How are you rigging up the paddle shifters?

BTW, here is a clean Busa powered mini:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/730278.htm

 

I'm using the Pro-shift kit ( http://www.proshift.co.uk/index.php?...tpage&Itemid=1 ). It will use a solenoid for shifter actuation. It will kill ignition during upshifts so no need to clutch or lift off the gas. It also blips the throttle on downshifts, so no need to clutch there either.

That grey Mini is nice. The Busa motor is an easy fit when you put it in the back. I wouldn't mind having a Z Cars kit and having RWD. For my car though, I didn't want to cut out the whole rear floor board, passenger seat and back firewall. Maybe my next one though!

 

Care to post, or PM me the end price of the kit you purchased?

 

joe, i just read the entire project build. that thing looks like it's goign to be amazing. can't wait to see it go cone crazy.

 

Same here.. put me to sleep last night and woke up and finished it this morning.... great work and keep it up, should be a beast when it is all done.

 

Hey guys, sorry to Hijack your Thread Joe..

Joe i love your conversion its going to be some car when its finished.. Funny how we just talked yesterday, small world hey I didn't know you were on here too..

I am just back from my trip to Zcars over there in England. I have been working with the guys over there in trying to bring over the mid-engined kits for the mini's over here stateside. there are currently a number of guys that have the kits over here.

The great thing is Zcars now have a dealer over here in California bringing these great kits to the masses Oh yeah that Dealer is ME So I am expecting to get a few kits over to me in the next couple of months so I am sure I could work a nice deal for some fellow I-Clubbers...


There are some great benfits to the using a motorcycle engine i.e Busa, R1 etc in your conversion. I got a spin in the Zcars demo car with a bog standard Vtec conversion kit and I nearly wet myself. That much power in a mid-engined mini is crazy.. We drove around in the wet, through mud and you name it. To be honest the car held the road better than my Subaru..

I am really excited about bringing over the Zcars mini kit stateside it is some piece of engineering, a work of art. Here are some pics from my trip.. Hope to have my car ready for the summer, I'll bring it around to some Subaru meets and give some test runs to people

This is the Race Spec Version with a full inbuilt Roll Cage..




This is an amazing Hayabusa conversion. Absolutely stunning



This was a project they were working on.. Putting a nice little supercharger on the K20. Bit of a funky colour scheme going on here though.. you can see the race kit has all teh roll cage fully built around you. Makes teh little mini a little bit safer..





This was a full on race car with 300HP odd, Hayabusa turbo with a water cooled intercooler. This was for sale and it was crazy..

 

BC! Insane!!!! I had no idea you were working with Z Cars. Congrats. Please let me know when you're bringing your Mini to a meet. I'd really like to look it over.

 

Yeah most definetly.. We will get together.. We can go corvette hunting They are buildign my kit as we speak so hopefully should be over here soon, not soon enough..

Really excited about working with Zcars, it should be fun.. Man those guys over there are doing some amazing things.. Check out this AWD Twin Engined Ultima. it has 2 Hayabusa Turbo Engines - One drives the front wheels and one drives the back wheels

 

^ wowowowow

 

Man, I love the old school Mini's. I really wish I had the space to do a project car again.

 

Wow, that Z Cars setup looks nutty!! I think I would do that if I found a basket case Mini. Mine has been down for a while with some front suspension work, and that has lead to replacing all the bushings because the engine leaks which leads to... Yeah. So it will have a new steering rack, new front springs (stock rubber bagels w/ KYB shocks), all new bushings and engine mounts, new valve cover seal, wheel bearings, upper control arms, header, and some minor welding. Also new pads/rotors as it came with Clubman 8.4" discs and nice lil AP calipers. Can't wait to get it back.

Joe - thanks for your offer, and I will get in touch when mine is back on the road. Also, I followed the link to Techshop from your page and I think I will head over there for some welding classes. I have been helping out at a local shop that has all those lathes, presses, etc in and is actually the place working on my Mini. I should have access to the tools whenever I need, just need to learn how to use them. What do you think about Techshop?

 

Why not one of these 1380's with a vf43?!?

 

Not a horrible choice but look of the weight of that thing. It would be pretty stressed to put out really good power. Motorcycle engines are cheap, light, powerful, and reliable. Plus they are fuel-injected with the ability to easily tune them with piggybacks like the Power Commander.

Joe

 

i have always loved the mini, and would love to be able to afford to do something similar when i can afford to do so. i would love to see the mini when it is done.

 

Yep - it's hard to beat a moto engine/tranny pack especially these days. No doubt. Especially since they come with a matched sequential tranny..