374 replies to this topic

[miniQ]

Rip hamster with a knife

Time for dog with a fork!

[Joe250]

Rip hamster with a knife

Time for dog with a fork!

I was thinking monkey with a gun....

[Dylanscar]

Hey Joe,

 

Been a while since I've been on the forum. Great to see you back and can't wait (as always) on seeing what you do

 

Will be on more regularly now your back

 

Jon

[Chappers]

Hi Joe I read your build a long time ago and was blown away by the great craftsmanship and the creative ideas. You didn't seem too bothered about being faithful in keeping it to mk1 spec and I liked that.

I also think you're responsible for my idea to go bike engine in my mk1, which found me in 2014, I remembered your build and as soon as I saw my mk1 rolling shell for sale with no engine I knew it was going to be BE.

I'd never seen the miniexVo kit either, are they defunct?
If you are going to be selling the kit and bike engine, what sort of money are you after?

[Joe250]

The engine arrived.

 

 

 

For noise considerations I went with the intake plenum that SC offers.

 

 

I'm not 100% sold on my breather line routing but this is what it looks like at the moment.

 

I finally dropped the engine in over the weekend. There are several issues for me to work out, none of them too horrible except for one. As others have discovered with this engine, the cam gears add too much height to the engine, fouling the bonnet. There are several ways to address this, the most common being to install a fiberglass bonnet with a large bulge directly over the cam gears. There are several reasons why I don't want to go that route and to just stick with my existing, painted bonnet. So the best idea I've been able to come up with is to cut out the motor mount locations in the front subframe and lower them. I believe they will need to drop anywhere between 1/2" and 1" to allow the bonnet to clear. I would then reweld everything back up.

 

Potentially this could affect alignment of the driveshafts, the engine steady, the exhaust, and the radiator hoses, but I don't think the drop will be enough to create any insurmountable issues. I'm still double-checking on that. There is also the issue of ground clearance for the sump. California has some bad roads so I'm tempted to fit a heavy duty sump guard to compensate. Is all of this a bad idea? I'd like to hear what everyone thinks.

[Mini Manannán]

You might be more prone to needing an oil cooler if you fit a sump guard.  There's another installation of the SC engine going on right now in Sweden: http://www.theminifo...00-1380-engine/

[Joe250]

Mini Manannan - thank you for that. I've actually been following his build for some time. There are a couple other Twin Kam build threads out there as well. Very helpful, seeing what others are doing. Also nice to know I'm not the only one with this particular issue. I doubt I will start on it until this coming weekend, so if there are any big issues I've overlooked, hopefully someone will chime in over the next few days.

[Mini Manannán]

Joe is that one of SC's own SS manifolds, er, sorry, headers?

[Joe250]

Yes, that is their "Non-Turbo Nutter" series header. Very nicely made.

[Joe250]

This part of the forward cam is what is conflicting with the bonnet:
 


So enough theorizing. Time for cutting...
 

 

 

 

 

 
I'm about to start test fitting the engine and bonnet to set the new motor mount height. I'll report back soon. I'm hoping the drop is very minimal.

Edited by Joe250, 01 October 2016 - 06:37 PM.

[mini_matt_106]

I have just read the thread from the start and really love it! Seems to be a real 'no expense spared' project!

After all your hard work creating a new loom I'm sorry it didn't live up to expectations, would it not have been easier to change the gearing and noise issues?

I'm sure the a-series 16v will bring lots of smiles after a few headaches though.

[Joe250]

Thanks Matt. I think it is more accurately termed a "no time spared" project. I'm at 8 years and 4 months into this. But who's counting?

 

The R1 engine's basic characteristics are what they are. There is a limit to what can reasonably be done to nudge those one way or the other. For example, when I ordered the kit I spec'd the highest gearing (lowest numerically) that could fit inside the transfer case. So the rpm's on the freeway are what they are, short of switching to larger diameter wheels (something I chose not to do) or doing something radical inside the transmission.

 

Again, the MinieXvo kit is impressive and very well built. I think it is just me and my priorities that have changed. I used to autocross and track my cars most weekends. I don't anymore. Also I moved from the San Francisco area, with twisty roads just minutes from my house, to Los Angeles, where great roads are an hour's freeway drive away. Things change, so we just have to adapt. The TwinKam motor is going to be great and hopefully someone will give the MinieXvo kit a great home.

