alright guys, and gals...i thought about doing a vtec swap into my 1970 austin morris mini, but i decided to go a different route. i think i'm going to buy a used 2002 ish model suzuki hayabusa gsxr engine and swap that into my mini, it's very small, it rev's really high, and it puts out a lot of horsepower, and the conversion doesn't seem to be really difficult...also it has a 6 speed sequential shifter, which should be awesome!! if i put it in, my power to weight ratio will be off the map, and maybe later down the road i can slap on a nice turbo for now it should be awesome though....any thoughts recommendations welcomed....thanks NAM!!!

 

Yeah, don't do it! But a few people have been putting bike engines into classic Minis lately. If you want me to find the magazine articles, let me know.

 

why shouldn't i do it? i can get the engine for cheap, and it will be really fun to drive!!!

 

As soon as i get my acceptance letter to college this year, im buying a classic mini and putting in a superbike engine, preferably the hayabusa.
but i might go the cheaper route and go with the yamaha R1, its 3 grand cheaper and is only 10 hp less than the hayabusa but does not offer the extreme power turbo options. Im ordering the kit from a company in England called Zcars http://www.zcars.org.uk the kit is a deal and looks promising, then if i can scrape up some extra cash, ill buy a turbo kit from http://www.holeshotracing.co.uk which offers turbo kits for cars with motorcycle engines, which produce up to 450 hp I just need to find a bargain mini that i can register in California.

 

dude, there are hayabusa engines on ebay for like a grand or less

 

ahhh.....yes nice call. the cheapest i could find was 2500 used, i had not checked ebay though, but now ill try to get one off there. Sweet.

 

I have two questions about your plan.

What are you going to use for reverse? Fred Flintstoning that brick is going to get old after awhile.

What are you going to use for torque? Superbike motors like the 'Busa don't even start to make any power until you've got them spinning pretty fast and their bottom end torque is insignificant. It's not peak power that moves a car from a standing start; it's torque. Your bike-motored Mini isn't going to have any of that. Unless you're planning to launch from the curb into traffic at about 6K rpms and just drop the clutch...

 

I've had a Ducati engine lying around calling for me to make the same silly mistake. Hmmm. No torque. Chain final drive. Plummeting resale value. Bad idea. I'll just keep modding my supercharged 1.6 in my '03 S.

But I DID see a GSXR-1000 powered kart. . . Now THAT is worth doing!

 

i read the engine has around 150 hp, and 96 pounds of torque....there's no way i'm gonna be able to work my way up to that go-kart status? hmm

 

150HP & 96lbs? that would be triple what a Mini had from the factory with a 998cc....sounds good to me!

Don't worry about anyone else's opinion. If that's what you want - DO IT! Just don't chop up any Mini of historic significance. Otherwise you can pick any Mini of the 5 million plus they made to have fun with. Minis are all about individuality. Who cares what others think?

 

I was just joking about not doing it. I like custom stuff - I've been part of the scooter scene for a few decades where people take the word "custom" very seriously. Here are some before and after pictures to prove it:

 

Didn't Craig Vetter make a Harley Scooter?

Paul

 

I was headed down this very path a year ago. Gonna buy the kit from Zcars. I was going to use a Yamaha R-1 motor. Not quite as strong as the Hyabusa, but definately cheaper. But then the dollar started to fall and the costs began to look scary. It would definately be a hoot. But by the time it's done it will be quite an expensive project. Of course that's all relative based on the thickness of the wallet.

As for reverse, Zcars sell an electric motor that goes in the drive line.

I hope someone does it!

 

what exactly on that first scooter did NOT get replaced for the 2nd one?

if they gave it custom EVERYTHING, then it's a different scooter, not a mod job...

 

Oh yeah, about the torque...not to worry. The point is well made but the fact is that there's enough. Remember, by doing the conversion you'll be dropping about 200 pounds out of a Mini. And with a little more weight reductions, you'll be down in the 1100 pound range. Yes, you'll have to rev the motor a little but it's really not much different than a classic motor with a big cam & big carbs. And with 10K+ worth of revs on hand, who cares if ya have to start out at 3K rpm.

Remeber...this ain't yer Mama's Mini for grocery store runs. It's a fire breathing monster that will scare the pants off most mortal men.

You bet I wanna build one some day.

 

Weren't the early 60's mini's like 1200-1400lbs with like 55ish hp & lb-ft? I realize that the hp comes from the top end in bike engines but even at the low end of one of the engines mentioned (without the turbo) you'd probably be pretty close to the original mini numbers. Of course then you would also have a wicked top end :-) I don't think the people making 7 replica's with the hayabusa engines have a problem at around 1000 lbs so 300 extra lbs for a street car probably won't be too bad for tooling around.

 

Actually there is very little replaced. It is the modified original frame with lots of sheet metal removed and a crossbar & tank installed. The engine and most of the roginal parts are retained. The forks, which are modified to accept the original front hub and wheel.