1.6 8v Weekend Conversion

[Hayling mini]

I am going to attempt an 8V Vauxhall conversion in a very long weekend with two friends. I have a mint 1990 Cooper & a 1993 Vauxhall Astra. We are starting on Friday morning & hope to complete the project by Monday evening including power steering.

Cooper
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Cooper1.jpg

Engine to come out
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Aseries.jpg

Took the Vauxhall engine out last weekend
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/MPIvauxhall.jpg

[Carl S]

blimey, good luck!

[Allan McD]

:shock: best of luck :shock:
Allan

[Hayling mini]

Thanks for the support, its a shame you live so far away Allan you would have been top of my list for help. You must be one of the site experts now having done so many!
Is it possible?
Hopefully it is but we will see :lol:

[Oz]

Muck Fe !!! Good luck with this :D We look forward to a detailed report on tuesday of how you got on :wink:

[Allan McD]

Is it possible?
Maybe but it will depend how much you are making and how much is pre built like subframe / shafts etc.
Allan
ps remember there are 24 hours in a day no need to sleep

[Marcus Nordblom]

Nice! A proper garage lock up 8)

God luck!

//marcus

[Hayling mini]

I have bought the complete kit from 16V Mini Shop so hopefully not too much fabrication. I also have the complete Astra so that should make it easier.

[garyshoose]

Uch a woman could do it :lol:

Got me fingers x'd for you. 8)

[Herman]

I did one the same in my lunch hour

[pob]

I did the same one in 18 months :lol:

[Hayling mini]

Engine out:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Engineout.jpg

Clutch master out, Servo out

Hole cut for gear selector
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Holecut.jpg

Hydrolic clutch kit fitted:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Hydclutch.jpg

New subframe:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Newsubframe.jpg

New exhaust delivered:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Exhaust-1.jpg

Plates welded in for gear selector:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Platewelded.jpg

Inner wings cut:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Wingscut2.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Wingscut.jpg

Good day all in all, subframe fitted & engine will be dropped in first thing. Curry & Beer have stopped play this evening!

[Hayling mini]

Forgot a couple of bits:

mpi tank fitted, fuel lines run , gearlinkage lift bracket fitted.fuel pump wires run

[crewesmissilesrob]

go on lads ! get it done for monday and get yourselves over to scarborough for some sprinting

i plan to prime and paint my rollcage and floorpans in the time you have alloted for a conversion

im betting you have them tic tac men in helping !!
http://www.visit4info.com/preview-flash.cfm?vm=0&type=3&adid=54578

[Hayling mini]

Plumbed in new brake lines
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Brakebios.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Brakeline.jpg

Painted interior mods
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Interior.jpg

Engine going in
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Enginegoingin.jpg

Needed slight mod to slam panel
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Cutout.jpg

Engine in & car back on wheels
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Endofplay-1.jpg

[crewesmissilesrob]

thats some going that all ive got done today is painted floors an flatted the body back
ahh well !
go on lads proper rooting for ya !

[evolotion]

is it done yet, is it done yet, is it done yet, is it done yet, is it done yet? :lol:

[mincento]

MY
GOD

:shock:

your last one was quick but this really does take the piiss

good luck i hope you can pull it off, i imagine you wil, as you look 75% there :D

wayne

[Hayling mini]

Engine running, clutch working, gear linkage working, alternator connected, MPI rad fitted & plumbed in with header tank.
Drive shafts fitted & working, servo moved to left hand side of engine bay. Exhaust fitted.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/gearsworking.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/4502.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/451.jpg

Jobs left to do:
Bleed brakes, refit interior, tidy wiring & a couple of other silly jobs. Then loads of sleep & let my hands recover (feels like I have been in 15 fights this week :lol:

[Hayling mini]

Video of it running for the first time after connecting 3 wires up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seape_d-7dE

If only the Suzuki had been that simple!

[evolotion]

well done :)

[Hayling mini]

FINISHED :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Off for a drive now, videos coming later :lol:

[jiminwatford]

WELL DONE!!!!!
:D :D :D :D

[Carl S]

Incredible work! Very well done :D :D

[Marcus Nordblom]

Well done! Looks like a quality job to 8)

//marcus

[Hayling mini]

Thanks for all your comments & sorry for the delay with todays pics, cant help driving it now.

crap quality Video from today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSVhfmLHE4c

Did not get power steering finished due to needing a plug, all built ready to go in though. Job for another weekend I think.

