I recently returned to Oz for two weeks (I live in Holland) and spent a fair bit of time worrying about or working on the Moke and Mini... rather than enjoying them.

While I understand that it's not good for any car to sit around (only getting the odd start-up) for over two-and-a-half years, it's still got me thinking that it might finally be time to give up on the old A-series. MOKEME runs a supercharged 1275 with a Quaife and plenty of other fruit... so you'd be right to assume that I want to keep things brisk, and keep the fun factor in the car. This would be a change for reliability, and not really economy.

The biggest problem I have: nearly all the engines being shoe-horned into Minis (read: Swift, Charade, Starlet) are either fairly old themselves, or from obscure imports. Considering a full-time return to Oz is not on the cards any time soon, I'm looking for something quite new, with parts to be easily obtainable for years to come. What is stopping people pursuing something newer - is it just cost, or also complexity?

There are plenty of fantastic small capacity engines coming out of Europe these days - has anyone taken a tape measure to a VW 1.2TSI or even the twin-charged 1.4TSI? I believe the DSG gearbox is big, but how about the 6-speed manual? I realise, I'm not talking cheap options here (especially when you factor in that most of the work will be out-sourced) - but that is not necessarily the primary concern.

Has anyone else had any other thoughts on newer engine conversion options? I'd prefer engines that make good power (i.e. >100 HP) out of the box - I don't want to destroy reliability with lots of bolt-ons.

*cricket* *cricket*

Hey Mate,

One of the problems I think you will encounter is the more recent the engine, the more integrated it is into the car electronics. We can get away with running many of the jap import motors with just the ecu and a hacked wiring loom. With a later motor you may find it harder and harder to sort the wiring as more systems are integrated. People already have to get 'body computer simulators' to fit the Gen 3 chev motors into their old holdens here, I have no idea how you would go with a newer motor over there. You could go to a motec or similar aftermarket one, but then you are spending a lot to fit it and tune it for no doubt inferior results to the factory ecu.

Not saying it can't be done, but it's is just not gonna be as easy.

Madmorrie

Cheers Madmorrie. Wasn't aware of the lengths required for the Gen III V8s. I guess that's what I was hinting at with the 'complexity' call. I think it still might be worth pursuing further. I love the way the Charade 1.0ltr 3-cylinder turbo/efi unit fits in the engine bay, but am just scared off by the age.

Matt Reid is doing something with Honda Jazz engines, seems a smart option

If I ever see a wrecked suzuki alto for the right price I'd grab it and plan out a conversion. Wouldn't be real powerful, but I reckon a lot of parts could be transferred over and it'd be good on fuel at the end of it all.

Not sure if this one has been discussed before, the bigger discussion might be on sacrilege!



1.4 out of the new fiat 500. http://www.fiat500usa.com/2009/09/fiat-500-engine-technology.html

Abarth version gets ~160hp. http://www.fiat500usa.com/2010/01/us-fiat-500-abarthhow-much-horsepower.html

Nice one MINTI! The Abarth engine (even in 135 HP form) would be a cracker (pretty tiny too!). Now, who wants to crash into the back of one for me?

The fiat 500s also have a diesel option - the JTD engine. If I had the time and money, I'd be putting one of these in. We're talking up to 105hp and 3.3l/100km.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTD_engine

But yeah, I just have a thing for diesels. Good torque and economy, and with the turbo, quite responsive too. I've been ranting a bit about this engine already - hopefully someone does it before me, so I know who to go to if I have troubles :)

bloody hell, they're in just about everything!

I once went googling to find out what Diesel engine was fitted to the Yaris overseas.

Guess what it was shared with? The BINI D!

A shame it's only 66kw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_ND_engine

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

with 190 Nm of torque!



Would suit me fine!

_________________
Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do...



“A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.” - Jeremy Clarkson

I have been curious about the usefulness of the 1KR-FE Toyota Engine. It is incredibly small. It isn't likely to satisfy your power needs, but it'll be super reliable, super economical and it'll sit at 120km/hr on the freeway without the compromise you have to make with diff ratios in an A Series.

Bnicho and I have discussed this before - but it petered out once we couldn't quickly find wrecked Yarises or Echos to indicate pricing.

How about this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toyota-Echo- ... 35b168b7bc

_________________
1964 998cc Cooper
1971 Mini K x 2
1972 Clubman GT

That would be the engine only without gearbox, loom etc.

You would be better off buying a complete crashed Echo at auction for around $1K.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2