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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:06 pm 
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1098cc
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Location: Sandy Bay, Tasmania
I've always wanted to do an engine conversion, but I was hesitant to do one in a mini - it's FWD so problems with drive shafts, and then there's the whole space issue - a lot of engine in a small space is difficult. Lucky for me I've picked up a 4EFTE engine with one of Tricky's subframes. On ya Tricky, that's a whole lot of work you've done for me :)

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I'm still very much in the planning stage at the moment, but the bottom line here is that I want to keep it looking as stock as possible. Some people love the look of a wide body kit and skirts, but I like the original look of the mini - why fix it if it isn't broke?

The mini in question has been my daily ride for the last 6 years - a 1978 Leyland with a 998. The car is pretty much stock, except for hilos and front discs. It didn't have much rust when I first got it, but it's stating to show now, and I was preparing for a full strip-down and respray soon - but that will now come after any mods required for the conversion, and once it runs.

I've read through Tricky's conversion, which is a great read and gives me some indication of the work required. But as I said - I'm still planning at the moment, so I have a few questions for those who have done this before. Off the top of my head I'm hoping you can help with the following:

- Engineer: I haven't called any engineers yet - any recommendations in Tasmania? Transport have a list of engineers here, but I thought I'd see if anybody has any specific recommendations. Any mini experience is good I suppose.
- Drive shafts: Where have people had these made - any recommendations? I don't have the toyota drive shafts, as the previous owner forgot to take them out of the front cut before scrapping it. I will need to talk to an engineer to see what they think is appropriate here. I have seen a few cut-and-weld jobs, but depending on price and if the engineer allows them, getting them fabricated might be worth my time, especially since I need to get the starlet shafts as well. I'm not in a hurry just yet - it will be a long way off before I need them.
- ECU/Wiring: I have the wiring loom from the front cut starlet GT and the ECU. Does everybody use the standard ECU? People who modify starlets seem to go for a piggy-back ECU, but where space is a premium this might not be a good idea. If I can get away with the stock one that should be fine - I don't intend to do any turbo upgrade just yet, so I'm keeping this bit simple. I've seen there are a few good stickies on starlet wiring - that will be a God-send.
- Body mods: I know there are some required, but is there any 'template' or guide on where to cut? Or will it be matter of fitting everything up, and seeing where it hits. I know the wheel arch will need cutting, and I will need to do some at the front too. I noticed on Tricky's build, near the very start the front lower panel had been cut and pushed forward - I'm considering doing something similar, as I really want to keep the front-mount intercooler inside the car. A good intercooler is an invisible intercooler, but I know that might not be possible. I'll need to wait and see.

That's all for now, I'm still researching what I can and what I want to do. But any advice would be appreciated.


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:39 pm 
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998cc
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Location: St. George Area, New South Wales
Looking forward to watching this progress, maybe one day for my '78 998. Good luck and have fun.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:39 pm 
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Watching this with interest. I rang about that motor. Was too slow Ha!
Have been reading up on exactly the same project. i have a Oct '78 Leyland S waiting to start
There's some great info on here. I have exactly the same questions.
Cheers
Alex.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:39 am 
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You may want to get in touch with Ben - '92' on here.
He has the Scarlet O'Hara Clubby on 12" Superlites, with easily the best conversion done on this forum.

In SA we aren't "allowed" to modify our inner guards to do an engine conversion; Ben's clever engineering has overcome this and everything sits where it should.

Cheers
Will


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:56 am 
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Location: Wodonga - Vic/NSW border
^ ditto - Ben's car is a work of art

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:36 pm 
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willy wrote:
You may want to get in touch with Ben - '92' on here.
He has the Scarlet O'Hara Clubby on 12" Superlites, with easily the best conversion done on this forum.

In SA we aren't "allowed" to modify our inner guards to do an engine conversion; Ben's clever engineering has overcome this and everything sits where it should.

Cheers
Will


interesting point will, where did that information come from? my discussions and meetings with my engineer he had no problems with inner guard modifications... :/

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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 3:03 pm 
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1098cc
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Location: Sandy Bay, Tasmania
I've done very little apart from research in the last couple of weeks. I've emailed an engineer but no reply yet - Targa Tas has been on, so quite a busy time.

The previous owner of this engine bought a half-cut, and when it arrived it was missing it's wiring loom, so he was given another. As it turns out, this other loom does not have an engine loom or ECU. Not a good start then - that's most of what I need!

There are a few sites that mention swapping EP82 and EP92 engines around, and most say it's not a straight swap. Same engine, but different ECUs and wiring. But does anybody know if the engine looms are the same? I don't really mind if the plugs at the end are different, I'll be modifying all of that anyway. I expect some sensors may have changed.


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PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2015 8:02 am 
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mad-mk1 wrote:
willy wrote:
You may want to get in touch with Ben - '92' on here.
He has the Scarlet O'Hara Clubby on 12" Superlites, with easily the best conversion done on this forum.

In SA we aren't "allowed" to modify our inner guards to do an engine conversion; Ben's clever engineering has overcome this and everything sits where it should.

Cheers
Will


interesting point will, where did that information come from? my discussions and meetings with my engineer he had no problems with inner guard modifications... :/



They seem to be more open to allow the inner guard to be cut now. When mine was done almost 10 years ago they didn't want it done

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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 6:32 pm 
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1275cc
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Location: Burpengary, Queensland - Home of Tricky Performance Engineering
Hope it all goes well for you!