[player14]

how did you make the power steering?

[Hayling mini]

The power steering was done using a Corsa C column & mated to the Mini one, I will post pictures next week, I am too cream crackered today.

More pics of engine bay:
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Servovaux.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Vaux1.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/Vaux2.jpg

I would like to thank Matt at 16vminishop for all his help, supplying the kit & ensuring that I had everything in order to complete it. This conversion would have been impossible in the time if too much had to be fabricated.

What shall I do next bank holiday weekend?

[wee man]

stick nitrous on it! wont take you long but you could spend all next bank holiday thrashing it round

[jiminwatford]

so how does it feel, is it fast ?? :lol:

[Hayling mini]

It is really smooth & I love it, noticably much faster than the A series & much nicer. No torque steer at all, I built it for my wife to use & I am sure she will love driving it once the power steering & the Webasto have been fitted. Until then I will enjoy smoking it around in the evening & weekends :lol:
The Suzuki feels faster but is suffering from torque steer at the moment, down to suspension setup & the wheels dont help either :cry:
I will sort this out next weekend hopefully & then choose which one to use for L2B :lol:

[mincento]

Bloody amazing :| it really is impressive to do it in such a short time, i know its more than half to do with as you said spending the money and buying the whole kit (which isnt cheap) and therefore having everyhting there in front of you but its still a very impressive achievment in such short time

isnt it almost identical to the suzuki on power? i know my 1.4 16v Vaux is slightly less than the GTi motor and i thought the c16's were more than mine? :?

whens next bank holiday? reckon you could get all the bits together by then for the turbo conversion, we were just on about in another thread how no one had completed a c16 turbo yet and i think your the man for the job? :wink:

wayne

[Hayling mini]

Thanks for your comments Wayne, I have been talking to Matt at 16vmini shop about a Turbo. We are looking at how it could be done, the problem would be where to put the Charge cooler, it is so tight in a standard round nose :cry:
I cant see the point in bolting on a Turbo system to get 20BHP, it needs to be at least 60 - 80BHP.
Watch this space :lol:

[Oz]

http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10379&highlight=turbo

some interesting ideas here 8)

[Hayling mini]

Thanks Oz very interesting, I have seen a picture of a Mini once that had the charge cooler fitted on the front valance. I am going to borrow a selection of bits from a friend of mine & see what can fit where. He earns a living building Jap race engines so has loads of stuff. Then Matt & I will try to come up with something that will work :lol:

[jimfai]

WHAT?? NO AC????

[Howie]

Well done that WAS quick , small block vauxhalls rule ! :D :D you'll definately enjoy it.

Howie

[jasonb89]

WELL DONE :D ! looks awsome

just out of interest if you do do the trubo conversion why are you considering a charge cooler over an intercooler? just woundering as im doing a turbo conversion at the moment but can't decide between the two but a front monut intercooler seems to be alot simpler and has plnety of cooling.

[Hayling mini]

No Aircon :)

Its for the wife, she can open the window :lol:

Howie I love it, cant believe how well it drives :lol:

I am going on the advice of a friend who spends his life bolting huge Turbos onto Jap race engines. We spoke about Turbos for two weeks whilst on holiday in Cuba, his race car develops over 700BHP. He has also offered free charge coolers which really made my mind up :wink:

[Hoggy]

Is that the pedal box and bracket etc that allspeed sell to move the servo?
Does it fit/work well?

[Hayling mini]

Hi Hoggy
Yes Allspeed sell it, it works really well, we modified it slightly with more brackets. The bulkhead was flexing so we welded further support in. It saved loads of agro, you will need to move the fuse box up by about 10mm as you cant get the cover off :lol:

[46]

I dont suppose you could tell me about how deep the bulkhead box is? I should be able to make my own. Just dont want to make it too shallow.

Thanks
Mike

[bodgeit]

Yes Allspeed sell it, it works really well, we modified it slightly with more brackets. The bulkhead was flexing so we welded further support in. It saved loads of agro,
how much???

[BATESPEED]

well done guys looks great, what sort of budget do you need to buy all the kit? i know you didnt have time to fabricate any bits in a weekend :!:

[BATESPEED]

:?: i think the 1.6 se would be a great conversion, 100 odd reliable bhp, 100 odd lb ft torque, 5 speed box, all fitted inside a standard looking mini. what sort of performance could you expect? 0 to 60, top speed, speeds in gears , fuel consumption etc? i think it would be a lot better as a daily driver than a lot of the more powerfull conversions. there seems to be quite a lot of people going for this conversion now.

