61 replies to this topic

[Harry L]

This is my build of a Mini City with a Honda B16B engine swap, the aim of the build is purely to be a fast street car to take on roadtrips and sunny day drives. It will be kept as 'Mini' as possible and I'm aiming to complete the engine conversion with minimal body modifications, it will be a fully bolt in conversion and completely reversible in the future if desired!

 

 

First step as with most Minis was the bodywork. This was the state of the car once the bodyshop had blasted the shell down to bare metal to ascertain the full extent of the rust.

 

 

 

In the end, the following panels were replaced:

• Front floor
• Rear quarters
• Door skins
• Inner and outer sills
• Scuttle panel
• Full front end
• Boot floor
• Rear arches
• Heel board

 

Here are some photos of the repaired shell in primer

 

 

 

And then it was time for some paint!

 

 

 

And this is the shell after the final flatting back and compounding, really happy with the colour, it's absolutely gorgeous in the sun 

 

 

The work was done by Fusion Bodywork in Northampton and I'm not massively impressed with the standard of the job at all but it was extremely cheap at £2000 and it is at least now solid and one colour!

 

 

Stay tuned on this one, lots more to come, I'm getting through it over the next few nightshifts!

Edited by Harry L, 10 January 2023 - 04:26 AM.

[Harry L]

Now these next photos might seem all over the place as they were taken over a number of years, the project had been put on hold at various stages and lots of things happened in different orders.

 

 

I started with the rust proofing, Dynax S50 in the cavities and Dynax UC on the underside and arches.

 

 

Mk1 glass indicators fitted

 

 

 

Mk2 rear lights fitted, with LED bulbs - this is a 21st century Mini 

 

 

 

Black suede headlining fitted

 

 

 

Doors built up, and all glass, mirrors etc. fitted

 

 

 

Next up was running the Kunifer brake and fuel lines, fixed with stainless p-clips and rivnuts

 

 

 

Also ran the battery cable through the car

 

[I hate Brian]

Hi are you keeping the car running as an SPI ?

[Harry L]

Hi are you keeping the car running as an SPI ?

Nope, I have a B16B to go in it 

[Harry L]

With the shell pretty much all built up and watertight, I started work on the subframes, ready to get the car rolling.

 

I bought a second hand rear subframe that had been gusseted and seam welded for strength and also galvanised. First step was to strip off the old paint and then I coated it in stonechip and truck bed liner.

 

 

 

And fitted to the car, the brand new rubber bushes lasted literally a week of not being driven before they split, Minispares quality for you 

 

 

 

Some parts being refurbed with truck bed liner, I love the really hard wearing textured finish this gives. 

 

 

 

Time to get started on building the subframe up, new genuine cones, radius arms, HiLos and AGX dampers fitted

 

 

 

Rear brakes and hubs built up with genuine Timken bearings, new back plates, Mintex shoes and finned alloy drums - these are so light!

 

 

[Harry L]

Took a break from suspension and subframes and got a few interior bits done, heater unit stripped and rebuilt with new foam

 

 

 

Got the heater fitted alongside an MPI steering column and stalks, makes the car feel a lot newer and higher quality!

 

 

 

Ordered a bulk pack of Silent Coat and got that fitted in the key areas, and no, 100% coverage is not needed!

 

 

 

Personal steering wheel fitted, absolutely love this thing

 

 

 

I also started work on the engine bay, I cut out the inner arches completely to give me good clearance for the engine, all painted up and you wouldn’t even know it’s not factory  Not planning on doing any bulkhead mods, going to have the inlet manifold modified instead.

 

 

 

Clutch master cylinder fitted, this has been modified to work with the Mini's pedal so should have perfect travel.

 

 

[Harry L]

Very exciting day   The Allspeed Engineering front subframe has arrived and it’s a very nice piece of kit, you can tell actual engineering has gone into this and it hasn’t just been thrown together using an old Mini subframe.

 

 

 

Got straight to painting it, chosen coating this time was Frost Ultimate Chassis Black, really happy with this stuff, it’s so tough and should be a lot more durable than powdercoat.

