ausmini
https://www.ausmini.com/forums/

Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
https://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=99813		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:13 am ]
Post subject:  Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
Hey,

Some of you may know but I've done a conversion putting a cg13 into my mini Spot, I absolutely love the conversion and frankly can't see why more people aren't doing it in Australia.
It's a very popular conversion in the UK, but not here for some reason. Ok the UK has plentiful donor Micras falling apart from rust...

So I was wondering is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion into a mini, moke or some other derivative?

I am curious, but there's also a quaife lsd group buy going on for the Micra gearbox and if you are doing the conversion this might be your only chance to get a ATB diff for your conversion.
Author:  mattsmadmini [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
Have seen one in a moke a few years ago... will try find a thread
Author:  timmy201 [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
After seeing your conversion, and how you don’t need to hack up the body it does seem like a good option. Matt Read did a couple of them from memory too?

I guess in my mind there are a couple of downsides:
Not any more power than a mini 1275 (stock vs stock)
Engineering the whole conversion - not an issue in the UK from what I’ve read?
Lack of “off the shelf” subframes at a reasonable price here
Lack of engines and they are all getting old

Of course there are upsides:
No big hacking of the body
Lighter weight alloy engine
1275cc
5 speed gearbox and fuel injection

Personally I think if I was going to do an engine conversion (lotto win pending) I’d go for a Honda engine with a bit more grunt, so that you can keep the engine stock for reliability. On the other hand if a modified subframe was a decent price and you could just slap in the CG13 and drive away without engineering I’d reckon more people would do it
Author:  cooperess [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
Attachment:
80719268_1065579377111741_5197644452972751322_n.jpg
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 2:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
timmy201 wrote:
Matt Read did a couple of them from memory too?

Matt's still working on his for his broadspeed minis, he's a busy boy.

timmy201 wrote:
I guess in my mind there are a couple of downsides:
Not any more power than a mini 1275 (stock vs stock)
Engineering the whole conversion - not an issue in the UK from what I’ve read?
Lack of “off the shelf” subframes at a reasonable price here
Lack of engines and they are all getting old

I think you've hit the nail on the head with power, a lot of people seem to see the factory Nissan numbers and ask why you'd bother?
I'm pretty skeptical of comparing hp numbers because it doesn't seen to be a good reflection of how good it will be to drive, but also I think you're comparing with a whole heap of people that potentially have some skin in the game, from dyno tuners who get more business from big hp numbers to owners who have invested big and don't want to have backed the wrong horse, to people chasing hp numbers for bragging rights and sacrificing drivabilty on the way.
That said the factory Nissan inlet and especially exhaust manifolds are junk, you gain quite a bit from getting rid of them, mine is a 250,000km engine (unopened) but I haven't had trouble hanging with anyone else but you've no idea how hard they are pushing except perhaps plumes of smoke out the exhaust.
Engines are still easy enough to come by, the last 2 engines and gearboxes I got have been $50 each.

Engineering really wasn't that bad (no where near as bad as I expected), there's a couple of things in it's favour here namely minimal body mods and using the same size engine, a lighter engine helps too, The advantages you listed, also it uses all of the stock mini suspension parts. Funnily most of the weight savings went into beefing up my subframe I think, it's much stronger than it needs to be but I suspect this stiffness also pays dividends in handling...?

timmy201 wrote:
Personally I think if I was going to do an engine conversion (lotto win pending) I’d go for a Honda engine with a bit more grunt, so that you can keep the engine stock for reliability. On the other hand if a modified subframe was a decent price and you could just slap in the CG13 and drive away without engineering I’d reckon more people would do it

There are subframes but they aren't available locally (all in the UK), I think I have been able to do the conversion doing it myself for about the same price as I would have paid for a decent standard engine build, certainly not even close to what Spot is now including dyno tuning and engineering etc.
With the ability you've shown with your engine build I think you could do a Honda or whatever conversion relatively cheaply, engine builds scare me more than the conversion...
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 2:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
mattsmadmini wrote:
Have seen one in a moke a few years ago... will try find a thread

I'd be interested to see it! I'm contemplating taking what will be a spare engine currently in Spot and putting it in my moke when I rebuild / restore it.

cooperess wrote:
Attachment:
80719268_1065579377111741_5197644452972751322_n.jpg

That's an interesting one, it's a LHD so unless you did a conversion on an import (you'd have to love red tape) I'm guessing it's not yours?
A google image search found it on an instagram related site. There's a dutch LHD micra mini but he ended up moving the steering rack...

That said they've kept the stock inlet and exhaust manifolds which means the crossmember has required notching as the stock inlet swoops down then out which is why most conversions create their own inlet manifold. The alternator looks to be down the front, I wonder what the clearance on the waterpump pulley on the back of the block looks like as it looks like it is pushed further back in the bay than mine.
Author:  timmy201 [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
I haven’t done any welding since I did high school, so trying to make my own subframe would be difficult and dangerous! I can bolt engines back together that used to be engines though :D

I guess the cost portion always comes down to how much you can DIY. In my case I can assemble an engine (with the guidance of the gurus) but can't make a subframe. Perhaps we both spent a similar amount of money and ended up with a similar result?

In regards to the hp number I totally agree. I spent money and time on mine to modify an 1100 and I’ll be lucky if it’s the same power as a stock Cooper S 1275, but I have no complaints with the amount of power it has now for a road car

Another downside that I’ve thought of (now not a problem) is that engine swapped cars weren’t eligible for cheap conditional rego

Next time you offer me a drive I’ll take you up, I’m interested to see what it’s like!
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is there anyone else doing a CG13DE conversion?
timmy201 wrote:
In regards to the hp number I totally agree. I spent money and time on mine to modify an 1100 and I’ll be lucky if it’s the same power as a stock Cooper S 1275, but I have no complaints with the amount of power it has now for a road car

It's area under the curve too, you can only be at peak hp for a fraction of a second in most cases so a peak hp tells you very little imo.
timmy201 wrote:
Another downside that I’ve thought of (now not a problem) is that engine swapped cars weren’t eligible for cheap conditional rego

True! I did think about out but I didn't anticipate how generous the scheme was in terms of no of days etc.
timmy201 wrote:
Next time you offer me a drive I’ll take you up, I’m interested to see what it’s like!

I look forward to it! It will probably have it's new engine and a ATB by then, and a secret rear suspension...
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC + 10 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/