Contact me if you need to.

Cheers,
Tricky

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:44 pm 
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Location: Sandy Bay, Tasmania
I'm finally coming back to this project after a while - I've since rebuilt a motorbike that I now use as my daily, and now that project's done, it's time to move back to the serious stuff.

My main blocker is wiring - I still cannot find an engine loom. I intend to ask around on a few forums, but the main startlet site for Australia - austarletclub.com - has sleeping admins - nobody can register!

So, does anybody here know of anybody who has a spare engine bay loom? I need everything related to the engine - the ECU, oil sensor, coolant sensor, injectors etc. It was cut just after the fuse box. PITA.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:34 am 
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Another small update. I now have the loom and ECU I need, and I've been approved in principle for the engine conversion by Transport Tasmania :D The process was really quite easy, and they didn't impose any restrictions on what I was doing - apart from the fact that I only have 12 months to do it! :o

They're happy to leave me with my current wheels and brakes (cooper 7.5's) provided that it passes a brake test. I was going to put new pads in, put in a booster and refurbish the rears and see if I was happy with them - I'm pretty confident they will pass.

I'm currently organising for my engineer to have a look over my proposal, as everything still needs to be signed off by him. It will still be a while before I begin any real work, partially because I'm still doing a lot of planning, and also because I'm moving house.

One thing I still haven't organised is a fuel tank. To keep everything looking stock and making things easy I was planning on using a rover EFI tank. Will an EFI tank bolt in with little modification?


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:55 pm 
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Irish Yobbo wrote:
Another small update. I now have the loom and ECU I need, and I've been approved in principle for the engine conversion by Transport Tasmania :D The process was really quite easy, and they didn't impose any restrictions on what I was doing - apart from the fact that I only have 12 months to do it! :o

They're happy to leave me with my current wheels and brakes (cooper 7.5's) provided that it passes a brake test. I was going to put new pads in, put in a booster and refurbish the rears and see if I was happy with them - I'm pretty confident they will pass.

I'm currently organising for my engineer to have a look over my proposal, as everything still needs to be signed off by him. It will still be a while before I begin any real work, partially because I'm still doing a lot of planning, and also because I'm moving house.


accepting S brakes is a bit odd - I wonder if your engineer will knock it back...

Irish Yobbo wrote:
One thing I still haven't organised is a fuel tank. To keep everything looking stock and making things easy I was planning on using a rover EFI tank. Will an EFI tank bolt in with little modification?


it will, but I don't see the point - my car is injected and I just had a return line welded into the top of my standard tank - EFI pump sits on the rear subframe in the usual spot for an electric fuel pump

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:11 pm 
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Location: Sandy Bay, Tasmania
simon k wrote:
accepting S brakes is a bit odd - I wonder if your engineer will knock it back...


It will be interesting to see what he says. Before I ran everything by transport he said he's always been unsure about brake 'upgrades' as a lot of braking performance is hearsay. But we will see. It pulls up quickly and straight right now, but I'm unsure how it would go a few times in a row from 100-0, as it currently takes about 24 seconds to get back up to speed...

simon k wrote:
it will, but I don't see the point - my car is injected and I just had a return line welded into the top of my standard tank - EFI pump sits on the rear subframe in the usual spot for an electric fuel pump


You make a good point. I've never liked the idea of welding fuel tanks, but it would be my cheapest and easiest option. But I would be left with only 24 litres still.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:54 pm 
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Irish Yobbo wrote:
You make a good point. I've never liked the idea of welding fuel tanks, but it would be my cheapest and easiest option. But I would be left with only 24 litres still.


I guess so on the 25 litres, I have a right-hand to go with it

There's a lot of paranoia in welding fuel tanks, use your brain and it's a non-issue. Mine has been done twice, once for a return line in the top and then again for a feed from the RH tank

I took it out of the car, took the sender out of it, blew air in it for a bit and then left it in the sun for a few hours.... it barely had a smell when my friend did it

BTW it the fittings were brazed, not welded - the one at the top is a male to female BSP adapter and I've screwed a 90* barb into it, the one at the bottom is a bit of 5/16" bundy tube

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:24 pm 
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Location: Sandy Bay, Tasmania
It's been well over a year since my last update, and I've finally got some work done. In the last year I've moved house, finished my motorcycle to use as a daily while I do my engine conversion. I then hit a wallaby on this motorcycle and broke my wrist, so after several months recovery and repairing the bike, I'm back at it again.

So in the last couple of weeks I've taken the old engine and subframe out, and fitted the new one in place. Excuse the terrible phone photos. I took some advice from Project Binky on youtube and made some CAD (cardboard aided design) templates for the engine bay cut-outs, and use a very high tech projection technology to mark out the required cut-out (a torch).

Image

Image

Image

So that all went smoothly. It looks rough in the photos, but that's just the paint flaking.

Now I'm having problems with engine mounts. It seems like Tricky (who made the subframe) hasn't been online for a while, so I'll throw the questions to the room. The drivers side engine mount appears too big for the bracket that holds it - it's resting on the subframe and the holes don't match up. I'm wondering if there are a few different types of engine mount?

Image

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The passenger side mount is also a mystery - both of Tricky's previous designs I've seen are different. There is no mount on the subframe, but there is a bracket for it. I just don't know where the bracket attaches to!

Image

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With the mount still attached to the engine:
Image

So that's where I am at the moment. Anyone else have any ideas about the mounts?


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