Joe Smart Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Hi there guys, I am an 18 year old student studying motoe vehicle engineering and im looking to start a project to do over a period of time. Firstly im going to start of by buying an old Mini shell and fitting it with a big bike engine, I was thinking about getting an engine from an R1 by buying a second hand bike and taking it out, Re using the wiring and speedo ect. Im not one for looking at big bikes and im not a real bike nut. One of the problems is i can imagine getting hold of one isnt going to be cheap. Does anyone have any other Big bike engines that are powerfull,dont weigh much and are reletivly cheap? Any help would be amasing. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulwhite Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 why have you gone with a mini? (just curious) there getting rare now and most of them need allot of work to get them to a decent standard due to the amount of rust that eats through them. plus putting a bike engine in something thats rotting isnt going to do you any favours! you would be better off getting a cheep modern car to play with, that way you know its gonna be ok. something small but under 10 years old. as to an engine the r1 is good, a bussa would be better but depends what ur after if you stick to a 1000cc then ur looking at a £1000 price tag at least. 600cc engines get a bit cheeper but you would have to look into the bhp to wheight ratio to get an idea of whats gonna happen. have you considerd making a reverse trike? would be easyer but still include the enginearing and mechanical side will work out cheeper as you dont need a specific engine (a 600cc would power it all day long and you can pick up an engine for £300 on ebay) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Ill have a look into making a trike, Ive not considered it before but it may be a good idea, I chose a mini because of the size of them and the weight, the only problem with new cars is even if it is a cheap write off or something its all the wiring thats going to have to come out ect plus there usualy heavier, Theres not many cars smaller than the old mini so thats why i was thinking it was going to be a good idea, But yes i can see where you are coming from with all the rust and damage. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted October 22, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2011 Fitting bike engines to cars has been done for a long while in kit cars. There should be a wealth of knowledge if you research this area. I doubt that you would get much of the power down in a mini and would end up just spinning the tyres most of the time. The 2 biggest factors to overcome are the drive - chain to shaft - and the gearbox linkage - sequential. Busa engines seem to be liked for the kit car scene. Stonking power. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 I havnt really looked into it massivly, I have basic ideas but i was thinking of trying to strip down a diff and try to adjust it with a sprocket but i can imagine that is quite difficult, I was thinking of making it rear engined RWD to put the some of the weight over the back allthough there not exactly heavy engines. Ive allways liked the idea of a sequential gearbox in a car but you cant really get them unless they are conversions or built for it, My only problem is the amount of work that would be needed if i wanted to make it road legal and useable. I realise it is going to cost a fortune if i buy a shell but i would rather build it up from near Ground up. Id make my own shell but then it would never be road legal and i dont have the experiance for it. As difficult as it may be ill have to do some research i was thinking about an active rear steering system but that is heavily unlikely. Im defenatly going to have to do some mroe research and build my toolbox up a bit with specialist tools for certain jobs. Thanks for your imput. Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted October 22, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2011 With a mini being front wheel drive I would guess that the drive shafts would be in the way. RWD would work. I dont khow your level of engineering but things like rear wheel steering would take a massive effort in a mini. They are 2 subframes held together with a body shell. You would be better off by manufacturing a "chassis" which the shell could fit over. that way you could get into all the parts you needed without things getting in the way. get a front and rear subframe.and manufacture the chassis out of this. The chassis would then fit to the body using the original fitting points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEV Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Joe, I know you initially put up that you wanted to do a project with a car and bike engine, but have you thought about making a trike as your project, as theres many different ways you can go about doing this, typical one is bike front end with a vw back end, and it would hone any engineering skills you'd need to learn, along the way. Although if you wanted to go with the trike idea using a Reliant Robin as the chassis and banging a big bike engine onto it, give the member Up Yours a p.m, as he just loves these type of trikes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 A few people are considering making a trike, Now that does seem like an idea and i may look more into it as i wont use as much space. Now a VW has been suggested and a robin has been suggested, Ill defenatly have a look into this and see what i can do. As far as my engineering going i am still a student doing a level 2 but i know my fair share and i am doing this mainly to learn. At the end of the day if something goes wrong it goes wrong and ill learn not to do that again and perhaps ill learn a few great things along the way. When i do get going it will be a slow project as itle cost a fair bit and take time peice by piece but i can image ill allways find a way to be busy. Thanks alot for the suggestions! Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulwhite Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 u want to end up with something like this http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/216/adrenalinegh1.jpg/ to be honest iv been looking into it myself recently and found that its quite simple to construct from scratch, the hardest part is deciding how you want to sit on the thing as this is one of the most crucial factors b4 u can build it. have a look at quadbike suspensions, with custom mounts for the hubs and brake setup robbed from a jag or something (4 pot calipers and vented disks to make sure you can stop) then make them longer so its more of a f1 car look then base the suspension round the engine with a main structure for the rider, then something like a motorbike single shock setup for the rear , put in a jackshaft wire it all up with the controlls and away you go! personaly id save and save till i could get a 360 rear tire (phat!) and put that on ........... would make a nice drifting machine and be quite stable compared to the normal trike design (2 wheels at back) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Ive allways been a fan of the Cam-Ams, But ive also been looking at a few with a Vw rear and they look properly nice. I see the 600cc's do well in this sort of thing but imagine what a 1000 would be capable of. On the streets we have never beaten a mini bike converted engine ever no matter what we where in we didnt stand a chance. I think im going to go for doing a Trike tho as you said it sounds alot more simple and less work. What i might be best off doing is getting more experiance in the biking sector of mechanics as im more of a car person, I know there similar but its the compactness of everything. When i used to do the occasion job on my old speedfight i never ever got the pannels back on correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted October 22, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Reliant ^ or very good bodywork casing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leightonbike121 Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 why not try a road registered onroad/offroad buggy,im toying with one at the moment (not road registered tho).it originally had a honda gx240 motor with a variomatic g/box,its got a zxr750 motor in it now.....90% completed......easy project,very lightweight-ish.a little basic engineering & a lot of imagination = lots of adrenalin ( hope i dont kill myself...should be ok....well,i fitted a fire extinguisher !!!!!!!! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator mervin Posted October 23, 2011 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2011 http://www.r1manx.com/www.r1manx.com/Home.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Smart Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 That is a great link! Gives me an idea on what im getting myself into if i do my original plan, If i do i may even get in touch with those guys for advice. Thanks! Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 u want to end up with something like this http://imageshack.us...enalinegh1.jpg/ Ooh, I want a go on THAT!! Get a Rocket III engine - 2300cc of raw biking POWAH!!!!! I love custom stuff like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulwhite Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 well safe to say if i ever get round to doin my full licence then il be building something like that to potter about in ............might even get it built then go for my licence ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireman fez Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 vauxhall agila with a GSX1400 engine, be fun to keep the car looking standard though, may open a few eyes at the lights . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triton john Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Why not go the other way ? Car engine in a bike frame. Like the other ideas it's been done before but it's less common. Get yourself a featherbed frame, roadholder forks or whatever - actually roadholder forks aint that good ( at the time they were there was not many options ) so hunt aroud the breakers for a Jap front end. A Hilman Imp Stilletto engine and a Triumph box goes in quite easily ( at least mine seemed to ) with not too much buggering around. Yes there are all manner of things to do when you embark on one of these type of idea's. How about a Trabant engine in a CB 500 frame - cheaper than the featherbed option and Trabbi's are tuneable !!! Or the Saab 900 2 stroke can be made to go like hot snot and has been put in a featherbed before. The only limitations are your imagination and wallet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leightonbike121 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 a lada riva engine in a mz 125 frame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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