71 replies to this topic

[lchris21]

Hi All,

The hunt is over for a base for my proposed project. Picked up my '92 City E today

Could'nt believe my luck. I looked at a lot worse for 8 times the price
A geezer rang this morning replying to a local wanted ad. He came accross the beast when demolishing a garage. The previous owner had parked it up a few years back and told the demolisher to do what he wanted with it. Its been parked on his drive ever since, with his missus nagging him to get rid................................. Must send her some flowers


It was running briefly.....................................
Test ride went great up / down street. Bit rough on the idle/pickup but a runner nevertheless.
The owner had cobbled together a battery just to get it running, but it stopped suddenly about 3 miles into the journey home. Dead as a door nail. Looks like a shorted battery terminal blew some fuse somewhere. Roadside diagnosis in the p-----ng down rain was no good.
The remaining 27 miles home on the end of a 3m tow rope, being towed by the missus (first time tower), no wipers, limited visibilty.
SCARY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anway, its parked on the drive ready for action..............if it ever stops raining ?????????

Looks pretty solid, but I won't know until I have a good look. Its had a bit of paint in the past and been owned by an MDF fan, because the dash board looks pretty.
A bit of rot on the inner drivers sill and both A panels showing a a bit of bubbling. Floors pretty good, apart from the rear passenger side, but I think most of this will be removed to make way for my IRS setup.

So thats it, I'm up and running.

Looking at engines at the moment. Aiming for a ZX12 and a Freelander IRS set up. But this may change as the weeks turn into months and the houskeeping gets spent

Will post some pictures of the victim when it stops raining.

Just to whet your appetite, some pictures of my previous BEC projects.

Ta-ra

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•  Fireblade_20Engine_20Stuart_20Taylor.jpg   61.38K   297 downloads
•  P1020031.JPG   674.64K   172 downloads
•  R1_20Engine_20Striker.jpg   75.39K   271 downloads

Edited by lchris21, 16 March 2010 - 08:59 PM.

[alexcrosse]

i cant bare the rain either, cant get anything done on mine, and if i do i cant test it because the dizzy doesnt no which plug to spark when it gets wet so it just does all of em i think, lol.

Looking forward to this though. Why you goin for a ZX12 then? Is that because of drive train limitation? seen a couple of RWD front engine zaki mini's recently.

[lchris21]

Just fancy something a bit different (famous last words)
Gathering info from the kitcar scene at the moment and ZX12's seem to be cropping up in a few new builds and engine swaps. R1 may be a back-up if all else fails, Busa's are too many ££££££££'s, ZX9's & Blades are cheap and plentiful and pretty good, but if you're gonna fit one, fit something worth the effort I reckon .
Will have to confirm the dimensions before committing cash, because the biggest constraint I can see is going to be shoe horning the motor into a North/South configuration in the mini's power house.
Plan is to fabricate and substitute an IRS (locost) back end into the void left by the rear subframe, panel, floor area. Mate it to a 6-point cage and connect the motor up to a Freelander diff.

Sounds easy eh ????????????????

Ahh well. I like a challenge.

cheers

Edited by lchris21, 21 January 2008 - 05:33 PM.

[panelbeaterpeter]

That looks like some very clean machinery you've got there! Looking forward to seeing the mini project.

[ludsonline]

Sounds a great project. keep up posted

[R1mini]

This is not my car but here is a front engined rwd ZX12R in a standard length front end but it's tight

Cheers
David

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•  Under_Bonnet.jpg   286.8K   711 downloads

[jonas]

Is this a good option to lay the engine like this?
Or do you need to change the sump?

[Alburglar]

most people don't bother, they just use overfill with oil. I have fitted a baffle plate. Very easy and a guy sells them for £60 on ebay.

Also, can I ask why the preference to freelander diff rather than the old faithful sierra diff?

EDIT- Dunno if he sells baffle plates for kwaka's tho?

Edited by Alburglar, 21 January 2008 - 01:26 PM.

[lchris21]

This is not my car but here is a front engined rwd ZX12R in a standard length front end but it's tight

Cheers
David

Who's car is this David ?
Anyone on here ?
Would like some information on some dimensions & mounting issues.

[R1mini]

I spoke to the guy who owned the car at length but I can't remember his name, it came up for sale as an unfinished project but I felt he wanted to much, I don't know what happened to the car after that

Cheers
David

[lchris21]

most people don't bother, they just use overfill with oil. I have fitted a baffle plate. Very easy and a guy sells them for £60 on ebay.

Also, can I ask why the preference to freelander diff rather than the old faithful sierra diff?

EDIT- Dunno if he sells baffle plates for kwaka's tho?

Jonas - lots of bike engines are canted over in their original design positions, as long as the sump is near to the angle it was supposed to be in the bike the angle it looks like in a car engine bay does appear extreme. Any ground clearance issues can normally be sorted with a shortened or billet sump. One car I built had less than 4" ground clearance !!!!!
The biggest danger when mounting bike engines this way is the dreaded oil surge (if a bike engine is going down the road this way and its still attatched to a bike, then surge is the last thing on the riders mind!!!!) R1's, Blades and ZX's seem pretty good when shoved into cars this way. Blackbirds are well known not to like it. Some motors like GSXR's need dry sumping so I'm lead to believe. I dunno about Busa's because they are outta my league pocket wise anyhow.

Alburglar- Off the top of me head. Freelander diffs seem to be getting more popular for a number of reasons:
Lighter 3-4Kgs I think,
Better suited ratios available for BEC's. Sierra 3.14's are like rocking horse poo, which seem a popular choice. Depends on the engine so I'm open minded at the moment. Check out these guys www.locostbuilders.co.uk for more detailed info.
You can buy em new if you got deep pockets.
Sierra diffs are becoming less plentiful, no world shortage but we're getting to the rot at the bottom of the barrel.
They can be used with the original Landrover mounting rubbers which reduces the inevitable clunk & harshness associated with typical bike engines when dropping into 1st gear.

Anyway, here she is in all her glory (why she eh???????? I dunno)..........................................little does she/he know, sitting there all quiet and innocent

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•  inside.jpg   108.73K   103 downloads
•  front.jpg   117.95K   80 downloads
•  engine.jpg   119.97K   121 downloads

Edited by lchris21, 21 January 2008 - 04:26 PM.

[R1mini]

Found another piccie, the petrol tank is a temp fit only

Cheers
David

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•  Mini_From_Front_No_Front_Panels.jpg   64.58K   873 downloads

Edited by R1mini, 21 January 2008 - 04:19 PM.

[lchris21]

Found another piccie, the petrol tank is a temp fit only

Cheers
David

Cool.

More, more more........................................!

Any of the rear suspension setup. because I mus'nt forget I gotta get the power to the back end somehow ????????

[jonas]

looks pretty fine to me!
I was wondering, does the zx-12 also have a back torque limiter in the clutch like the zx-10.
Isnt that an unwanted option?
If you want to "brake with the engine" wouldn't it go straight forward cause of the mass of the mini and bring damage to the clutch plates?

[R1mini]

Found one of the rear end, I think that's it unless I have something else on another computer

Cheers
David

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•  Rear_Axle.jpg   285.47K   487 downloads