheaper and you can build ideas into it that you think of.

2. use a removeable front end so you can get your old wings etc off. you need the inner wings off for the frame so get cutting and make sure your floors and bulkhead are rock solid!!! if not your front end may drive off without you!

3. set a timescale and push yourself to keep to it. we are losing schedule at the moment but we had some unforseen things happen. be honest though about welding etc and what is really needed.

4. If you are on a budget then look for a scrap rover 214/416 114 etc and get the bits off that.

5. you do not need a pg1 gearbox !! if you go to 1.6 and 1.8 people will tell you that you need one to handle the power but it is OTT. just stick with the r65 gearbox.

6. as we build ours, just follow what we do and we can help you out as you go along.


Good luck

[Ron Bones]

Hey dude, sounds like a wicked idea! i had a metro with the 1.4 16 valve K in it! It is the most stonkingist little motor ever, and I dont think there is a 1.4 aroun anywhere near as quick but if its reliability your after then I dont know that it is the best idea. They are troublesome beasts! Expect to go through head gaskets like no-bodys business and they have terrible troubles with damp (just like a normal a series mini). Not trying to pee on your fire or anything as I think a k series mini would be a dream, so so so fast and fun, but I would deffiantely be a bit concerned about reliablitly. If you just want a stonker of a car though do it!! I loved my metro, just wished it did corners!

[gou]

cheers for the advise, i'm only gonna plan on using my van mainly in summer and dry days, i don't want to do all the work of restoring it and it going rusty again, i've got a mini 25 that i sprayed imperial blue and after 2 years of going to work in it and leaving it outside all the time, the weather has taken its toll on it, its still in really good condition like but if theres a few tiny things that arnt perfect on it you notice it lol.

as for the reliabilty issues, i'm sure that a k series will be far more reliable than an a-series and for the price of the insurance it seems to be a lot cheaper and easy to insure than any of the other common engine swaps.

i'm selling my fiesta zetec s on ebay this week (Item number: 220228660610 if anyones interested) so as soon as i get that sold i shall be on the look out for a metro gti, i mite run the car for a while just to see how it goes so i'll be after a complete one.

heres a few pictures of how the van before i started doing a bit of welding, i'm putting a new floor in, i've just got the passenger side in then i ran out of gas for me welder but i'm good to go now, and i've got the other half of the floor to do and the crossmember that goes across the floor wants welding in, i've made the pieces tho, and i've got to re-weld my sills on after the person who had it before put new ones on over the old ones.

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my other mini before and after

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Edited by gou, 27 April 2008 - 10:07 PM.

[Retro_10s]

Expect to go through head gaskets like no-bodys business

Argh how many times. the original headgaskets used nylon locating dowels which were very prone to breaking up, this was the reason so many K-series suffered with poor HG reliability.

Nowdays it is standard practice to Replace the old HG (if it hasn't been done already) with a HG that uses metal Dowels.. this eliminates the HG issues. It will not be troublesome after this. It is also good practice to change to a remote thermostat

They're bullet proof little engines and easily upgradeable (There is a 1.4 pushing 200ponies somewhere on this forum or 16vmini club.)

good luck with nthe project mate, lovely Van, and a lovely engine choice