 

[Harry L]

Subframe fitting time! Went on okay, had to trim a few areas for more clearance but I'm really happy with the fitment.

 

New cones and top arms fitted, you have to use two of the thick thrust washers on these subframes, all goes together really well - very impressed!

 

 

 

Lined up, ready to fit

 

 

 

In place and bolted tight

 

 

 

This meant I could now fit the rose jointed lower arms and get it ready to build up the suspension!

 

 

 

Few bits fitted in the engine bay such as the wiper motor and brake servo, fitted the front dampers and this is how it was left for the day

 

 

 

The subframe will have to come out again to fit the engine as it doesn’t fit from above but I wanted to make sure it all fitted okay before I got too committed!

[Steve220]

Out of curiosity, what did you have to trim to give the subframe more clearance?

Edited by Steve220, 29 May 2020 - 06:13 PM.

[Harry L]

Out of curiosity, what did you have to trim to give the subframe more clearance?

Couple of bits on the front panel and the part where the suspension towers are, as expected really. I think most people take the front end off and fit a fibreglass flip-front but I wanted to keep the shell as original as possible.

[Steve220]

 

Out of curiosity, what did you have to trim to give the subframe more clearance?

Couple of bits on the front panel and the part where the suspension towers are, as expected really. I think most people take the front end off and fit a fibreglass flip-front but I wanted to keep the shell as original as possible.

 

Thanks chap. I'd heard similar about the allspeed subframes, but wanted to get the info direct from someone who's doing a resto :)

[Harry L]

Right so about this engine!

 

It’s a JDM Honda B16B, this engine is particularly special as it only came in one car, the EK9 Civic Type-R, which was only ever sold in Japan. It also has the LSD S4C gearbox. Mileage was unknown but an inspection of the bores still shows the honing marks, the car also drove okay, made no smoke and sounded good, so I’m happy! 

 

I also have a Spoon ECU for the engine, this essentially adds about 15hp, increasing the rev limit to 9k RPM(!) and lowers the VTEC engagement point for better drivability, should be seeing close to 200hp with this, amazing for an NA 1.6 from the 90s.

 

Here it is in the donor and on the day it was removed

 

 

 

Had to get the engine shipped to me as we were still in #coronalockdown and I didn’t fancy getting pulled over with an engine in the boot  Turns out for the sake of £50 it was worth it to save the hassle anyway! Here it is waiting to be stripped.

 

 

[Harry L]

Been stockpiling some parts for the engine refresh, only genuine Honda parts will do here. In this box we have a full gasket set, clutch kit, cambelt kit, and a longer 5th gear set, to bring the revs down at crusing speed!

 

 

 

And an MFactory 4.0 final drive to make this slightly more drivable on the Mini’s smaller wheels. Lots of people fit a 3.4 FDR but I wanted to keep the revvy characteristics of the engine, should be similar to a stock Civic now

 

 

 

Really excited to get stuck in with engine work!

 

[Harry L]

Engine strip down begins, my plan is to do a fairly basic overhaul and light refresh, it’s a solid unit so pointless going too far with it, I just want to get it in and drive it.

 

 

 

Engine on the stand and having a deep clean ready for a coat of paint.

 

 

[Harry L]

Time to get this thing ready to get on its wheels!

 

First up was to get the hubs built up, only genuine Timken bearings on this build, mated to the Allspeed uprated CV joints, the known weak point of a Mini’s drivetrain

 

 

 

New balljoints fitted and these were mounted to the car, along with the steering arms and new track rod ends

 

 

 

Time for brakes  Minisport 7.9” 4 pots, they look excellent and feel really good quality, easily on par with the £1.2k Brembos on my daily 

 

 

 

These were fitted up along with Minisport's EN24 hardened drive flanges and Goodridge braided lines

 

 

 

Fitted the Wilwood brake proportioning valve and ran the Kunifer hard lines to the front brakes. 

 

 

Really pleased with how it's coming together so far!