New to the 16v Mini World

Hi,

I am a 2nd year Automotive Engineering student and have just found this forum courtesy of this month's PPC magazine, which had an article on putting a K series motor into a mini - this appealed to me a lot!

From what little I've read so far you have a great forum and I've got a lot of reading to do!

I am very seriously considering starting a K series project using a Metro 1.4 GTi MPI as a donor, as shown in the mag, but I need to do so on a budget (hopefully less than £1500). I have done a little welding/fabricating work at uni, and i think that I am a quick learner. I was hoping some of you could answer a few questions:

As i understand in order to use the metro sub frame the front end of the car needs to shift 90mm, and this is done by extending the wings and bonnet. What is the best method of doing this?

I want to make my own throttle bodies and run a megasquirt ECU (as shown in PPC) will there be enough clearance for TBs and will there be air flow issues?

Can you please recommend any particular mini that will lead to an easy/cheap install? Would a pre '79 mini with a more modern engine be eligable for classic car status?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[evolotion]

answers to most of your questions, including those you aint even thought of yet can be found via the search function :)

to fit a metro frame you either need a sliglty modded clubby front (the one you saw in teh mag, his username on here is geehawk) its partly his fault iv started my k-mini build :P or you need an extended round nose.

if you really want a challenge (and trust me it IS a challenge, stil cant figure how the hell he managed it) check out picKup's gallery. lots of very useful hints on how to squeese the engine in as tight as you can. This setup is unde ra standard round nose.

I am atttempting a similar convertion to picKup, except i am going under a standard clubby front. and its still a squeese!

HAve a good look through tthe galleries and the forums and geehawks site, if you are seriously considering this you wil spend many a sleepless nite just reading and reading. just as i did 8)

[MarkLD]

Welcome Chris

You will need a pre 73 car for it to be eligable for classic car status, I have done this with a Vauxhall engine and had no problems.
For a cheap as possible conversion I would use a clubman front with a K series metro frame as this will reduce fabrication work to a minimium.
Have a look at Geehawks site www.theclubman.co.uk as its got some very useful stuff on there.

Mark

Thanks for the replies!

One other question I had: I heard it was still possible to buy brand new mini shells, is this the case and how much would one cost?

Thanks

[Geehawk]

You can get brand new Mini round nose and Clubman shells.

See here for RRP prices http://www.bmh-ltd.co.uk/minishell.htm
but if you shop around the Mini specialists you might get a deal.

Welcome BTW :wink:
See you in the Rover section

Graham

Hi Graham,

I just spent the last ccouple of hours reading through your site and i'd like to commend you on what a great job you've done! Could you give a rough guestimation on what you've spent on your convertion.

Thanks

[picKup]

Not sure on exact amount but before I got a second engine, first one died it was well under £1K but we ( Dad) did all of the work and we did modify the mini frame and kept all the original suspention etc.

[Geehawk]

Less than 2K. That includes buying a Watsons frame, and allows something for a doner GTi ( I already had one). I already had the Mini.

I did use as much of the doner Metro as possible in order save money,
but if you are happy to buy fancy bits and pieces, at £200 a pop then the skys the limit :wink:


BTW none of my figures include paint.. but everyone here knows that. :wink:

Graham

BTW Gonna move this to the Rover section now..

[evolotion]

so far my rough budget has been:

£100 for a donor rover 416*
£100 to transport the damn thing
£2-300 on steel, weldign supplies, paint etc
£60 on little bits and bobs from scrappies
£30ish on wire and connectors to make my loom
£100 on random stuf i have thus far forgotten

iv spent another wad on fully ajustable suspension components and polly bushes etc, as well as supplies to give my car a wee respray. Also bought a new set of 4-pots. thats a good few £100 in there.

Only majour component iv stil to sort is the driveshafts, budgeting a few £££ for that!

I already had 1 mini, 4 spare front subframes, clubby flip front, and all the tools required.

If you decide to build your own frame, it wil take alot of time and general swearing when you do somethign then sit back and realise its crap and you gota re-do it! If i had the money id definately go the metro-framed route from watsons. or as an in-between (now wish i had, with hindsight) id have bought a metro and jsut modified its frame to fir the mini. this meens you can retain metro driveshafts, engien mounts, exhaust, brakes etcetc.



*metro donor is a much beter idea if you go for the watsons frame, for example, and is a bit more tried and tested. you also get more clerance for a radiator with the cable clutch.

[picKup]

Only majour component iv stil to sort is the driveshafts, budgeting a few £££ for that!



I think mine cost £60 we supplied both ends then said what lenght was needed. Simple

[evolotion]

cool!

[clanman]

Mine came in at around the 1200 mark all in, that was with 260 for the mini and 100 for a metro gti. I went the route of fitting the metro subframe and making new mountings for it. GOOD LUCK

a clubman front makes the job easier, but if youre ok with the metro track, you can shorten the metro frame at the front and make it fit a round nose, however this makes the rad a problem unless you stick it in the boot like my vtec, which is a standard length round nose.
you should be able to do this fairly cheaply, the most expensive bits will be the suspension (coil overs most common, you can use the metro brakes), caution - only the k series 1.6 fits, some 1.6's are honda.
TB clearance, as a rule of thumb Some (emphasis - some) will say, and i agree, that as long as there is a free flow of air around the bodies, and its not too locally heated, then if theres 2 diameters of the bodies intake's size around the opening then its gonna be ok, easy with the k in the mini.
new body shells are available at a reasonable price from www.somerford-mini.co.uk.
beware check the dvlc's policy on radically altered vehicles before you start this project!.
sean.

Cool, thanks for the info...

Time to get on ebay!