[mininut]

You've made impressive progress matey. :D

M.

[Hayling mini]

The bulkhead box is about an inch at the top going down to nothing at the bottom, it fits perfectly. I dont think its worth messing about with as it only costs £24.99.

Costs on the conversion I will work out & post when I get time.

Having driven several conversions I too would choose the 1.6se as the conversion for daily driving it is just so smooth. With the Play Mini exhaust it sounds the dogs too :lol:

[Hayling mini]

Sorry but I dont have a clue what the performance would be, maybe somebody else on here could tell you. The Suzuki feels faster but at this stage I have not spent enough time in the cars to establish which one is the quickest. The power is delivered very differently in the two cars, the Vauxhall is standard but the Suzuki has induction kit & performance exhaust :lol:

[Hayling mini]

Cost of conversion as follows:



Complete kit from 16vminishop £2,250.00

Kit included:

Gear select bulkead box, Gearshift lift bracket, Hydraulic slave setup, Inner CV joint, outer CV boots, Subframe, Bottom end tie bars, 1 piece billet drive shafts. Complete exhaust system with Playmini carbon backbox. Alternator bracket, bracket to move servo, guide for doing build.



Other costs

Disk cutting & soft pads £15.00

Paint £20.00

Shrink sleave & solder £15.00

Air filter £35.25

Alloy expansion tank £42.94

Fuel hose £10.02

Fuel line £14.80

Brake pipe £14.95

New Clutch master £58.08

Rubber grommets £10.69

Clutch hose £13.50

Concave seat hose fitting £8.60

MPI Rad & fuel tank £71.00

Braded brake hose kit £29.48

New Poly bump stops £7.00

Gas / wire for welder £20.00

Vauxhall Astra GLS with new Cam belt & clutch £175.00

Total including kit £2,811.31



Less sale of A series engine, gearbox & front subframe £550.00



Total cost of conversion £2,261.31

[Hayling mini]

Not done much today, tried to make it over heat & succeded twice bursting hoses.
Couple of vids from today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEBQLsnACHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJCRDX14dLc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J9gvA8xZ5c

Gave her a wax & polish this afternoon, played about with a Turbo too :lol:

[Carl S]

Squeezed that turbo on it yet? :lol:

[Marcus Nordblom]

Sounds fruity :D

[Hayling mini]

Hi Soapsud
No Turbo, have been busy on another project & will probably sell this one. I am doing a Turbo project but on the Swift engine :lol:

[Hayling mini]

This project is now for sale:

http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14349

[cooper_mark]

sorry for dragging this old post up...but just wanted to know if u have any pics of the brake setup before it was put on the car..or if any 1 else has any pics anywhere http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/4502.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/451.jpg

[Hayling mini]

Which bit do you need pictures of?

All my pictures are here:
http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa233/jerryw_photos/

You will need to go back a bit as their are 11 pages of pics.

Jerry

[cooper_mark]

this part....just after some pics of it off the car...checked your album and nothin there apart from the pics of it on the car
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/cooper_mark/thispart.jpg

[Hayling mini]

Sorry I dont have any pictures of it out of the car. Allspeed make them & the cost £95.00, but no pictures on the web site:

http://www.allspeedengineering.com/subframes.htm

Maybe somebody else on here has a picture of it.

Jerry

[cooper_mark]

thnx anyway...was thinking of making my own...so i can keep the servo...and also keeps costs down(£95 for something else then....)
i have started to make a new pedal box but my mind started wondering... :idea:
if any1 else reads this and has a link....let me know......

[Boulton6868]

if any1 else reads this and has a link....let me know......

http://www.allspeedengineering.com/subframes.htm
Its the 14th line down thinking of it myself.

[cooper_mark]

sorry miss typed this
i meant to say if any 1 has any links. to pics...of this setup....

[revingtosh]

Hi,

Im looking at building one of these beauties but im unsure as to which base model to buy.

is this the one i need? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330312157531&_trksid=p2759.l1259

Cheers.

Mike

[MattG]

Hi,

Im looking at building one of these beauties but im unsure as to which base model to buy.

is this the one i need? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330312157531&_trksid=p2759.l1259

Cheers.

