a small car + big engine project in the works...

[darkcat]

Not sure which part of the forum to post this in really so ill put it here and wait to be told off :-)

Right i have an itch that needs scratching... i want to do a project car, but cant decide what to do.. my chouces so far are:

- put a V8 in something small
- put a harley v-twin or similar in somehting
- put a 1000cc+ bike engine in something.

im looking at cars to base somehting on, and have come up with a shortlist:

- classic Mini
- Mk1 fiesta / Escort
- Smart
- old Fiat 500

Now i already have a spare rover V8 3.5, so if i where to put that say in a mini, id want to either go rear engineed, transverse and try to figure out some sort of gearbox arangement, or put it up-front, and find a suitable axle/diff...

on the v-twin idea, what engines can be bought relatively cheap? but more importantly, would it have enough torque to pull a small car?

Thoughts appreciated :-)

[ewenm]

I've seen a K-Series Mini and that took up all the room under the bonnet, so for a V8 to fit I think you'd have to move all the controls back and sit on the back seats to drive - could be quite cool!

There are various V8 MX5s out there. Or a bike engined Mini could be interesting - BECs need a lightweight car and are pretty frenetic to drive needing lots of revs.

[Marf]

RV8 into MX5

[OlberJ]

Marf said:

RV8 into MX5

Not an RV8 but definitely 8 cylinders into an Mx5.

[darkcat]

ok i'll stop you all there, im not an MX5 fan!!!!

[wombat172a]

V8 trabant?

[Pablo16v]

darkcat said:

ok i'll stop you all there, im not an MX5 fan!!!!

Some of these look fun though

http://monstermiata.com/v8Miata_Image.asp?theType=...

Edited by Pablo16v on Tuesday 20th July 15:43

[Marf]

OlberJ said:

Marf said:

RV8 into MX5

Not an RV8 but definitely 8 cylinders into an Mx5.

Yeah dunno why I suggested RV8, 1UR-FSE on throttle bodies would be better!

[300bhp/ton]

doogz said:

Marf said:

RV8 into MX5

I'm all for V8's in little cars, but isn't a standard RV8 in 3.5L guise going to result in a slower MX-5 than you had to start with?

No.

doogz said:

Ok, well, perhaps not, but unless you're talking about extracting serious power from it, seems to be a bit of a waste of time to me. Especially when there are so many tried and tested turbo and super conversions for them.

Personally I wouldn't put one in an MX-5, but getting the HP target would surely be part of fitting the engine. Few people are made enough to go to all that work and make it slower.

[ewenm]

doogz said:

You'd be much better off imo, picking a better engine to start with.

There are many better engines out there, the whole point in a project like this is, anything goes. Why settle for something that's just alright?

Depends on budget - currently the RV8 is free...

[jayfish]

A BEC 500 sounds fun, but 500's aren't cheap, maybe a 126 or something.

[Istvan24]

Smart car GSX-R conversion site

And a vid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSwH1LPmE0s&fea...

Otherwise how about having a pop at the car Gordon Murray was supposed to be having a pop at - engine swap on a Smart Roadster?

ETA: flames from the exhaust @ 0:50 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gfnqx4Vzzc&fea...

Edited by Istvan24 on Tuesday 20th July 15:58

[darkcat]

wombat172a said:

V8 trabant?

HAHA!!!! Love it!!!!
saw a nice russian-green one in Budapest last month.... quality :-D


Ok, decided the project name:
"Project Shoehorn"


Well actually its not a bad lieelt V8 i have spare, its a '94 3.5 EFI (injected) so will give out around 200 bhp with a little tweeking / porting and a decent exhaust.

Edited by darkcat on Tuesday 20th July 16:01

[Z06George]

Morris Minor, the half timber one with an LS engine is you sell the RV8

[davepoth]

http://www.spagweb.com/v8mini/gallery/00/viku/viku...

[Plotloss]

V12 out of a 750i into the flat bed of a Mini Pick-Up

[300bhp/ton]

darkcat said:

Not sure which part of the forum to post this in really so ill put it here and wait to be told off :-)

Right i have an itch that needs scratching... i want to do a project car, but cant decide what to do.. my chouces so far are:

- put a V8 in something small
- put a harley v-twin or similar in somehting
- put a 1000cc+ bike engine in something.

im looking at cars to base somehting on, and have come up with a shortlist:

- classic Mini
- Mk1 fiesta / Escort
- Smart
- old Fiat 500

Now i already have a spare rover V8 3.5, so if i where to put that say in a mini, id want to either go rear engineed, transverse and try to figure out some sort of gearbox arangement, or put it up-front, and find a suitable axle/diff...

on the v-twin idea, what engines can be bought relatively cheap? but more importantly, would it have enough torque to pull a small car?

Thoughts appreciated :-)

What sort of budget?

MK1 Escorts are pricey on their own, let alone hacking one up.


I think you're prime decision should be cost and what do you want to do with it in the end, as in is it for street only use, competitions, track, drag racing, etc.

I admit I too have a hankering to put a Harley Vee Twin in a car, just for the noise more than anything.

Also think a KV6 Morris Minor would be pretty cool, although not sure how possible it would be.


But it is hard to beat the sound of a V8!!

I've got a fairly lightweight sports car which I swapped in a V8 a number of years back. Lots of fun, great noise and plenty of sides action:

[darkcat]

Plotloss said:

V12 out of a 750i into the flat bed of a Mini Pick-Up

OOOOh now your talking but a mini pickup would cost a shed load!

Well budget - LOW (i know its likely to spiral but wint think about that for a start)
Use, well, nipping to the pub and work, nothing more, just a toy.

I dont want to spend more than £500 on the donor car.

[CO2000]

How about a Ducati motor into one of the light blue invalid carriages that were about 20-30 years ago - would get a few double & triple takes with people trying to work out where the noise is coming from !

[300bhp/ton]

doogz said:

You'd be much better off imo, picking a better engine to start with.

There are many better engines out there, the whole point in a project like this is, anything goes. Why settle for something that's just alright?

That depends really. The RV8 is still a lightweight, compact V8 motor that can support reasonable displacement. OK, it's unlikely to win that many HP battles, but how much power do you need?

Something like a 4.6 from a p38a Rangie, with some decent heads, silly cam, long tube headers and Megasquirt should make a solid 280-300'ish HP and lots of torque everywhere. It'll sound good too.

Slap it in a car weighing 700-1100kg and it'll move pretty good.

There's also supercharger and turbocharger options too, or just a simple nitrous setup with an electronic programmer and 150+ shot of nitrous.

Personally I'm a bit of a fan of the Lexus LS400 lump. Although they only make ~275hp rated. Only downer is they are a bit more chunky and more pricey to get working with a manual gearbox. BMW V8's are cheap too, although the 4.4 is only 282hp, so the Rover is still up there. Chevy SBC is probably the best bank per buck, but fairly rare in the UK. Ford 4.6 is stout and good value (have seen them new with gearbox for £2.5k), but are a total boat anchor and massive and only 260hp.