stealth-wrx

I am going to start another project car. I want to use a 13B single turbo motor and put it in a 60's or 70's Mini Cooper. Its going to be a tight fit and alot of work but i am up for the task. I can fabricate anything and i am a master tig welder. I used to do tube chassis on drag cars so i am good with making things fit. Which motor would you reccomend using; the 86-92 13B or the 93-95 13B. I am looking for about 350 wheel hp, and i want to use the rx7 transmission. i am going to use a subaru rear end, hubs, and custom axles. I will have to cut the fire wall out and run a big section for the tranny and drive shaft. Here is my last project so you guys dont think i am full of crap. Here are the specs on it:

2002 Subaru wrx
EJ22 BLOCK
EJ25 CRANK
BORED, STROKED AND SLEEVED TO A 2.55 LITER
T04R TURBO
AUTRONIC ECU
800 CC INJECTORS
CARRILLO RODS
JE PISTONS
FULLY PORTED AND POLISHED HEADS WITH 9000 RPM COMPONENTS.
AIR TO WATER INTERCOOLER

All the work is done by me in my garage except for the machining to the block.

SonicRaT

iTrader: (6)

I'd say to go with a s4 turbo motor, use a hybrid turbo and get it ported and be on your way. That way you can retain the mechanical oil metering pump and won't have to worry about premix all the time, and they're more readily available as well.

DriftinJim

iTrader: (24)

but the s4 is somewhat limited to ~400rwhp internally before the dowels become the weak point, just a heads up

NZConvertible

As with most motors, the later the better, so get the best you can find/afford. The electronic OMP will not be problem if you use a Haltech E11.

Good luck, sounds like a awesome (if slightly crazy) project. I've seen a couple of FWD rotary Minis over here, but I've never heard of a RWD one.

Snufelupogus

iTrader: (2)

Id vote for s4 or s5. the s4 u have the mechanical pump but a bit higher compression in the s5. I dont think that reaching 300-400hp is going to be a problem if thats what you want... the problem will be can you get enough traction with that power in a sub 2000lbs car?
With either one I would go carbed blow-thru and stick with the stock turbo. People are gonna say that this is retarded to do, but it will save you a lot of room under the already tight hood.
The transmission will probably have to be shortened (pretty sure it can be done, just dont know how personally) because the shifter location will be behind the drivers seat making it rather hard to shift. Also the drive shaft will be pretty short and may be on too much of an angle, so you will have to work something out there as well.
You will need to FULLY cage the car because it is a uni-body that is not designed for rwd and will literally crumple with any twisting from the rwd.
The firewall will have to be cut to fit the engine and transmission obviously.
I know of a body kit for the mini that adds 5.5" to each side (and it looks real nice) so that you should be able to retain the stock subaru (or whatever rear end u use) and not have to cut the half-shafts or anything like that.
You MIGHT be able to get away with the minis stock front suspension and steering, but if your doing all this, you might as well go all out and use a better suspension system that what the mini already has. That will require interesting modification as you will need to place the suspension pivot points in a correct spot so it will work properly (might be able to connect to roll cage if you extend it that far).
You will need to upgrade the brakes so you can stop... subarus brakes on the back, but what up front? You will have to adapt spindles and larger brakes to stop the car.
umm... thats all i can remember right now... if you have any specific questions aboot the conversion, just ask...

stealth-wrx

What exactly is an S4 and an S5 motor. I would prefer to stay with an injected motor as i want to be able to make adjustments using my laptop and not a screwdriver. As far as the suspension goes, I will have that down as suspension is my specialty. The front of the car will use a bolt on big rotor brake upgrade with upgraded factory mounting spindles. The car will have a crazy cage in it as I want this thing extremely ridgid. What needs to be done to the motor to obtain my 350 Wheel HP goal. I understand that 3mm seals are a good precausion but what else is involved. Thanks for your help guys.

chris1234p

s4 means 86-88, s5 is 89-91. For that much hp you are going to want a big port job.

stealth-wrx

where on the motor is it going to specify if its an s4 or s5.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

It's not going to say, and they look pretty identicle to those not familiar. However, the easiest way to tell is to look at the turbo. If the turbo has a bent wastegate arm (that is, a natural bend, not one from abuse ) then it is an S5 engine. The knock sensor on the S5 engine is also on the front housing, where it is on the middle plate on the S4 engine.

thecause17

Why are you going with teh Subaru rear end? I don't think it is up to the task to be honest. The rear end is coming from a car that has it's power slit up between two diffs, and now you're going to run 350whp+ through ONE. That's almost equivalent to running a 700hp WRX or something of that nature, and expecting that rear end to hold up with no problems at all. Sure, t might, but I think that's pushing the evnelope a bit. I would suggest trying to fit the entire RX-7 driveline into, including a TII rear end. I know one of those is up to it.

M's

he;s gonan tell you it's split between 3 diffs because it is.

Get s eries 4 Turbo II rear end, It has a clutch type lsd and many fd guys upgrade to that diff. And keep me posted cause i am on nasioc and like your work you have been doing. I have an 02 blaze yellow as well as the fc

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

No way, the TII rear is WAY to heavy for a project like this, and you don't need the strength.

Engine torqe and vehicle weight is what will kill a rear end.

This mini won't have traction to transmit torque and will be light- he should go w/ the lighter rear end.

I have a spare Honda N600 (styled after Mini, but 200lbs lighter and more advanced) that I have toyed w/ the idea of rotary transplant RWD.

It just adds too much weight-

Stripped rotary engine ~250#, trans/driveshaft ~150#, car rear end ~60#

I would go w/ a liter bike engine w/ its 6speed ~150# and a light (Cushman?) rear end/driveshaft ~40#, since it wouldn't have to handle torque.

460# of drivetrain VS 190# of drivetrain, better gear ratios, no cutting of chassis for fitment and still more power than you can put to the ground.

Dwarf race cars are small versions of Midget dirt trackers that use motorcyle engines in FR drivetrain- do a search to see the possibilities.

thecause17

I know that, but it is irrelevant to what my point was....the center diff doesn't take a 1/3 of the power for anything. It is there merely so that the front and rear wheels can spin and different rates, making full time AWD possible. Half the power is still getting to each diff, less small drivetrain loss that may be caused from the center diff itself.

gen2ForCe

try going to the "other rotary" forum also...they know a lot about swaps n that ish....

stealth-wrx

im going with the subaru rear end for a few reasons. its extremely light and does not take up any room. it is already sitting at my house and i know for a fact it can hold 350 wheel hp.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

contact johnny at powerhouse engineering in pasadena. i think he is under www.mazdacomp.com or something. he would be your best source since he owned one. in fact, i think that car ran in the 12's using a bp. a good friend of mine owns that car now and is still in tact after all these years. btw, johnny is in asuza ca. not that far from you.