[Joe250]

Enough theory. Time to set the new, lower engine height and tack-weld the plates back onto the front subframe.


I started by bolting the plates back onto the engine. It seemed easier to do this while the engine was out of the car.


Same thing for the clutch side of the engine. Only problem is that the bolts and nuts stick out even wider than the cuts I made in the subframe. That means that when I went to lower the engine in, it couldn't drop even to its normal height. I unbolted the plates from the motor mounts, lowered the engine beneath the normal mounting height, then bolted the plates back on from underneath the car.



As I dropped the engine into the car, I slid the exhaust headers into place. It would have been pointless to position the engine to clear the bonnet only to later find that the exhaust would not fit. It is already a tight fit now.
 
I lowered the engine onto some blocks of wood, pulled the engine hoist of out the way, then used a floor jack on the lefthand and another on the righthand side of the engine. I adjusted the height of the engine on both sides until I could install the bonnet, reach into the engine bay and just slide my finger between the forward cam belt and the underside of the bonnet. That gave me just under 1/2" of clearance. If I rocked the engine forward a couple inches, the cam belt would touch the bonnet. That means I will have to really restrict the engine's ability to move fore and aft once installed.



Once I had the necessary clearance above, I confirmed that the engine was still aligned in its normal posion. I only wanted to change the height. I measured the gap between the top of the motor mount plate and the subframe. It appears I dropped the engine 1/2" on both sides.

Now I needed a way to resecure the plates to the subframe. There was about a 12mm gap between the subframe surface and the plate surface.



I used some 1/8"-thick L-shaped steel plate. I cut three pieces to length and drilled out some plug weld holes.





With a few quick tack welds, everything was locked in place.



Same thing on the driver's side.



Out came the engine. Up went the car.



I removed the exhaust system and prepared to lower the front subframe.

 

 

With the front subframe out, I can now fully weld up the plates, remedy a few other issues with the subframe, have it re-powdercoated (or maybe paint it), then continue with the rest of the project.

Edited by Joe250, 03 October 2016 - 06:28 AM.

[mini_matt_106]

Thanks Matt. I think it is more accurately termed a "no time spared" project. I'm at 8 years and 4 months into this. But who's counting?

But at least there is progress, I've passed the 10year mark and very far off finishing!

That makes sense, I can imagine bike engine being great for track days but less easy to live with.

All the best

[Joe250]

I re-installed the front subframe after fully welding in the motor mounts in their new, lower location. I dropped the engine back in and put the bonnet back on just to make absolutely certain that there is still clearance. There still is!
 

 


There is little room for the thermostat and coolant lines but with enough cuts and test fittings I was able to get it installed. Yes, I will install hose clamps during the final install a few years from now.
 


I previously had my exhaust system modified to work with the MinieXvo kit. Those changes meant it wouldn't work with the new engine. That meant ordering a new muffler and midpipe. The consolation to spending more money was knowing that I would be able to simply bolt the new exhaust right up. <<<Cue the laughter>>>

Of course it didn't bolt right up. It hung too low, touched the righthand side of the tunnel - where the fuel lines run. It wanted to pass right where the shifter box sits (more on that in a second), and the muffler tip rests against the rear valence. Par for the course. Nothing to do but work through it. I started by welding on these hangers. I left them longer than absolutely necessary to help compensate for any deficiencies in my welding. They seem solid enough at the moment though.
 


And speaking of the shifter, yes that is the Mini rod change shifter box mounted under the floor. I'll have to enlarge the hole a bit but it will work. I installed the shift lever, sat in the car and ran thru the gears. With my car's rearward seating location, the lever is a bit of a reach in first and third. I have a solution in mind for that. More later.
 


Here you can see the exhaust wedged between the shift box and the fuel lines. I will be adjusting the shift box over a bit. There is just enough gap between the fuel lines and the exhuast that I think it will work as-is.
 




Here you can see the air filter installed directly onto the end of the intake plenum. I finally settled on mounting the fuel pressure regulator directly to the end of the fuel rail. Once the engine comes back out this week, I will finish making the fuel lines. With a few other items completed, I should be able to focus on the electrics. That should then allow a test-start of the engine. I can hardly wait.

Edited by Joe250, 24 October 2016 - 05:01 AM.