Alternative Engines in a Midas

[lankyjames]

And now for something completely different, a rotary could fit but would need a lot of mods to fit the gearbox and a rwd system. Engine however looks small enough and produces plenty of bhp!


Some issues mind with fuel consumption, oil consumption and size of the exhaust required. For a non daily would be a serious weapon!

[miniswift]

Hi,
I think a rotary will be too expensive to buy.
Then making it FWD is OK by using old 323 gearbox with a bell housing conversion.
I have seen this before in Oz or NZ web site.

I think if we are to fir alternative engines, we will need to get some kind of advantage other than just power.
List can include 5 speed gearbox, reliability, mpg, cost to buy, ease of fitting.... list goes on

Any engine can be modified to give out more power. Suzuki G13B can modified to give out 300bhp from 1300cc. Honda B16 can mod to give out 600 with very heavy mod.
The rotary engine will be very economical if you stay at 2-3k RPM but fitting it will be difficult.

I think how deep is your pocket!? how far do you want to go!?
Those are the questions, we will need to ask ourselves before we start thinking about what engine.

My case, I wanted to make RWD and I have few spare Suzuki Swift engine and I make turbo charger conversion kit myself so it was easy choice for me.

Cheers
Atchi

[DavidL]

Hi,
I think a rotary will be too expensive to buy.
Then making it FWD is OK by using old 323 gearbox with a bell housing conversion.
I have seen this before in Oz or NZ web site.

I think if we are to fir alternative engines, we will need to get some kind of advantage other than just power.
List can include 5 speed gearbox, reliability, mpg, cost to buy, ease of fitting.... list goes on

Any engine can be modified to give out more power. Suzuki G13B can modified to give out 300bhp from 1300cc. Honda B16 can mod to give out 600 with very heavy mod.
The rotary engine will be very economical if you stay at 2-3k RPM but fitting it will be difficult.

I think how deep is your pocket!? how far do you want to go!?
Those are the questions, we will need to ask ourselves before we start thinking about what engine.

My case, I wanted to make RWD and I have few spare Suzuki Swift engine and I make turbo charger conversion kit myself so it was easy choice for me.

Cheers
Atchi

This is probably a very simplistic view of high power outputs, but surely tuning a Honda or Suzuki engine to those dizzy heights (600BHP, even 300BHP) would mean a significant increase in cooling requirements - meaning you'd need a lot more underbonnet space to cope with that? Something sadly lacking in any Midas!

[miniswift]

Hi,

Just for people who are interested in a rotary engine.
http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=20704

This thread will give you which gearboxes to use.

Cooing issue wise, I think it will be ok as long as you don't go crazy.
I will be stopping at 200Bhp using a Mini radiator even though it will be Ali type.
I have a friend who has 300Bhp in Mini with G13B Swift Gti turbo with 4WD.
I think his car is using slightly bigger than OEM from Suzuki for cooling it.

Cheers
Atchi

[DavidL]

Hi,

Just for people who are interested in a rotary engine.
http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=20704

This thread will give you which gearboxes to use.

Cooing issue wise, I think it will be ok as long as you don't go crazy.
I will be stopping at 200Bhp using a Mini radiator even though it will be Ali type.
I have a friend who has 300Bhp in Mini with G13B Swift Gti turbo with 4WD.
I think his car is using slightly bigger than OEM from Suzuki for cooling it.

Cheers
Atchi

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put anyone off!

Just pointing out one problem that may not be immediately obvious (well, it wasn't immediately obvious to me).

[lankyjames]

I was only showing that photo for size of engine and power outputs, as for implementation I too would go for something fwd, cheap, 5 speed good mpg better mpg vs a series and ultimately ease of conversion. Hence why I think a mini proven conversion along the lines of k series Honda or Vauxhall is the way to go.

Project frames turn up on 16v mini forum all the time, engines are plentiful and people have done it before to similar cars. The midas will present its own challenges with space issues mostly otherwise should be fair sailing.

My mechanic friend who helps me out has done a vaux mini for very cheap so I may be tempted that route for his experience, though I am more tempted by Honda and its VTEC.

One day.

[DavidL]

Just thinking...
I've owned, or at least driven, Austins, Rovers, Fords, Citroens, Peugeots, Alfas, BMWs, Volkswagens, Skodas, Land Rovers, Saabs, Toyotas...

...I have zero experience of Vauxhalls. Possibly because my father thought they were "too American" (this was about the time of the Vauxhall Victor). Admittedly I did own a Holden HQ once, but that was a 3 litre straight six and probably had little in common with a Vauxhall engine that would fit a Midas.

Consequently, I find myself reluctant to consider fitting such an engine into a Midas, but this is more due to complete unfamiliarity with these engines than unjustified bigotry. Is there anything special about these engines that would make them a particularly good powerplant for a Midas? Is it just their compact size?

[Stuart]

Without doubt the biggest factor to their popularity is Rob Hall of Allspeed.

I personally believe a C16SE 1.6 can be fitted under a MK 3 bonnet with no mods to the body, but they're a rare engine to find these days.
The later 16 valve responds very well to a new induction system, but that gets expensive if you buy a kit http://www.sbdev.co.uk/Multi_Throttle_K ... %20kit.htm

C16SE in modded Metro subframe, not really light or small, good gearbox shape for fitting into mini and metro subframes though





However the Micra engine fits better, being smaller and much lighter



I'm sticking with my A-series myself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... zU9QBAr1kc

[Alan D.]

Modify a Mini subframe to take a Vauxhall C16SE engine. This engine as suggested by Stuart is 100BHP single cam engine with a 5 speed gearbox.





Then fit subframe into a Midas Mk2

[Alan D.]

Fit Engine and subframe into Midas.




This last picture shows the engine and subframe moved to the left, to avoid the headlight, but then jacked up to the correct height. As you can see the engine fits OK for height and width. The whole installation needs moving to the right, but I cannot because of the headlamp moulding. I then realised that without body mods. it was not going to happen.




I've tried the Suzuki GTI engine which is slightly smaller, but the story is the same! So that's where we are up to today. My conclusion is the only way forward is to move the headlights forward and construct a Richard Brabbins type of bonnet.




So that's where we are todate.

Alan