A friend of mine wants to start modding his 04 Cooper. I had an idea to do a Cooper S engine swap. I thought that he could then switch to a water to air IC and keep his cooper hood, then get a custom exhaust to still exit on one side. I have never seen anything like this done, and know that it would be more complicated than it sounds, but I was just wondering what peoples thoughts were...

 

We just put a Getrag 6-Speed from an S in our Cooper test mule - anything's possible!

 

wouldnt need a custom exhaust, everything is the same. I would recomend getting an actual S block tho, or going aftermarket on the internals, but i would still recomend getting an S crank to start with. FMIC, and away you go!

Beecher

 

YEAH! I remember reading a thread about that.


Well I was telling him to buy a R53 engine (there's one on ebay for 2300 w/ 19k on the clock) and use that. Then of course build it up with pistons, head, pully, etc... before its put in.
I was thinking to go with a water to air IC. even though another coil has to go in front, its not the same as having a big FMIC. the purpose of this would be so that he wouldn't need the scoop on the hood and could keep the stock cooper bumbers and get the super sleeper look. Until of course he steps on the gas.

 

So you can just swap the engines and the exhaust?

 

I was thinking custom exhaust assuming that the cooper s and cooper manifolds are different from each other. IF they are interchangeable then he could get better manifold (equal length primaries) and bolt that to an after market cooper exhaust to maintain stock appearance...

think, sleeper... (you'd just have to ignore the supercharger whine and exhaust note)

 

ecu, exhaust, motor, tranny exc. ive thought about it too, theres a couple threads lingering around about this.

 

Intake manifolds are different, but exhaust manifolds are the same.

 

yes, intakes are different, but exhaust manifold, block, head casting (valves arnt tho), cam are all the same. Crank, valves, rods, pistons, are interchangable, but not the same material (s are forged, cooper powder cast), so you would want the s parts. pistons although interchangable physically are quite differnt, the have dished pistons in the s to drop the compression. You can change the bumpers around all you want, at least the front and sides. The rear, you would have to get a bumper to match teh exhaust. that said, you can mod the valance on some cooper bumpers to fit a s exhaust, and i assume vica-versa. Many have installed an s exhaust on a cooper. I know a guy who built a car to look like an s, but isnt, s hood, yet modded a cooper rear to fit an s exhaust. Underhood,, things should all work as far as engine goes. Only thng is with the cooper hood, you wont clear the intercooler, thats why i said front mount, also, you will have to hack the actual alloy bumer to fit a front mount (FMIC), but you should stil be able to use a stock cooper front skin. I belive most of the external engine bits are different tho. You would need a SC of course, and can ditch the cooper water pump, as it is built into the sc on the s. Basically, instead of fiddiling around, get a block, and head, and that s all you need. Call revolution mini works, their a vendor, buy his stroker kit, his head (youll need cores) his IC ( i think he makes a front mount, or is working on one, or he could hook you up anyway) his exhuast (custom made anyway, but get one made to fit cooper, only different at the back, so header would be the same). And get him to tune it all. He would then have about 300hp, and untold money invested, but if you talking of building an engine, this is the way. Other wise, just drop in a complete running s motor. and do the standard mods, except the FMIC which would will need anyway, but like i said, its hideable. If you dont mind traveling to toronto, i would even do the swap for you, (for a fee of course, haha, but im capable of it). It wouldnt be as big a problem as you think. But that said, if he really wants to just have a sleeper "cooper" sell it. Buy an s, put on a front mount, hit the junks for a cooper hood, and bumper skins. Would me cheaper and easier, i assure you.

 

Hey Beech...the block is different...it has oil squirters in it as the MC motor doesnt.

 

So, if I wanted to do this swap keeping the MC hood, I'd need a W2a intercooler? And then the MC hood would be fine?