Mike

thats the baby yes ...

Matt

[revingtosh]

can i ask what was needed from the Donor car in terms of electrics, loom relays and stuff.

Mechanics are more my thing, but the electrical side of a conversion such as this one frightens the life out of me if im honest!

Mike

[2lrMiniVan]

if u put a post in the vauxhall section more people will see it

[Hayling mini]

You will need, engine with all ancillaries, gearbox, ECU & engine loom. Clocks if you want to use the speedo etc. If you bodge the cables to work with the Mini Speedo it will be miles out. I would recommend changing the cable clutch to hydrolic, Vauxhall do a kit for this. The MPI engine is the one to buy as the inlet Manifold is smaller & I would recommend a 1.4 exhaust Manifold too as this will allow fitment into a standard roundnose.

You only need to connect 6 wires from the Vauxhall loom to the Mini one, so dont worry about the wiring

Good luck with it.

Jerry

[MattG]

just re-read from start to finish .. does not deserve to be on page 3 :) was a great weekend that

Matt

[The Mighty Mallott]

This should be made a sticky as inspiration to everyone! A very tidy mini, well done Jerry!

[cooper_mark]

yeh i remember when jerry started this.........:rolleyes: i blinked and missed it..;)
i agree should be put as a sticky as inspiration to everyone who visits the site...top build jerry

[mini_mad_daps]

fantastic read.. im about to put the c20ne engine in my clubman estate and this has spurred me on..question though.. weve had a mini in at work which has had the same engine conversion as this with the servo link tube going acrross the bulkhead... when we took it for its mot it failed on emissions and noticed that when you pressed the brakes the cam lobe if you like knocks off the pipe on the throttle body for the map sensor.. have you had this at all or...?

[MattG]

fantastic read.. im about to put the c20ne engine in my clubman estate and this has spurred me on..question though.. weve had a mini in at work which has had the same engine conversion as this with the servo link tube going acrross the bulkhead... when we took it for its mot it failed on emissions and noticed that when you pressed the brakes the cam lobe if you like knocks off the pipe on the throttle body for the map sensor.. have you had this at all or...?


the 1.6 manifolds can be different , so not all have the pipe in that location , but what i have done before is cut the pipe off ,and block of with some sort of glue/liquid metal , and the connect MAP sensors to another outlet on the inlet manfiold ( maybe T into the pressure reg pipe)

Matt

[garyshoose]

Pahhh.... Servo indeed ;)

[matt]

Love this build. :cool:

[MINI MENTAL]

i know this is an old topic etc but - amazing how quick this was done top class.

[benh]

Just fitted mine in today and i must say that this project has been such a god send to me!

id Just like to say thanks really!

[Hayling mini]

Just fitted mine in today and i must say that this project has been such a god send to me!

id Just like to say thanks really!

Thanks for the comments Ben, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed my 1.6 8V:D

Regards

Jerry

[lmhmini]

ino im a year or so late lol but im new and this is the sort of thing i really want to do, is the list of items EVERYTHING that you used?

[lmhmini]

also what year asta is it from? or just what engine?

[Hayling mini]

ino im a year or so late lol but im new and this is the sort of thing i really want to do, is the list of items EVERYTHING that you used?

Everything except Beer & Curry yes;)
The MPI engine is te best one in my opinion

[MINIMAD30]

Always meant to ask if the manifold cleared the bulkhead with no mods, looking at options for my fibreglass mini domino =)

[pob]

The manifold clears the bulkhead without any mods, but the gear change pivot point needs a bit of extra room let into the area behind the heater and above the rack.

The latest Vauxhall cars have a cable shift gear change. If were possible to utilise this then you could do away with altering the the area behind the heater and not have the ugly exposed rod inside the car.
A few people have talked about it, but I dont think anybody has got round to trying it.

[Burnard]

The manifold clears the bulkhead without any mods, but the gear change pivot point needs a bit of extra room let into the area behind the heater and above the rack.

The latest Vauxhall cars have a cable shift gear change. If were possible to utilise this then you could do away with altering the the area behind the heater and not have the ugly exposed rod inside the car.
A few people have talked about it, but I dont think anybody has got round to trying it.

Im 'trying' it with my build.

ill let you know in september :lol:

[kcchan]

"Jayare" tried and managed it. Its in his build somewhere.